I have an 06 LBZ that now has 71000 miles. I recently started running vegetable oil with a separate tank in the bed that has coolant lines and separate heaters. I ran it for about 1000-1500 miles with no issues. But when I drove from ny to texas strait through, my fuel pressure regulator went just outside of Dallas, the injector balance rates are within spec. I ended up limping it to Austin, on the way, it kicked out the code for high fuel temp, which is when I brought up the reading on my programmer, which was reading 240 degrees, so i switched it back to diesel and the temp dropped back to 140 degrees. after replacing the fpr, the truck ran normal and the injector balance rates were all well within spec. On the return trip while on vegetable oil, I had a sensor failure code, when i checked the balance rates there were 3 injectors that were reading really high, between +8 and +12. We stayed the night their. The next morning, after clearing the codes, it only gave another code saying misfire in cylinder 8, so I put some lucas injector cleaner through it and it seemed to clear up, the balance rates were back within spec. Now there is one injector that is reading about +3 to +4, but when i switch back to vegetable oil the balance rates seem to jump all over, and start to run a little rough at idle, after awhile on diesel the balance rates go back to close to 0, but one injector stays close to +4, but it changes to a different injector every so often. I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what could be causing the changing balance rates or what can be done to prevent it.
LBZ: injector balance rates spurratic
- Thread starter benny
- Start date
Your problem is the vegetable oil. lol
Run a full bottle of additive in one tank, see if it doesnt clear up your rates. you might have to replace that injector sadly
Run a full bottle of additive in one tank, see if it doesnt clear up your rates. you might have to replace that injector sadly
I've run some additive through it, but the past week the #8 injector was the one reading high. But today I ran it on vegetable oil, the rates jumped up high again, but then they all dropped down to between +1 and -1. but then later the #3 injector started reading about +3 and the #8 injector is consistently reading about +.8, I was thinking it might be a sensor or the ecm not liking the vegetable oil. It just seems weird that the balance rates would change like that, it has done that a few times with different injectors, they're high for awhile, then drop back down.
X2 get that crap out of your engine! Vegetable oil is made for cooking not a diesel engine!
As someone who has racked up 10k plus miles on cooking oil both in my old lb7 and my dad's lbz my advice is to sell that system to someone with an old 12 valve and buy yourself a real biodiesel system like I have (search biodiesel and you should see my thread). It will chemically convert the oil to a much easier to burn fuel. As well as chemically filtering all the crap out of the oil. Or if you don't want to make biodiesel you can use your present system but start cutting the cooking oil with regular Dino diesel. We do like 20-30% oil to 70-80% diesel. But we don't have separate tanks like you so you could run a little more oil. I wouldn't go much more than 50-50. And dial your tank heater back some You have to filter the sh**t out of the oil too. Mine goes into a settling tank for a few days at least, then through a screen into the mixing tank. From there it either gets made into biodiesel or I cut it with regular diesel. Then through a 10 micron water block filter, then a 2 micron duramax filter head and filter then into the truck where it's filtered again by the airdog and the factory fuel filter. My dad uses mainly the cut oil because he doesn't have the patients to make biodiesel. I ran mainly biodiesel. Both of our balance rates were actually better on oil than 100% diesel. When done right biodiesel/cut cooking oil actually have more lubricity than the uls diesel all the stations sell. But it has to be filtered and mixed right. And in the winter time I don't even attempt biodiesel, if do anything its just add a couple gallons of clean filtered oil to a full tank of diesel
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
I filter the oil down to 1 micron and have a 2 micron with aqua block filter on the external tank. I also noticed today that when it was warmed up and in park with a/c on, the load from the a/c made all the balance rates drop to within +1 and -1. I'm going to try to wire the heaters to a switch so I can turn them off when it gets high, I'll also try to cut it with diesel.
When cutting the vegetable oil with diesel, won't the diesel just separate from the oil after awhile, or should I just switch back and forth every so often?
I haven't had it separate. But it usually gets put right into the truck and the cp3, injector returns along with the lift pump keep it mixed up good. I don't know how it'd act with your separate tank
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
I wasn't sure how it reads the injector balance rates, not sure if that sensor could be failing or giving a false reading, making the computer think a certain injector needs more or less fuel when it doesn't, and the excess or shortage of fuel could b causing the engine to idle rough on vegetable oil.
I think it times the crank revolution speed. And keeps track of how much much fuel is added or subracted to keep each fire timed the same.
Duramax's and WVO
It sounds like you were not following the golden rules of running wvo in duramax's.
I have 30000+ miles running wvo in my lly and am soon going to convert my 06 lbz ccsb 4x4
wvo can only be run safety in a duramax in a duel tank system.
1-Never ever let wvo cool in your injection system! It will cause your balance rates to be sporadic and your engine to idle funny, also it will plug up your fuel pressure regulator.
2-Never idle you engine on wvo for more than 1-2 minutes.
Every minute you idle cause wear and damage to your engine, manly do to duramax being direct injection.
3-Do not buy kits off the Internet for they are all junk even if they are for duramax. They all have lose ends and will damage your engine.
4-WVO MUST BE UP TO TEMP before switching to wvo and No hotter is not better. Running cold oil poses the same problem as idling and oil that is TO HOT will varnish the high pressure fuel lines and it will not combust probably you also lose power.
oil temp should be between 140°-160° F nothing more nothing less. ALSO thats the temp at the injection pump not the wvo tank. Wvo tank temp dose not mean shit unless you in colder climates.
5-when you switch back to diesel before shut down you must flush your system for a minimum of two minutes if not more.
6-Filtration Filtration Filtration, the technique for fitering the oil does not really matter as long is it meets all the same requirements when it's done. It needs an absolute minimum of 2 micron filtration and absolutely 0 water!
7-I would never run any diesel on wvo with out a genuine racor 2 micron aqua block element before the injection pump, there the best.
8-theres a lot more that im forgetting.
It sounds like you were not following the golden rules of running wvo in duramax's.
I have 30000+ miles running wvo in my lly and am soon going to convert my 06 lbz ccsb 4x4
wvo can only be run safety in a duramax in a duel tank system.
1-Never ever let wvo cool in your injection system! It will cause your balance rates to be sporadic and your engine to idle funny, also it will plug up your fuel pressure regulator.
2-Never idle you engine on wvo for more than 1-2 minutes.
Every minute you idle cause wear and damage to your engine, manly do to duramax being direct injection.
3-Do not buy kits off the Internet for they are all junk even if they are for duramax. They all have lose ends and will damage your engine.
4-WVO MUST BE UP TO TEMP before switching to wvo and No hotter is not better. Running cold oil poses the same problem as idling and oil that is TO HOT will varnish the high pressure fuel lines and it will not combust probably you also lose power.
oil temp should be between 140°-160° F nothing more nothing less. ALSO thats the temp at the injection pump not the wvo tank. Wvo tank temp dose not mean shit unless you in colder climates.
5-when you switch back to diesel before shut down you must flush your system for a minimum of two minutes if not more.
6-Filtration Filtration Filtration, the technique for fitering the oil does not really matter as long is it meets all the same requirements when it's done. It needs an absolute minimum of 2 micron filtration and absolutely 0 water!
7-I would never run any diesel on wvo with out a genuine racor 2 micron aqua block element before the injection pump, there the best.
8-theres a lot more that im forgetting.