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1994 K3500 extended cab dually

DieselAmateur said:
Man that thing really zips for a dually!

What external regulator did you use for the raptor? Happy with the isolator for the gauge too?
Click to expand...
This is the regulator I’m using. I ended up with one that has -6 inlet and outlet because it was a scratch n dent unit and I saved about $50. That doesn’t seem to effect its operation so I think it’s ok, but if all things were equal, I would have chosen one with -8 port sizes so it matched the hose size.

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I’m not sure on the isolator yet. I sealed the seam with silicone and that seems to be working, but I think I still have air in the system I need to address because sometimes it will read really low at this gauge but be normal on the gauge at the regulator, then as things warm up it reads normal. I’m not sure it’s worth it to go mechanical for the gauge - between the cost of the gauge, the isolator and the hose and fittings to hook i, I probably spent just as much as I would have just getting an electronic gauge and it would have been easier to hook up.
 
Last week I drove the truck in some 35 degree temperatures and I was getting very little heat out of the ducts. When I got home I pulled the screen out of the heater hose strainer for inspection and sure enough, it was blinded. It was covered with a layer of fine silt. Well this won’t do. I doubt that silt will plug the heater core, so the mesh is just too fine for this application. Tonight I replaced the 200 mesh with a 100 mesh screen. We’ll see how this does. In the pic, 200 is on the right and 100 is on the left.

1C4E7C15-6FEB-4EF8-B8BB-F3D934FFF6BC.jpeg
 
What and where do you think this stuff is coming from and and is? Internal block corrosion? Crap in the well water you're putting into the system? Gremlin sabotage?
 
Husker6.5 said:
What and where do you think this stuff is coming from and and is? Internal block corrosion? Crap in the well water you're putting into the system? Gremlin sabotage?
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It’s coming from in the block. It was kinda crusty when I got it. I’m guessing it only had straight water run in it by the military, but that’s just a guess. I only use the finest artisanal distilled water in this thing now. 😋
 
n8in8or said:
It’s coming from in the block. It was kinda crusty when I got it. I’m guessing it only had straight water run in it by the military, but that’s just a guess. I only use the finest artisanal distilled water in this thing now. 😋
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Surprised you didn't do a chemical clean and back flush on the block before doing all of this. I'm sure Perrier appreciates the business with your fine, sparkling cooling system too, @n8in8or!
 
Husker6.5 said:
Surprised you didn't do a chemical clean and back flush on the block before doing all of this. I'm sure Perrier appreciates the business with your fine, sparkling cooling system too, @n8in8or!
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It was a few years ago, but I’m pretty sure the machine shop did some kind of clean on it, but now I don’t remember what for sure. I remember it still being scaly in the coolant jacket though when they were done. I don’t use that machine shop any longer for what it’s worth.

And I’ve been using San Pellegrino, not Perrier. 😁
 
I used to do quite a bit of engine rebuilding.
The old timer that I would take the blocks, heads, sheetmetal etc too, He would boil the componemts in his boil out tank, it was a hot solution of oakite. After retrieving the components from the tank they then would get thoroughly rinsed with hot water from a garden hose.
I was always surprised at the amount of sand and silt looking stuff that came from the internals of the blocks and heads.
I asked Him about that, He explained that it was casting sand from when the engines and heads were molded.
I am sure that after assembling those engines, the cooling systems were much cleaner than from the factory but, I always thought that through the heat and cool cycles, there would be still more of that sand and silt let loose and drift with the coolant, eddy in and settle in some of the calm areas too.

if I was running such a filter, I think I would run with that finer screen for just a few more cycles of clean to plugged, just to satisfy My curiosity. 🤷‍♂️😹😹😹😹
 
MrMarty51 said:
I used to do quite a bit of engine rebuilding.
The old timer that I would take the blocks, heads, sheetmetal etc too, He would boil the componemts in his boil out tank, it was a hot solution of oakite. After retrieving the components from the tank they then would get thoroughly rinsed with hot water from a garden hose.
I was always surprised at the amount of sand and silt looking stuff that came from the internals of the blocks and heads.
I asked Him about that, He explained that it was casting sand from when the engines and heads were molded.
I am sure that after assembling those engines, the cooling systems were much cleaner than from the factory but, I always thought that through the heat and cool cycles, there would be still more of that sand and silt let loose and drift with the coolant, eddy in and settle in some of the calm areas too.

if I was running such a filter, I think I would run with that finer screen for just a few more cycles of clean to plugged, just to satisfy My curiosity. 🤷‍♂️😹😹😹😹
Click to expand...
I may switch back to the finer screen in the spring when I need heat less, but I hadn't driven the truck probably 50 miles when the finer screen got blinded, so it's going to do it quite frequently right now and I don't want to be dealing with that during the winter - that could be dangerous to lose heat for defrosting purposes (as you know, since you're in the same climate :) ).
 
I had already found that the water temp gauge I was running wasn’t reading accurately. Since then I’ve noticed that my pyrometer was reading inconsistently - sometimes it seemed to be reading about 3-400 degrees higher than it should have been, so I couldn’t trust it. That was the pyrometer I had in the Tahoe and it never gave me troubles before so I guess it deteriorated from sitting? I’m thinking about sending it into Autometer and see what they think and if it’s repairable.

I already had an Autometer Sport Comp II electric fuel pressure gauge. I really liked that it had the built-in warning light so I decided that would be a good series of gauges to switch over to. I found a great deal on a pyrometer on Amazon and on 3 gauges (oil pressure, trans temp and water temp) on eBay that were new, but second-hand. I just had to get a voltmeter and I had all the gauges I needed, so I bought one.

D54360BA-1C4C-4A11-906A-E9866D459B18.jpeg

It took me a bit to get the gauges swapped because I had the gauges integrated into my harnesses so well. I also had to change my fittings for the fuel and oil pressure since I was changing from mechanical to electric gauges.

8F2134BC-44FE-46BB-B05B-F73014304CC1.jpegAAEAA9BF-BEAC-4455-B38F-D263B5F05301.jpeg

The gauges are all in and I really like them.

CDD6DA96-20EE-42BA-8F89-CF1769A62350.jpeg46902F83-3055-4E24-AE09-468E316DC26B.jpeg

While installing these gauges I found that not only do they have the adjustable warning light, but they also have the capability to control external devices, which is pretty cool.

FE337D68-B58D-4734-AFB0-231E07D937EF.jpeg0A5277CB-CFE7-4DC0-A190-74B1E576A6EB.jpeg

I did have one snag unfortunately. One of the sending units in the pressure gauges that I bought off eBay was dead. I was surprised to find that a new sending unit is $120! Plus, I wasn’t really keen on spending that much since I already have a dead one. I did some searching and found a cheaper sending unit on Amazon that someone said was a direct fit for the Autometer ones. It was only $20, so not much to lose there so I decided to try it. I thought maybe it was the exact same sending unit, but with a different sticker, but it is physically different.

07014292-9AFD-49B1-B7F5-E960CAD237AB.jpegF962AA50-A769-4FC1-AFEE-D7B1FE93039B.jpeg

Good news is the sending unit works well and is within 1psi of what the gauge read with the Autometer one. I installed it in the fuel pressure gauge position since that’s less critical than the oil pressure gauge. I have also ordered a spare sending unit I can carry with me, just in case. Pretty disappointing to keep having gauge issues, maybe I need to try another manufacturer. I’m thinking the next truck may get an Edge Insight monitor.
 
Is the water temp gauge you're running electrical or mechanical? I just looked into mechanical temp gauges and I never knew the mechanical ones (from autometer at least) are filled with some gas in the line from sender to gauge. Doesn't seem like a good candidate for mounting in the #8 cylinder head.
 
The old one was mechanical, this new one is electrical. Mechanical used to be what you ran to have a reliable and accurate gauge, but I think EFI vehicles has drastically improved the sensors for electric gauges and they’re much better now. I don’t think the higher temps would have been too much for a mechanical gauge - it’s within the design parameters.
 
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