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'94 Silverado Mercedes om606 swap V2.0

94K views 79 replies 16 participants last post by  turbodizzle 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I got the bug for a 4bt swap about 10 years ago. I wanted to swap my ’01 King Ranch F150. long story short, that didn’t work out. Years later, on a friend's farm, I found (2) Deutz diesels. He said I could have them if I wanted, they were just collecting dust An f4l912 and an f3l912. Around the same time, I got word that my Grandpa was ready to sell his 1994 Silverado. Growing up, I always wanted this truck. I bought plane tickets and we were off to pick up my truck. A GMT400 with a turbocharged, air-cooled diesel. This was going to be cool.



It wasn't pretty but, it made it from PA to FL in one piece. I was ready to swap. Things didn’t go well though, we decided to move to CO and the emissions folks out there had a hearty chuckle at my plans. “There’s no way we can have this registered in an emissions area” More can be read about that at the link below but, the short of it is, I sold everything except the truck.

Deutz F4l912 into a '94 z71 1500

Fast forward a few years, and I’ve been in CO for a while. While on a work trip a buddy mentioned that a mutual friend down in San Antonio was looking to sell a high mileage, om606 (turbo) w210, at a pretty tempting price. From my previous conversations with my buddies down at colorado emissions land, I knew I could swap this engine and make it road-legal. It just so happens that the 606 is capable of amazing power output (for a little 3.0L). Stock bottom ends are known to make 6-700hp.

Well, i bought it. The car made the 1k-mile trip from San Antonio to Loveland without a hiccup. 275k miles on the clock, it didn’t burn any oil and averaged 32mpg cruising 70-80mph. These 606’s are tough.





Out came the goods. I kept most of the wiring harness and sensors. I wanted to make sure I had everything I could possibly need. The rest was sold off. I just about broke even on this engine. I sold a ton of parts on eBay.



Found a parts truck nearby with an nv4500 and diesel fuel tank/filler nozzle, pedals, transfer case, etc! Again, the 606 has a lot of potential. Not only do I like shifting gears, I need the entire drivetrain to be able to handle anything the 606 can throw at it. I've blown up way too many 4l60e's in my day and I’m not a fan of the 4l80e.


Intake valves were pretty sooty. I cleaned out the bores in the head and sent the intake manifold off for cleaning.


I thought my timing chain has excessive stretch so, I tore down the front of the engine and replaced the chain, tensioner, and guides. The joke’s on me. After getting everything back together, I realized that I was measuring stretch incorrectly. No stretch. Oh well, peace of mind.


Replaced fuel line clips, fuel return lines, broken/missing PCV components, and painted the valve cover.


Another advantage to the om606. It’s a gorgeous engine.
 
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#30 ·
Thanks! I have an egt probe drilled/fastened to the manifold, i just don't have the gauge installed yet. At the moment, I'd imagine EGTs are well within the acceptable range. I'm not getting any smoke, anywhere throughout the rev range. With my current tune, the he221w delivers plenty of air. We'll see what happens once i crank it up but, i imagine the 6mm pump maxed out will have some long injection duration, resulting in high EGTs.

I don't have an EMP gauge yet. Do you have any recommendations for something quick/dirty? I don't need anything permanent, just something to see how the 606/he22w1 work at high boost/RPM. I'll figure out what the "safe zone" is and not push it past that.

The 88-94 gmt400 interior doesn't leave a whole lot of room for gauges. My plan is to hack up the ash tray/ cigarette lighter as a (2) 52mm gauge pod. Boost and EGT. This will allow me to "flip" the gauges out of sight when i'm not towing, romping around, or boosting up a mountain road. I hate pillar gauges. When the ash tray is flipped up, everything will look stock and the factory gauges (speedo, tach, oil press, coolant temp, battery, fuel) will all function like OEM.

 
#31 ·
Im running one of those glowshift 3 to 1 combo gauges in my TDi swap and amazingly still working great after 40k miles. For EMP you can temporarily yank the EGT out (assuming its a 1/8 NPT) and go grab one of those quick and cheap brake line replacements thats 1 ft long at NAPA that has flared ends and 1/8 NTP fittings already on it. Thread it into your manifold bend it into a usable shape thats out of the way and slide a hose on the end and hook it to a mechanical boost gauge. Its simple and temporary and can be removed quickly. Some guys run them all the time but I see no need to after you get a baseline or for troubleshooting. The DSL1 is a no brainier for the 606 and you get some 7.5 plungers in there and you will be able to make all the torque you will need.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Hey guys. A short update here.

The swap probably has about 200 miles on it. I managed to blow a u-joint up the first day driving the truck to work. I had to cruise in third gear & ~25mph all the way home. These era GM trucks are a nightmare to find certain parts for. Mine is no exception. after 4 trips to the local NAPA, i finally found the right u-joint. The next thing to explode will probably be by poor 10-bolt. oh well.

I've been chasing a nasty cold start issue (fogging out the whole street with white/unburned diesel). The truck would start just fine but, as soon as the afterglow shut off, idle quality was terrible. Tons of white smoke & misfires while trying to leave the neighborhood.

- i installed a set of cleaned/pop tested injectors.
- advanced timing ~3*
- increased afterglow to numbers closer to closer to factory numbers (up to 180 seconds when very cold).

This definitely cleaned up my cold starts. I can leave the neighborhood without embarrassing myself. It's still very clacky and has an occasional misfire at idle though, i'll keep digging into it... It's a huge improvement from where i was though. It picked up some power as well, with the advanced timing. This thing moves really well for it's weight and engine size.

Baldur released a fix to change how he calculates RPM. this fixed my RPM spike issue. I now get the full 5000rpm redline out of this thing. Although the little he221w is just blowing hot air at that point, it sounds awesome.

After installing the EGT gauge, I went for a quick canyon run. Coolant temp never went over 79c (174f). EGT's however will be an issue. Granted, I'm overfueling at higher rpm, EGTs can quickly skyrocket past +1400*f. Water meth may help but, if i ever expect to tow with this thing, significantly decreased fuel or a 7.5mm pump (shorter injection duration) may be in order.


 
#34 ·
I cut fuel a bit but, EGR still climbs pretty quickly. I'm still getting excessive clacking, smoke after the GP's shutoff, and occasional misfire while warm.


Will advanced or retarded timing result in excessive egts? It's also my understanding that these pumps will increase injection duration when "maxed out", which could also increase EGT.
 
#35 ·
No expert here, but I'm of the impression that retarded timing will result in higher EGTs as there would not be sufficient time to burn the added fuel. You should probably try advancing a bit more, cautiously. I've looked at my EGTs playing with the timing and they do seem to lower with more advanced timing. So the more fuel you add, the better if timing's advanced a bit to allow for added time needed to inject and conbustion. This is where 7.5mm elements should help...from what I've heard. The clacking and smoke, is the pump calibrated?
 
#38 ·
hey guys, It's been a while...

To answer a few questions...
1. The pump is not calibrated. It's got about 280k miles on the clock now and could maybe use a rebuild.
2. You can't see any type of injection timing data with the DSL1. No fault of the dsl1... the Mercedes EDC pump is basically an old-school bosch inline (think P-Pump) pump with a solenoid-controlled fuel rack. It's really basic.
3. For motor mount consideration, I checked to make sure the engine was tilted properly (for driveshaft/pinion angle) and i measured center-of-crankshaft to the outside of the frame rails. I was later informed that this was "wrong" as the original small block doesnt sit centered in the frame rails. Lol, thanks GM. So, my driveshaft potentially doesnt run parallel with the frame? Oh well, we'll see that happens. that, or, the driveshaft didn't run paralled w/ the frame from the factory... and now it does. Who knows.


Updates: I've advanced timing quite a bit and significantly lengthened after glow timing. This drastically halped my blue smoke & misfire scenario. The engine still clacks and misfires occasionally (before reaching operating temp) but, is much better than before. Timing advance drastically helped EGT as well. I'm "only" reaching ~1300f on extended WOT pulls now. Not perfect, still better than soaring past 1500.

I unplugged the wastegate as well. Boost by fuel, yo. This is where the DSL1 shines. I can cut fuel as the turbo starts to fall off (~3700rpm) so that I'm not dumping fuel and cooking pistons at high RPM. I'm seeing a Max of 32psi and this 6mm pump is maxed out. This is all this setup's got.

That said, a buddy of mine with a '98 k1500 (250hp) and I lined up a few weeks back for some friendly pulls. From a 10-60ish roll (where his 2nd gear ends) I had over a truck length on him. I figured I'd be quicker but, not by that much. not bad for a little german 3.0L

Fuel milage... oh yes. My first actual test included a 200 mile drive down to CO springs and back. Most of which was done +80mph. that tank (~300mi total) returned 24mpg. the next tank, which was commuting to work (75% hwy, 25% city) returned 25.4mpg. Since advancing my timing, It appears to be using even less fuel. On a hypermiling, 60mph, etc. road trip... I'd be knocking on the door of 30. I'm blown away by this. I expected low, low 20's from the 606. They're known for their performance, not their fuel economy.

For anyone who's interested, I've attached my pricing spreadsheet. it wasn't cheap. Not including the price of the truck, I've got a little over $6k into it. I've done my best to keep track of every nut, bolt, fluid, maintenance items, etc purchased though and i didn't spare any expense on this build. Not including maintenance items (rusty fenders, worn seals, broken camshafts, etc) the cost-to-swap was ~$4.700. Would an LS swap been cheaper? Sure but, see my thoughts above on LS swaps above.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dK71RflS382unY4R5BKKwHq3RleZCQJXk-B9-mhd65A/edit?usp=sharing

I have a new-to-me e55 AMG (470hp) that's been collecting dust in the driverway for the past week. The truck is too much fun to not drive.

side exit exhaust they said, it'll be fun they said.



Here's me, 25 years ago, with my truck. I was pretty stoked when my dad sent this pic over.
 
#40 ·
I've had an om617 in Colorado for about 20 years. Maybe this information will help you.

Because of the altitude (Loveland is roughly around 5280 ft, that is why we are the mile high state), Mercedes diesels like more timing at higher altitude. You should have added at least 2 degrees to the stock setting, although I would go even higher if the engine likes it. More timing will also decrease EGTs, this is true for both gas and diesel motors.

You should also run more boost, I have run double the stock pressure for a long time. As long as the head gasket and the head stud/bolt can take it, you can run a lot more boost without affecting how the engine runs. The reason that you would want to do that is because your EGT reading should drop. And yes, you should control the engine with the fuel rather than the boost. Excess boost will just decrease EGT, it won't result in more power until more fuel is added to the mix. This will also clean up emissions, which can be handy. i don't know about gas converted vehicles in Colorado, but anything that originally had a diesel in it is required to be strapped to a dyno and have opacity measured, every year for emissions so you can have it registered. There isn't any gasoline cars that have to do emissions anymore in Colorado, but they still require it for diesels.

If your motor has an ALDA, make sure it is working.

If your motor has an EGR this should also drop the EGT readings, especially under heavy loads.

If your motor has trouble starting, increase the amount of time the glow plugs operate (within limits, you can burn them out). If you have any loss of compression in your motor from stock, it will make it hard to start in the winter. Mercedes stock glow plug timing have also always been inadequate, this makes them hard to start too. It also helps if your relay is hooked directly to the battery through the shortest length of cable, and it has a large diameter power cable supplying it. On older Mercedes motors the power isn't always hooked direct to the relay because they run the big power wire to the ignition switch and then to the relay - which is pretty stupid, since you already have a relay to take the heavy current. Sometimes you have to put in ANOTHER relay so that the main power doesn't go directly through the ignition switch. Then the ignition switch just controls the added relay instead of handling a lot of power. It won't matter in your case, because you have a GM ignition switch.

To improve the starting ability of my OM617, I had a custom gear reduction starter motor made up for it (Mean Green Starters). I also changed the stock relay configuration, added the later glow plugs, increased the diameter of the power cable running to the relay, and used an aftermarket battery (Predator).

Older Mercedes diesels have always been cold blooded. If you can get them running, you need to put them under a load so that some heat builds in the motor. Block heaters are a necessity in cold climates, and some people even have to run two of them. Block heaters can raise your electric bill noticeably, so you might want to use a timer in conjunction with the block heater. Fuel is also important in cold weather. Petroleum companies have always changed the cetane rating somewhat during cold weather, but it usually isn't enough. It's pretty common for those that run diesels in the winter to add a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline to every tank of diesel used, and Mercedes mechanics tell their customers to do this also. This helps with starting and helps to build heat into the motor. If your motor is having trouble continuing to run when cold, you might still have some diesel in it that is a summer blend rather than a winter blend.

There is one place that specializes in modified OM606 injection pumps, but it is in Switzerland (Dieselmeken). You might be able to get some barrels and delivery valves from them, then have one of the Cummins pump rebuilders/modifiers from the US install them in your pump. Both the Cummins P7100 pump and the OM606 pumps are inline Bosch Injection pumps, so it shouldn't be hard for them.

If you are having trouble finding unique original Mercedes parts, you can usually get them through Salim's in Colo. Springs. Phone number (719) 475-7070.
 
#42 ·
I think steering hardware would be in the way still. That said, you could probably get by with a rear sump pan without the modifications I had to do.

Been a while since my last post but, I’ve got some pretty big updates.


I have somewhere between 5-8k miles on the swap now. I’ve got 4x4 all hooked up and working, (most) leaks fixed, and most of my bugs worked out. I average 23.5mpg combined and my worst fill-up was 21mpg (mud tires installed, winter fuel, in-town & some towing (4Klb trailer). I’ve been working on ECU tuning, smoothing things out and reducing smoke. Aside from the Quick Spool logic, it’s a pretty clean burning setup, which is awesome for daily driving.


I’ve got 2 issues though, that will require and engine pull:


#1. My welded/modified oil pan is cracked and leaking. This is partially my fault. I had a friend do the welding pro-bono. There were a few pinhole leaks here and there. I felt bad asking him to redo them so, i got a little creative with some JB weld. Mistake.


#2. This is a big one… This past summer, I started to hear some rattling coming from the drivetrain. A closer look… The outer piece of the 2 piece Mercedes flexplate started to come loose. This assembly is held together (for positioning) by 3 rivets. It is then held together (structurally) by bolting a torque converter to the flexplate… my setup, not having a torque converter, relied only on the rivets… which eventually wore out







I tried to fix this issue by welding the flexplate through the access hole in the oil pan. I used a TIG welder and did not add any material. This would ensure i’m not throwing the flexplate off balance. Still, I did not the flexplate perfectly centered. This caused my crank position sensor to occasionally “miss” crank pulses. This caused hard misfires and inconsistent rack position/output. Not good.


So, it’s time to pull the engine. And if I’m going through the pain of pulling that thing out… the low mileage spare engine is going back in (from the parts car I bought last year).

It’s the quietest 606 i’ve ever heard…

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Zpnbf2u6h5cvaBGLA





I’m not going to think about all the money I poured into the old engine… It’s been sold to a buddy to swap into a 1976 s-class mercedes.


With the sale of the old engine, I’ve somehow managed to justify a DM 7.5mm Dieselmeken Pump. Ordered straight from DM, it wasn’t cheap but, these guys are the best in the business. Erik was great to deal with and also provided some idle calibration rack position values. This will help when setting the pump up with the DSL1.

 
#43 ·
So, this engine needs some work. As always, the “well, while i’m in there, i may as well…” logic set in and i’m replacing a bunch of parts:

  1. Valve stem seals
  2. Valve cover, oil pan, water pump, turbo train, intake/exhaust manifold, injection pump, oil pump housing seams/gaskets
  3. Replacing two broken glowplugs
  4. Replacing all valve springs with om648 units (who knows, maybe i’ll need to rev this thing little higher one day)
  5. Front and rear main seals
  6. Clean intake valves
  7. Coolant Bypass mod

For broken glow plugs, I used this method: https://sites.google.com/site/alanmcreynolds/howtoremovebrokenglowplugs-mercedesom606.


I’d highly recommend it.








Cleaning the intake valves. Diesel fuel, banded-together zip ties, and elbow grease. I’d then tip the engine on it’s side to dump all the gunk out, then spray them down with brake cleaner. This worked a lot better than vacuuming out the gunk.


after:







Cams/lifters removed for valve work.




New Front & Rear Main Seals




Not the prettiest “machine shop” setup but, i needed to made sure the waterpump housing was drilled and tapped perfectly straight for the AN fittings i’ll be installing.








That pretty much brings us up-to-date. The engine is pretty much stripped down. I’m waiting on parts (valve springs) at the moment. For the time being, I'll work on cleaning & painting this engine and starting to pull the old engine. I’ve been daily’ing the truck up until this point so, it’ll suck to take it off the road again. Hopefully the swap doesn't take long.


 
#46 ·
Yes, the merc flexplate is sandwiched "behind" the flywheel and adapter (this allows you to use the factory starter). those bolt holes are "floating" out in space with nothing to bolt up to. the crank adapter is just that, only a crank adapter. I've got grade 8 bolts in there now with lock washers... should do the job.

Great swap and thread detailing it. I did a 606 into a toyota t100 about 3 years ago, also with Baldurs ECU and also a manual transmission. I've been looking at upgrading to the HE221w turbo...hence how I found this thread....and I'm really glad I did because I've got the potential to have the same issue as you with those missing torque converter bolts. Mine hasn't slipped, not sure how as it's got about 12,000 miles on it, but i'm sure it's just waiting to happen. sorry to hear it did on yours, but thanks at least for posting it to help the rest of us.

I will say I'm curious how yours drove with that flywheel, I'm using a stock toyota 3.4 flywheel (23 lbs) and it looks heavier than the one that came in your kit. For a car application the 23lb one I have seems fine, but for a truck the om606 doesn't have grunt down low due to the short stroke, lower displacement, so I'm thinking it really needs a much heavier flywheel. Curious if you found the same or if it's just something I'm finding.

Also it looks like you used the same dodge engine mounts as I did, did you find they transfer a lot of vibration to the frame/cab of the truck? In hindsight I wish I had gone with the mercedes fluid filled ones, but I built my motor mounts at a 45° like you so I'm sol there.

If you were curious, my build thread is over on IH8mud, it won't let me post a link but if you google "om606 1994 t100" it's the top result
White lightning! I took notes on your swap back in the day. it's one of the swaps that pushed me to an om606 behind a full size truck!.

The "gutlessness" of the om606 seems to be part of the game. My om642 powered jeep isn't much better. Even with a VGT that spools by 1600rpm, direct injection, and a much lighter vehicle, it's a complete dog outside of boost. A buddy of mine (anothernord on ih8mud) who's only a few miles down the road form me has the same complaint, no power off-bost.

Regarding motor mounts... there's a little vibration at idle but, not any more than the factory v8. As soon as i come off idle it's perfectly smooth. Are you using the diesel truck mounts? or the v8 Gas/van mounts? yeah... the GM had these massive 45* angle perches right in the middle of everything. I figured i'd put them to use as opposed to cutting them off.

Hey man, while i've got you here... is there any chance you'd be willing to share your CAD drawing for the motor? I'm building a crazy turbo setup and it's help big-time with my manifold fabrication.
 
#45 ·
Great swap and thread detailing it. I did a 606 into a toyota t100 about 3 years ago, also with Baldurs ECU and also a manual transmission. I've been looking at upgrading to the HE221w turbo...hence how I found this thread....and I'm really glad I did because I've got the potential to have the same issue as you with those missing torque converter bolts. Mine hasn't slipped, not sure how as it's got about 12,000 miles on it, but i'm sure it's just waiting to happen. sorry to hear it did on yours, but thanks at least for posting it to help the rest of us.

I will say I'm curious how yours drove with that flywheel, I'm using a stock toyota 3.4 flywheel (23 lbs) and it looks heavier than the one that came in your kit. For a car application the 23lb one I have seems fine, but for a truck the om606 doesn't have grunt down low due to the short stroke, lower displacement, so I'm thinking it really needs a much heavier flywheel. Curious if you found the same or if it's just something I'm finding.

Also it looks like you used the same dodge engine mounts as I did, did you find they transfer a lot of vibration to the frame/cab of the truck? In hindsight I wish I had gone with the mercedes fluid filled ones, but I built my motor mounts at a 45° like you so I'm sol there.

If you were curious, my build thread is over on IH8mud, it won't let me post a link but if you google "om606 1994 t100" it's the top result
 
#47 ·
Finally got some time to get the old engine pulled. This was really only possibly by pulling the core support, which wasn’t too bad.







Flywheel and clutch look decent. I don’t see any excessive wear or hot spots.









I found the issues with my flywheel “fix” pretty quickly. Off center before welding and it looks like i arc’d across a few of the crank position flags.






Took quite a bit of cleaning but, i decided i wanted to paint this engine. I decided on cummins beige as it’s really close to the OEM valve color.






Milling out some cracks in the oil pan welds to have re-welded.

 
#48 ·
Replaced all valve stem seals and all valve springs with e320 CDI springs.




Adding Water/Meth Injection this time around and I wan’t to see what my intercooler’s up to so, I added a GM intake air temp sensor.




Also adding a wideband 02 sensor. I’m only interested in logging & tuning. I didn’t want something with a gauge. I don’t have room for it and I’d likely never need to view it while driving. This controller outputs a 0-5v signal that the DSL1 can monitor.




Added the “dieselmeken” coolant bypass. This takes coolant from the water pump and delivers it directly in between cylinders 5-6. The idea is that the coolant is heat saturated by the time it reaches the rear cylinders. Lots of folks have reported that when these engines overheat, the head gasket always fails near 5&6. I used 10AN fittings and Summit PTFE braided stainless lines. The entire mod cost about $75.





7.5mm Dieselmeken pump installed and timed. I wasn’t sure about this color choice but… I’m pretty sold now. Not bad.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kdzGId7gAqrDjjvmUikT4DRFqZGo_SbXQAtqOGKVPknoq98rS1GrwA1jfppOZ54dGIWG8ZBy7LhOCFKUa4ngadQ8H4IMjFv5VIoFBfWQNj-tWkCUPJmw3M5ASbkIHqItO4vjF6fVtHo=w800[img]

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7BBqgK5UX2ylA1sUr_PWFEeZbSrajYLftbKD81phLCMKfFE8K54l8N1Eo9kW9_7fb9BOUXc8ox8Yhwi3yao_hmcZxLivVnNP8UYda2_grMRNftD-izvKj8gB-V_0u0-lmCGL9L1ykiY=w800





After getting everything back together, It’s finally sitting on it’s own mounts. Getting the engine and trans mated wasn’t a lot of fun but… that process never is. I’ve got a few more updates here and there but, my goal today was to get the engine back in this truck (it’s 70* today and is forecasted to be 0* tomorrow so… this needed to happen. Now I’ve got a short list of upgrades i can tinker with:


  • O2 wiring
  • IAT wiring
  • MAF wiring
  • Water/Meth Injection plumbing and wiring
  • Proper Oil Catch can and crank case ventilation
  • Air Conditioning.
 
#50 ·
I'm using what I believe are the gas v8 ones, the anchor 2469 instead of the 2710s that I initially had. The 2710s were made for the 1000lb 6BT I believe, and were way to stiff.

As for the engine CAD i'll happily share it...however i'm not sure how accurate it is in the areas you need, I really only measured the bellhousing area relative to the top of the engine to get the rotational angles right. The CAD is on my other computer, but i'll post it here if it lets me (Ih8mud won't let me post CAD type files).

Interesting on the new turbo. I'm curious what you thought of the he221w, I've been strongly considering switching to it, but I want to make sure it doesn't spool any later than the tiny 606 turbo I've got. Do you recall what rpm it started making noticeable (>5psi) boost at?

Good stuff on all those updates/upgrades you're adding....you're making me feel lazy haha like I need to go back and make some updates on mine. I'm interested to see what you do with the wideband, I'm pretty familiar with tuning a few gas vehicles, but I've never done any diesel tuning with one, just egt.
 
#51 ·
Interesting. Once I get this thing going again, I'll pay a little closer attention to vibration but, i don't think mine has been an issue.


@ 30psi, the 221w hits full boost at 2000rpm (in 5th gear). It starts to run out of steam at around 3500rpm. I'm at elevation so, I suffer in all areas on the map. at sea level, you'd get an earlier spool and a little more top end, it'll never spool as quick as the factory turbo though. IIRC, it spools around 1600rpm. The 221w makes a lot of torque though and made this thing really enjoyable to drive.

5psi (~800mbar atmospheric + 344mbar additional) comes on at about 1750 RPM.



Up until this point, I've only tuned via EGT as well (and pointing my passenger side mirror toward the tail pipe to view smoke (not the most accurate way to tune...)) I'm interested in AFR for areas outside of boost (mainly reducing smoke while cruising and trying to hit that 19-22:1 efficiency AFR. when in boost, it only makes as much boost as the amount of fuel you throw at it (to an extent) so, that part's pretty easy. The o2 and Intake Air Temp should allow me to put together a legitimate speed density tune. We've got some big temperature fluctuations here in CO so, it'll be nice to have accurate tuning in all temps/elevations.
 
#52 ·
Turbos:

the HE221w is a great upgrade for a 6mm pump'd 606. sacrifices a little spool for a whole lot more power.

Once i decided to go 7.5mm pump, I'm not sure the he221w makes much sense anyway. It looks like the 6mm pump can pretty much push it to it's limits. That said, I didn't want to sacrifice any more low end spool. modern VGT turbos are cool but, only have marginal benefits over the 221w (slightly earlier spool, & support for maybe 300hp. Power that falls off under 4500rpm. That's no fun in a diesel that's good for 5500.

I thought about compounds. I could compound the 221w with an hx super 40... that added a lot of complexity though. compressor matching probably wouldn't be perfect and the 221w compressor would be somewhat of a bottleneck up top. it's turbine would have to be bypassed with a massive wastegate at high RPM. I really like the simplicity and reliability of this build so far and i don't what to screw that up with overcomplicated turbocharging.

So, what about sequential turbos: The HP turbo is fully bypassed at high rpm so you get the best of both worlds. A small turbo to get going and a big turbo that runs independent when when higher flow is needed. no insane pressure ratios (high egt) and absurd intake manifold pressures (+60psi blowing off boost couplers). There are a few manufacturers that have built sequential systems over the past few years. The benefit here is, it's a proven system. Guaranteed to last for a while and properly matched compressors/turbines.

Borg warner has an RS2 system on newer BMW inline 6's (3.0L) that look like they make good power but, are still out of steam by 4500rpm. A little known secret is the Holset M2 from the Cummins-Powered Nissan Titan XD. Folks tuning these trucks are making ~500hp and ~750ft/lbs of torque at the reat wheels. a perfect match for the 7.5mm 606. Max torque comes on at 1600rpm (that's on a 5.0L so, my 606 will take a little longer to spool) and power seems to stick around until ~4250rpm (again, on a 5.0L. this should allow me to make power to redline on the 3.0L 606).

The turbos use a rotary valve to divert exhaust gasses to either the LP or HP turbo. it also has an exhaust brake mode that essentially shuts off flow out of the exhaust manifold. Holset has a pretty good demonstration on youtube.

I found a set of these on ebay, with the output pipe dented. I'm going to end up cutting that off anyway so, I got a deal on an otherwise-new setup. I also scored an actuator (Can Bus servo motor). If i can't get the factory actuator to work, there are a handful of other servo actuators out there that i can adapt.




You can see the size difference between the two turbos. The he221w is somewhere in the middle. The HP turbo is tiny, hopefully this equates to a really early spool.





Pics don't do this thing justice, it's a pretty good sized turbo. From my measurements, it's a little bigger than an hx35. The kicker is, in high flow mode, the HP turbo is not bypassed, it runs in parallel with the LP turbo. you get the flow of both without "compounding" from one to the other.


I ordered a 5/8" thick flange from Benzforce (shoutout to Rodney, he's a great guy and does a lot for the 606 community) and have started designing a log manifold. I've never built one of these before so input is valued but, know, this is a heavy turbo (~50lbs) so, strength is key (and one of the reasons i'm not going for a tubular manifold). Dealing with these oval exhaust ports is proving to be a real pain. that said, since i'm not going tubular, i don't see a real need to "convert" from oval to round when i can just dump them into the "log" (2" SCH40 pipe (.154" wall thickness)). I'll have those "port adapters" machined and saddle cut out of 1018 1.5" x 3.5" bar stock. the 2" pipe will be milled/slotted to match. I'll then use a t3 flange to join turbo and manifold (this will require extensive modifications to the turbine housing, more on that later).




 
#54 · (Edited)
hi all! been a while since i've updated. As always, this swap is full of surprises. Where to begin...



A few thousand miles after swapping the new engine, i started to notice an odd metal-on-metal grinding noise at around 2500rpm. it also started to bug me, around that time, that my OE GM oil pressure gauge was reading a little low (never more than 15-20 PSI while running and 5psi at idle). Side note… it has always read low. ALWAYS. Even with the old V8. these old gmt400 oil pressure sending units are famous for reading low. but, of course now that we’re making funny noises, it bothered me.



I decided to verify with a mechanical gauge. Uh oh.



So i’ve got low oil pressure. At least the engine’s not making metal! Uh oh.



Well… time to pull my shiny new-ish 606. The good/sad news is, i had this thing pulled in 3 hours. Getting way too good at this.









I pulled the oil pump. Spoiler alert. The o-ring on top of the pump? That was the source of my low oil pressure. Shame on me for reusing an o-ring. Despite only having about 8k miles on it… that o-ring should not have been reused.





But again, i didn’t know that. So i pulled the cams to look for the source of my metal. No dice, they looked good as new.





Well… that only left one area, right? The bottom end. I really didn’t want to do this but… it was all (i thought) was left. Off came the main and rod caps. Oh look! Perfect bearings!





At this point i was beyond frustrated. I pulled the vacuum pump to get a look at my timing gear and make sure nothing had gone wrong with my new 7.5mm dieselmeken pump… and it hit me. I had reinstalled the internals to the vacuum pump for when i install the Holset M2. and there it was… look at the rear wall of the vac pump. Completely scored and trashed. Finally found the source of my metal, only after tearing the bottom end apart.







This couldn’t possibly get any worse, right? Wrong. That metal on metal noise wasn’t the vac pump or the bearings. When i went to remove the crank, i realized the crank pulley bolt was somewhat loose. Apparently it’s a semi common issue on these… if that bolt’s not torqued to the moon, it’s known to come loose. Not only did it come loose, it broke the key and trashed the pulled and the nose of my crank.









So… this was an expensive set of mistakes but, it landed me with:

  • New crank timing gear
  • New crank keys
  • New harmonic balancer
  • Rebuilt oil pump
  • Deleted vacuum pump (again)
  • New bottom end bearings
I’ve got another 2k miles on the swap since and fingers crossed everything’s been okay. The bottom end bearings were a bit of a gamble. There are no aftermarket bearing kits for these engines so… you can’t machine a bum crank and make up for the clearances in custom bearings. Fortunately, my crank had no measurable wear so, new OEM bearings seem to have done the trick.



I’m now seeing 40psi at cold idle and 40-60psi warm while running above 1500rpm.



what's the good news in all of this? my truck makes these noises:

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#55 ·
While that was out, i decided to upgrade my alternator. The v8 w210 cars came with 150a alts that are a bolt in affair. I had suspicions that my old 90a alternator was sending small voltage spikes through the system so, this was a good excuse to upgrade. Additionally… the w211 PWM controlled fan i had installed for AC would have murdered that poor 90a unit anyway.


A quick pulley swap (diesel alt pulley had to be swapped onto the 150a alt) and i was good to go. Fortunately, even with the increased size of the new alternator, everything still fit.




A/C time. I always say a swap’s not finished until AC’s installed. So, i had custom hoses made, and vacuumed/charged everything up. Everything is wired up via the OEM ac controller. This system originally had 2 high pressure switches and 1 low pressure switch. One of the HP switches was bypassed (it was mounted into the GM pancake AC compressor and i had no way to integrate it). The only thing “different” about this system is the compressor. Both systems are both r134a so, no issues there.


Cooling is controlled by that w211 fan. The DSL1 ECU monitors when AC is running and commands the fan to run at a minimum of 60% (all configurable). Fan speed is also ramped up in relation to engine coolant temp. No power surges. No on/off hysteresis. This reduces a lot of load off the electrical system. Rarely does the fan need to run at 100%






So, at this point… I’ve daily’d the truck all summer. A/C is great. At 23mpg combined, it’s the most fuel efficient vehicle i own. It’s fun to shift gears and the power is great.








So, at this point, i should enjoy things for a while and start to chip away at the rust/bodywork right?


Wrong. When will you people learn.
 
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