Piston Bowls

MadMaxx61

Devilmaxx
Oct 13, 2008
5,458
1
36
39
Windsor, Ont, Canada
Also I got better MPG in my old 95 3500 than I do in this 08 2500. It may have had a lot less power but it had better MPG. It ran empty at an avg of 24 MPG best I ever got was 27 MPG on a 32 hour drive out west when I moved out there and the box was full of tools and all my stuff.
 

malibu795

misspeelleerr
Apr 28, 2007
8,226
542
113
42
in the buckeye state
Why not up the power if your struggling to perform on the grades?

he isn't using an allison

i didnt have ANY problems flying up grades at 65-70mph before the build.. now with still the same amount of fuel i cannot do the same speeds with lighter loads... and worse mpg... to me says less effecient.. why? IDK lose of CR?, serious increase of quench? winter fuel was pretty much every where before november i had alread taken a 2mpg hit..

i have turned the wick up from stock by 300uS form 700uS to 1000uS.. i REALLY dont need to slip the tranny..the 4L85E is bone stock i havent even changed the fuild on it... with 170,000 miles its holding up nicely.. thats roughly 1300.00 to re/build the tranny jan/feb have not been nice to me.. just had the TCM short out for what ever reason and lost a expedited LTL load due to the truck not moving :mad:
 
Last edited:

Evan@InglewoodTrans

yerp
Vendor/Sponsor
Aug 5, 2010
3,118
65
48
40
Western MA
I pulled the truck out of storage today. A few cranks this morning with no glow plugs at less than 30 degrees and it fired right up with no smoke after 4 months of sitting.
 

Fingers

Village Idiot
Vendor/Sponsor
Apr 1, 2008
1,715
86
48
White Oak, PA
If you're not keeping up on the highway Adam, your not making as much power as before, and turning it up gradually to the point where it is pulling the same as it was before is not going to hurt the tranny.

However, I strongly suspect something else is going on. Boost leak, pre-turbo exhaust leak, clogged intake filter. Something.
 

malibu795

misspeelleerr
Apr 28, 2007
8,226
542
113
42
in the buckeye state
If you're not keeping up on the highway Adam, your not making as much power as before, and turning it up gradually to the point where it is pulling the same as it was before is not going to hurt the tranny.

However, I strongly suspect something else is going on. Boost leak, pre-turbo exhaust leak, clogged intake filter. Something.

wont hurt to check those again...:thumb:
 

bigmackmiller

Active member
Nov 30, 2008
1,046
2
38
Kokomo, IN
If you're not keeping up on the highway Adam, your not making as much power as before, and turning it up gradually to the point where it is pulling the same as it was before is not going to hurt the tranny.

However, I strongly suspect something else is going on. Boost leak, pre-turbo exhaust leak, clogged intake filter. Something.

That was my thoughts, it is obviously down on power if you can't do the same as before, it seems as though these pistons take a different mind set as far as tuning is concerned
 

WI Huck

Where does the time go?
Feb 8, 2012
137
0
16
Also I got better MPG in my old 95 3500 than I do in this 08 2500. It may have had a lot less power but it had better MPG. It ran empty at an avg of 24 MPG best I ever got was 27 MPG on a 32 hour drive out west when I moved out there and the box was full of tools and all my stuff.

Mileage went down across the board when the ultra-low sulfur fuel came out. Achieving 20 MPG was the norm before and now the middle teens are typical. As mentioned earlier the winter blend fuel also reduces mileage.
 

JoshH

Daggum farm truck
Staff member
Vendor/Sponsor
Feb 14, 2007
13,701
756
113
Texas!!!
A few years ago when I moved back to Texas from Idaho, I had a motor with stock LBZ pistons that had .040 shaved off the top. I was loaded up with about 18k lbs gross. I ended up getting 12.5-13.5 MPG running 70-75 MPH.
 

malibu795

misspeelleerr
Apr 28, 2007
8,226
542
113
42
in the buckeye state
started pushing coolant slightly on a light high wind drag load...ect no higher then 210*...ordered new LML grade As along with the new LML (silver/galavanized look not black) bolts.. on tear down found 3 injectors that where carbon up and indications of not sealed..... one of them was frozen in the boss..no visible indication of where the coolant was getting through....
found out that the rocker shaft bolts shoundnt be used more then twice... OEM is 10.00 each arp for the bolts is 5.00ea easy choice there, replaced the injector clamp bolts with 8-1.25x60mm 8.9 bolts with washers, waiting on new injector hold down to come in.. the hold down seamed bent a little on the frozen injector..
really glade i didnt turn the wick up...

heres the only pic i took.. tried to wipe as much carbon out as possible still running 1000uS @ 20-22* WOT
217440_10200608073177845_1661140095_n.jpg
 

TheDieselRock

ENGINE Y U NO RUN??
Feb 27, 2013
10
0
0
Barnesville, Ohio
IMG_20130430_165021-1.jpg


DSCN0043.jpg


DSCN0042.jpg


Cast .040 Over Bore 16:1 Compression .075 Valve Reilefs

These things are a work of art, can't wait to get the truck back together with these! :woott:

Thanks Jon, Nice meeting you btw!
 

Fingers

Village Idiot
Vendor/Sponsor
Apr 1, 2008
1,715
86
48
White Oak, PA
Those pistons are the 30th set produced with the oval chamber Andy.

Nice meeting you too and keep us up to date on your project.
 

malibu795

misspeelleerr
Apr 28, 2007
8,226
542
113
42
in the buckeye state
started pushing coolant slightly on a light high wind drag load...ect no higher then 210*...ordered new LML grade As along with the new LML (silver/galavanized look not black) bolts.. on tear down found 3 injectors that where carbon up and indications of not sealed..... one of them was frozen in the boss..no visible indication of where the coolant was getting through....
found out that the rocker shaft bolts shoundnt be used more then twice... OEM is 10.00 each arp for the bolts is 5.00ea easy choice there, replaced the injector clamp bolts with 8-1.25x60mm 8.9 bolts with washers, waiting on new injector hold down to come in.. the hold down seamed bent a little on the frozen injector..
really glad i didnt turn the wick up...

heres the only pic i took.. tried to wipe as much carbon out as possible still running 1000uS @ 20-22* WOT
so to update this... from 4-30-13
strickly going from C to As droping .010-.015" it was .043" now its .030" in quench. the protrusion is 0.0" on my setup.
if i had time and money.. i would have decked the block to get quench in the low .020" basicly as close to stock as possible. also the plan was to throw in gapless rings to help seal up the champers and increase effciency.... probably worth .5-1mpg with the rings..... aint much for the avg guy the DDs but when you math it out @4.00 a gallon times 100k miles a year, its good for my wallet and the enviroment :D i could also see the gapless rings help alot in cold weather

i have pickup a solid 2-3mpg from an avg of 8mpg to 10.5-11mpg.. grade speed is back up in the mid 60s on a 5% grade, it was mid 50smph prior..

milage count pistons went in about ~142k theres ~197k on the odo todate.. so ~55k on the pistons since turkeyday last year..

if i were to do it again.. with same application hotshot/DD i would have gone 18:1 vs 17:1 that i put in..
 
Last edited:

mtl_dmax

New member
Dec 7, 2010
114
0
0
Eastern Canada
also the plan was to throw in gapless rings to help seal up the champers and increase effciency.... probably worth .5-1mpg with the rings..... aint much for the avg guy the DDs but when you math it out @4.00 a gallon times 100k miles a year, its good for my wallet and the enviroment :D i could also see the gapless rings help alot in cold weather


Great results and you must be quite happy about how it all turned out.

Will those gapless rings fit the stock pistons or do you need to have them machined for it?

Any links on the rings?
 

malibu795

misspeelleerr
Apr 28, 2007
8,226
542
113
42
in the buckeye state
Great results and you must be quite happy about how it all turned out.

Will those gapless rings fit the stock pistons or do you need to have them machined for it?

Any links on the rings?

i didnt put the gapeless rings in.. AFAIK merchant is the only ones that sell them... i think they have std bore in stock, it was couple month lead time for oversized. and yes they are direct replacement for stock rings.
http://www.merchant-automotive.com/gaplesspistonrings-stdbore-oempistons-setof8.aspx

for tearing the engine apart bore, balance machine work and assembly in under 10 calender days.. only really couple issueses came up the compression hieght (wrist pin to piston crown .015" shorter then stock), head gaskests not sealing and injectors not fully sealling..
im pleased with it the outcome..
 

delong_1

<< my work
Dec 5, 2008
1,282
0
0
38
Arvada, CO
we do gapless rings in all of our builds as well as my personal motor, well worth the cost. They really help with reduction of blow by

they can do this to any second ring in our motors so you know