LB7: Duramax n00b

T

T-top87GN

New member
Mar 13, 2012
15
0
0
Wheeling, WV
Hello all!

I purchased my 2003 LB7 new. Except for some extra cranks on the torsion bars this truck is bone dry stock. I'm not real familiar with diesels in general but I am familiar with turbocharging.

I figure it's time to spend a little cash on the truck for once as the Buick usually gets the lion's share.

First thing I plan on doing is opening up the air flow intake a bit with a FIPK from K&N. Next I'd like to get some gauges on the pillar. My wife bought me the 2 guage pillar for my birthday so I need some gauges for it. I know I need a boost gauge but what about the second? EGT gauge? I'm a little wary of drilling into the exhaust manifold... I'm also looking at that Super Diesel Boost Manifold so I don't need to do any drilling for that.

Now for programmers. From what I've read, most programmers actually lie to the ECM and cause it to raise the FP and that's where the power comes from. I know that's bad and I'd rather get something that does it right by changing the injector pw. Do you guys have any info or opinions on this? Since this is my daily driver and my tow rig for the Buick should I just leave the programmer crap alone?

Any help is appreciated.
 
Last edited:
dmax711

dmax711

New member
Mar 4, 2011
1,057
0
0
concord, north carolina
welcome to dd. def boost and egt, boost you can t into one of your lines being a lb7, and drilling the manifold is easy so dont worry about that. programmer wise ppe is very good for a plug and play tuner, efi live is the best but it can be to much for some people. It all depends on what your future goals are for the truck.
 
BlkMax

BlkMax

Member
Sep 1, 2008
743
4
18
Wasilla, AK
:welcome7:

I went with a Banks system first then bought EFILive. If you think you are going to do ANYTHING beyond a mild tune later in the future, EFI is a $$ saver. It will also work as a diagnostic tool for the ECM and TCM.

EGT and boost gauges for certain.... It always seems to start small.:D:D
 
T

T-top87GN

New member
Mar 13, 2012
15
0
0
Wheeling, WV
Thank for the info guys. I don't plan on doing anything too outrageous with the Duramax. I usually end up spending most of the money on the Buick. And from experience with modifying, I know how unreliable things can get. So I'd rather keep the Duramax relatively mild. I still need it to get me to work! :)

As far as drilling the passenger manifold I am most worried about losing gases at the probe entrance to the manifold. I guess I'll need to make that jump when I come to it. Maybe I'll just put in a blinker fluid level gauge for now. :thumb:
 
E

edmorseiii

New member
Oct 30, 2011
3
0
0
MA
I am new too, well more of a lurker I guess, but I just did my first in the drive way mods to my LB7 this past Saturday. For the boost gauge, just spend 15 bucks at home depot and put a brass T in the waste gate line. While I was cutting mine anyways, I went ahead and installed a PPE boost valve after the brass T, I figured for 26 bucks why not. I also installed a Profab turbo horn and a OEM style AFE filter in a cut up stock air box. It was a fairly cheap day wrenching, but made a significant increase in power and sounds awesome.

I am doing an exhaust when I get back from my work trip, but will probably hold off on an EGT gauge until I get a programer.
 
Last edited:
T

T-top87GN

New member
Mar 13, 2012
15
0
0
Wheeling, WV
edmorseiii said:
I am new too, well more of a lurker I guess, but I just did my first in the drive way mods to my LB7 this past Saturday. For the boost gauge, just spend 15 bucks at home depot and put a brass T in the waste gate line. While I was cutting mine anyways, I went ahead and installed a PPE boost valve after the brass T, I figured for 26 bucks why not. I also installed a Profab turbo horn and a OEM style AFE filter in a cut up stock air box. It was a fairly cheap day wrenching, but made a significant increase in power and sounds awesome.

I am doing an exhaust when I get back from my work trip, but will probably hold off on an EGT gauge until I get a programer.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! I'll look into these parts as well. By "turbo horn" I imagine you mean intake cone/bell on the turbo? How hard was that to change. It looks like a pain in the a$$ to get.

Also I just had another thought, does a new downpipe do a lot for these motors? I have a stock exhaust but my stock exhaust does not include a cat.
 
E

edmorseiii

New member
Oct 30, 2011
3
0
0
MA
T-top87GN said:
Thanks for the tips! I'll look into these parts as well. By "turbo horn" I imagine you mean intake cone/bell on the turbo? How hard was that to change. It looks like a pain in the a$$ to get.

Also I just had another thought, does a new downpipe do a lot for these motors? I have a stock exhaust but my stock exhaust does not include a cat.
Click to expand...

This guy;

https://profabperformance.com/jm/in...ategory_id=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=161

It was not that hard, and the instructions were pretty good. I am not a mechanic, and only have a Craftsman 150 piece tool kit, if I had better tools it would have been a breeze. I would say a longer shafted ratcheting wrench would have been a lot more useful then the 5 inch long regular box wrench I was using to remove the bottom bolt on the stock horn. I wound up grabbing the wrench with a set of vice grips to get it off, it was real goofy.

Installing the Profab unit was pretty easy because the bottom bolt holes are slotted and allow you to start the allen screws that are provided so you can just slide the horn into place. Even still a longer allen key with a longer "L" that would have allowed more torque would have made life easier when working on that same bottom bolt. The vice grips came out for this one as well.

I would like to do a down pipe and have big flow in and big flow out, but everything I have read leads me to think it is not a drive way friendly job. Maybe if I had a garage.
 
T

T-top87GN

New member
Mar 13, 2012
15
0
0
Wheeling, WV
I'm looking at gauges right now. Specifically an EGT gauge. Do I need to get a 2000 or 1600 degree gauge? I'm unfamiliar with diesel EGTs.
 
Last edited:
BlkMax

BlkMax

Member
Sep 1, 2008
743
4
18
Wasilla, AK
T-top87GN said:
I'm looking at gauges right now. Specifically an EGT gauge. Do I need to get a 2000 or 1600 degree gauge? I'm unfamiliar with diesel EGTs.
Click to expand...

It depends on what you are going to do with the truck. I have a 2K gauge, and I like that when I get stupid on the race tune, I can actually tell what is going on. Others prefer to not know all the bad news. For my money, get the higher gauge, then if you do start doing other mods down the road, you don't have to buy another gauge.

Generally, anything over 1400* sustained is starting to be real bad news, aluminum melts somewhere around 1250*, but that is just me....results may vary. :)

FWIW, I would get a boost gauge that goes to at least 60 psi.
 
blk smoke lb7

blk smoke lb7

<-----Lots of green $
Nov 8, 2010
5,694
0
36
57
belvidere,ill
For sure do the airhorn a nice 4 inch exhaust muffler or not depending on how loud you want it,I would still say to get efi live for the price of some of the canned tuners or programers you could have efi for less and it will be much better IMO

And welcome to both of you DD is the best by far:thumb:
 
ctrump90

ctrump90

ctrump90
Jan 11, 2012
471
0
0
Clare, IL
welcome both of you. i to purchased an lb7 not long ago and just went through all this.. im very happy with what i have going on... any questions PM me
 
T

T-top87GN

New member
Mar 13, 2012
15
0
0
Wheeling, WV
Thanks everyone for the welcome! I've been doing a lot of reading.

I've been going through some gauge brands/versions and trying to find one that I like. Do you guys have any pics? I was kind of hoping to get something close to the way the dash cluster looks.

I also see alot of people doing the LED replacement. Sounds like parts of it can be a PITA. My truck is a LS with no steering controls. Is it worth doing to matches the gauges?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom