Did I waste $5,000 upgrading my old pickup or should I have spent that money on a new pickup? Before the upgrades, the truck accelerated from 0-60 in 17.08 seconds. Towing 10,000 pounds, the truck accelerated from 0-60 in over 45 seconds. Also, the truck is unable to hold highway speed towing 10,000 pounds climbing a 3% grade.
I requested a collaboration with Power Driven Diesel in Cedar City, Utah. A big “thank you” to Will, Todd, Myer, Griffith, Reed, Levi, Pedro, and the rest of the team at Power Driven Diesel for their role in this review. In part 1 of 2, I travel out to Power Driven Diesel for the upgrades to the engine. I do not accept sponsorships and I paid for all of the parts, fluids, etc used to upgrade the engine. In part 2, I rebuild the transmission. I paid for all of the parts used to upgrade the transmission.
I do not receive any form of commission or financial benefit from the sale of Power Driven Diesel parts. Here are the links to the parts I purchased for the upgrades. I used 055 delivery valves and not the 025 listed in the engine upgrade kit. I highly recommend calling Power Driven Diesel’s customer support team to discuss upgrades. They are friendly and very helpful.
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➡ Products Tested In This Video (in no particular order):
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Older vehicles can be money pits and Newer Vehicles can be extremely Expensive and they depreciate quickly so The question is should you just fix up The old one well let's head out to Utah And I've got a bunch of upgrades to do To my old Dodge truck and we'll see if It's a waste of money or if it's worth It I've had this old 1996 Dodge Ram for Over 16 years but it's incredibly slow The transmission really struggles to Keep up with the engine and the engine Makes about half the torque and Horsepower of a modern engine the Establisher Baseline and made two Attempts from 0 to 60 MPH and the Fastest attempt the truck made it to 60 MPH and 7 .08 seconds that's pretty slow Is there a modern vehicle that's that Slow probably not I have a Chevrolet Suburban in the back of this trailer in About 1,000 lb of extra things in the Front of the trailer so the truck and Trailer combined weigh somewhere around 16 to 177,000 lb let's see how this Truck performs Towing and the truck is Going up a small grade probably around 4° and it's losing several milph let's See how the truck performs going from 0 To 60 with the trailer and the truck Finally made it to 60 mph in just over 45 seconds that's pretty slow is there a Modern vehicle that's that slow probably Not I reached out to the power driven
Diesel team and a big thank you for Agreeing to collaborate at my request I Never accept sponsorships and I paid for All the parts for the upgrade I'm a her Of power driven diesel we're about to Dino test a 12 valve cumins it's my 1996 Dodge Ram nothing's been done to this Engine we're going to guess how much Horsepower this engine produces on the Dyno I'm guessing 150 horsepower what do You think will 180 is the factory rating My guest is 132 my I'm going to do 134 All right let's see who's the closest The left side of the screen shows speed In MPH top Center is horsepower top Right is torque bottom center is exhaust Gas temperature and bottom right is Boost all right I was guessing 150 on The dyno I guessed way off 134 and we Made 165 uncorrected corrected it's just To count for weather and stuff uh 205 so This is a factory freak I would call That before working on the truck will And Meer are running a simulation on the Dyno pulling a 10,000lb trailer and it Took just over 55 seconds to go from 45 To to 80 mph when it comes to a diesel Exhaust gas temperature is a big deal And you don't want it to go much over 1200° for a long period of time and the Truck reach just over 1200° during the Pull to help provide a good view of the Engine while working on it the front Hood will come off and I'll lower the
Truck as much as possible the goal of The project is to build a truck that Accelerates and Toes a 10,000lb trailer Almost as well as a modern diesel pickup Upgrading one or two things will only Create other problems so about a dozen Things need to be upgraded starting with The turbo so how does a turbo help the Exhaust exits the engine at a high Pressure and Spins the turbo f like Blades up to very high speed the turbo Then draws in clean air which is then Pushed into the engine with a lot of Force the factory turbo just doesn't Move enough air or make enough pressure To compete with a modern diesel engine But that's about the change we're going To replace the factory Turbo with one That has a larger Inlet and Outlet it Also allows us to bake more boost and More air flow however the larger turbo Won't do us much good unless we change Out a lot more engine parts and Meer has Definitely been through this process Hundreds of times his efficiency every Removing the turbo is very impressive And that instills a lot of confidence There's a lot of other work that needs To be done before installing the new Turbo so will is going to remove the Intake horn and the valve covers Compared to the Duramax and the power Smoke the is definitely offers the Easiest access for repairs and upgrades
It took about 5 minutes and all of the Valve covers have been removed even the Valve covers near the firewall are still Pretty easy to access the single piece Factory exhaust manifolds can actually Shrink over time this can actually cause Damage to the cylinder head Myer's Approach to removing the exhaust bolts Is the best I've seen even after 27 Years of oxidation his approach was Successful and he did not break a single Exhaust bolt and all about 10 minutes of Work to remove the exhaust manifold this Is the number six exhaust Port looking At just the suit buildup the exhaust Manifold has already begun to shrink and It's barely within the ceiling range the Bolts holding the number six exhaust Port onto the cylinder head were Actually bent even the exhaust gasket is Bent inward so it's a very good thing That I'm having a new exhaust manifold Installed the fuel lines are in the way And need to come off will highly Recommends removing all the fuel lines Together or it'll be very difficult to Figure out the proper installation Pattern my and wheel work together and Had the fuel lines off in under 10 Minutes after a few more minutes each of The fuel injectors are ready to be Removed with the fuel injectors out of The way this makes it very simple to Figure out if the Piston is in top dead
Center placing the Piston at top dead Center is a very important step in the Process of valve spring replacement when The Piston's at top dead center it'll Prevent the valves from falling down Into the cylinder the factory valve Spring in retainer is on the right it Has small 6° locks adding horsepower and RPM can actually cause the retainers to Pull through and crack unfortunately the Engine will end up with a valve dropping Into the cylinder the Chromo ret Containers on the left are much stronger And made in USA and they also have a 10° Lock so it offers a lot more strength And it wedges better onto the valve the New valve spring has 60 more pounds of Strength for a total of 250 lbs on the Valve seat compared to the factory valve Springs when the valve is open so why do You need stronger valve springs when the Valves get moving so fast they actually Begin to float in other words the valves Stay open way too long from the factory The cumin 5.9 only spins up to about 2900 maybe 3,000 RPM at Red Line we're Going to make this engine spin a lot Faster and we definitely need stronger Vales Springs to improve performance I've been told that if you are buying a Brand new Ram with the cumin you're Already getting an engine that includes This upgrade from the factory Meer is Working on the number one cylinder valve
Springs he's using a valve spring Compression tool once the valve springs Are compressed he'll remove the Retaining clips and springs he's already Placed the piston and top dead center so The valves will rest on top of the Piston until the new valve springs are In place while the valve springs are Removed the new push rods will go in This is a factory push rod it's about 38 Of an inch and it has a wall thickness Of 0.80 the new push rods are 7 16's Chromo and they have a 33% thicker wall Unfortunately the factory push rods Bend In Bow under hard use and just don't Offer nearly as much strength the engine Is going to be set up to rev to around 4,000 RPM when we're finished so the Stronger valve springs and push rods are Critically important to the upgrade While Myer finishes up adding the 60lb Valve springs will is changing out the Delivery valves on the injection pump so What is an injection pump the injection Pump on a diesel engine pumps fuel into The cylinders of the engine this 1996 Ram has a 12 valve engine with a p7 100 Mechanical injection pump so what Exactly do delivery valves do and why The upgrade delivery valves are Essentially check valves installed Between the injection pump and the Injector they control the overall amount Of fuel that goes into the injector
Before it is sprayed into the Piston Bowl so a larger delivery valve allows For a longer duration of the injection Event which increases potential power Especially at higher RPM so which tools Do you guys use here at Power driven Diesel for all the shop tools we use Makita like it all like the assigned Tools for the various areas I like them Because they proven to be really really Reliable and I feel like they're derated For what they are so they they can't Really break themselves for like the Shop use or like uh Mechanics Tools we Use basically solely Milwaukee just Because they do hit harder and you're Working on across the old truck or Something you need to be able to hit That nut hard enough to be able to get It off fortunately the team at Power Driven diesel has an extra engine that We can use to show the upgrades the Shutdown sillinoid needs to come off First so we can change out the governor Springs to allow the engine to run at a Much higher RPM the shut down arm will Come off next it's held in place by 516 Pinch bolt after the shut down arm comes Off it's absolutely critical that the Half moon key doesn't become lost the Size is a metric M4 Half Moon Key and is Pretty hard to find in a typical Hardware store the wire covering the Governor spring access port indicates
That the governor Springs have not been Tampered with yet once the engine gets To about 2600 RPM the old Governor Springs are going to really cut back the Fuel and limit the horsepower that needs To change so we can actually get some RPM out of this engine that's the Governor spring assembly unfortunately We're almost lined up we'll rotate the Engine just a little more to line up the Springs with the access port once the Plug is removed it helps to use a Flashlight to look inside the oil filled Hole then bar over the motor using a 7/8 In socket at the front of the alternator The alternator pulley is a great option But we'll have to use the harmonic Balancer bolt since the alternator has Been removed to remove the governor Spring retainer you can Notch a Screwdriver or a piece of metal or you Can just buy this tool you'll feel or Possibly hear a click every 90° it Really helps if you keep count of the Number of clicks so you can install the New Springs to the original tension the Number of clicks has a pretty big impact On the quality of idle and the idle Speed also the throttle becomes pretty Touchy if the Springs are too tight and It may hang up RPM around 2500 and not Fully return to idle a pencil magnet is A great tool for removing all of the Original Springs and shims it's a great
Idea to take everything out just so the Shim and the base doesn't remain inside The pump after everything comes out Reinstall the wear washer first then the Two shims and finally the large spring Which is the idle spring there's a base As well as three new Springs that come With the 4K governor spring kit that go Into the pump after the new governor Springs go in go ahead and reuse the Governor spring retainer and return the Retainer to the original number of Clicks to seat everything straight Sometimes it helps to go past the Original number of clicks and then back Off the tension to the original number Since the injector pump does contain two Sets you'll have to go and rotate the Pump until the other set of Springs Lines up with the window before Reinstalling the plug it's a good idea To make sure the gasket didn't fall out It's very critical to reinstall the Shutdown arm properly with the key in The proper position if the key falls out Of place or not done properly the engine Might not start or it might not shut off We can now go ahead and reinstall the Shutdown solenoid let's go ahead and Replace the lift pump next the lift pump Moves fuel from the fuel tank to the Injection pump the factory lift pump Doesn't move quite enough fuel the Upgraded lift pump should be able to
Provide plenty of fuel to the injection Pump we'll go ahead and remove a couple Of 10 mm bolts to get the fuel line out Of the way we use a couple of wrenches To remove the fuel line that's attached To the lift pump we'll then remove the Fuel line that's attached on top of the Fuel filter housing there are two bolts That hold the lift pump in in place I Highly recommend replacing the two bolts With studs this makes installing the Lift pump a lot easier once the lift Pump is back in place just reinstall the Fuel lines and you're all set with the Lift pump so the governor Springs will Allow the engine to run at a higher RPM And the lift pump will supply more fuel Let's go ahead and Advance the timing of The ejection pump from the factory Setting of 13.5 de to 18° before top Dead center advancing the timing will Give us about 30 more horsepower and a Little bit better fuel efficiency the First step is to remove the oil fill Assembly this will give us direct access Tojust adust the timing of the injection Pump let's go and remove the valve Covers for cylinders 1 and six so we can Find top dead center let's go and bar Over the engine using the alternator Pulley and we're looking for valve Overlap on number six when the intake And exhaust valves cross over that'll Let us know when we're very close to top
Dead center so what exactly is top dead Center top dead center is the point in Which the piston in the number one Cylinder position of your engine is at The highest point on the compression Stroke on the back side of the timing Case there's a pin that engages the cam Shaft gear the cam shaft gear is located Between the crankshaft in the injection Pump push in the pin and rotate the Engine just enough so that the gear will Grab and hold the pin in the lock Position now that the pin is in the lock Position we can loosen a 30 mm injection Pump nut without moving the engine out Of top dead center the engine's Crankshaft and cam shaft are now pinned Now we need to go ahead and pin the Injection pump before we set the timing Let's remove the plug behind the Injection pump let's go ahead and remove The pin and we'll flip it over 180° so That the end with the slot is inserted Back into the pump let's reinstall the Nut so the injection pump pin doesn't Fall out so the timing is now at the Factory set 13.5 de before top dead Center the crankshaft cam shaft and Timing are all pinned and cannot move Let's go Ahad and place a degree wheel On the harmonic balancer and then we'll Place a wire on the front of the engine As a point of reference just about any Stiff wire will work just fine but we
Want to make sure that the wire doesn't Become bumped or doesn't move during the Process the deis wheel is adjusted so That the wire is directly over the zero Let's remove the injection pump nut and Washer and then we'll use a pullar to Remove the gear for the injection pump The gear just popped loose let's Reinstall one of the puller bolts and Then we'll pull outward on the gear Let's spray some brake parts cleaner Onto the tapered shaft and gear contact Points to remove as much oil as possible Once we put everything back together we Definitely don't want the timing to slip We're about to adjust the timing so Let's go ahead and pull outward on the Timing pin so that the engine will Rotate let's go and adjust the timing From 13 1/2 to 18° before top dead Center the engine turns clockwise when It runs so if we turn the engine Backwards 4 1/ 12° it's going to inject Fuel 42° earlier in the cycle I highly Recommend tossing out the old lock Washer and then install installing a Nordlock washer that power driven diesel Cells this really helps prevent the Timing from slipping the timing's been Adjusted so let's go ahead and unpin the Injection pump by removing the pin let's Rotate the pin 180° and then reinstall It in the unlock position let's go ahead And torque the injection pump nut to 144
Ft-lb let's reinstall the oil fill Assembly and we're all finished with the Timing procedure let's go back to the Shop and replace the overflow valve on The injection pump the Overflow valve's Job is to maintain the proper fuel Pressure at 17 to 20 psi inside the Injection pump if the fuel pressure is Off due to a faulty ball or broken Spring in the overflow valve it'll cause All kinds of engine performance issues Let's not take a chance and instead We'll install a new high performance one That allows us to bump up the fuel Pressure closer to 30 PSI for increased Performance Meer is also replacing all The cylinder head bolts one at a time With a much stronger set of bolts to Avoid head gasket failure the new Cylinder head bolts are in place and It's time to adjust the valve lash the Common service manual can be very Confusing but meer is using a very Simple process to follow cylinders 1 and Six are compan ion cylinders so are 2 And5 and cylinders 3 and four turn the Engine in the normal Direction and watch The exhaust valves when the exhaust Valve stops moving or it's closed set The valves on the companion cylinder We're definitely in need of some better Fuel injectors power driven diesel sells Power jet injectors which have been Modified from the original design the
Power jet injectors have five standard Size holes in additional two holes that Are half the size of the other five that Initiate an earlier burn sequence the Setup simulates pilot injection that's Used on a modered common rail diesel Engine the benefits of setting up an Injector like this on a 12 valve is it Gets rid of some of the idle haze from a More complete combustion event it also Lowers smoke and egts and my made very Quick work of installing the new fuel Injectors and now he's installing the New exhaust manifold and it's finally Time to install the new turbo the extra Air flow and boost will definitely come In handy with all the other upgrades We're almost finished with all the Engine upgrades and will is removing the AFC which is also called the air fuel Control one of the biggest reasons I Requested a collaboration with power Driven diesel is that they developed a Gadget that works like a programmer on a Mechanically injected diesel without This gadget every time I wanted to Change things I'd have to get under the Hood and make some fine adjustments However I'm able to make infinite number Of adjustments inside the cab as I'm Driving if I want to run at full power I Can toggle the switch known as the let's Find out switch I can set it the engine To safely tow or get maximum fuel
Efficiency regarding the AFC Modifications let's go and replace the Foot which allows for more travel and More fuel we'll also replace the spring On the inside underneath the AFC is the Fuel plate it controls the rack travel Which fects the amount of fuel the p7100 Injection pump delivers we'll just go Ahead and get rid of this fuel plate Since the AFC live will allow us to Adjust this on the Fly while we're Driving the AFC live functions by using Two airlines that run from the Controller through the firewall we'll Connect the airlines to the two 90° Fittings previously installed at the Cylinder head in the AFC with all these Engine upgrades it's very important to Install a boost exhaust gas temperature And transmission temperature gauge let's Go and reinstall the valve covers in the Injector lines and we'll see if this Thing will Run [Applause] It's Alive as will just said the CES is alive So let's go back to the dyno and see how This thing compares to the factory setup I want a truck that performs as close as Possible in performance to a modern Truck and I definitely do not want Exhaust smoke however I do want more Horsepower and torque with the AFC live
Setup for Towing this thing is making a Lot less smoke than some modern trucks Have seen Towing heavy loads I typically Tow at around 2,300 RPM before making The upgrades the engine was making just Over 200 horsepower and now it's making 100 horsepower more at the same exhaust Gas temperature and this thing Burns Very clean and it's making 100 more Horsepower very impressive let's flip The AFC live switch to the let's find Out mode and we'll see how much Horsepower and torque we can make and The old C's just made over 400 Horsepower and the transmission is not Happy unfortunately I made a huge Mistake in and should have upgraded the Transmission before the engine and this Transmission just isn't going to last With this much horsepower so the engine Is making more than 400 horsepower but The transmission's torque converter lock Is slipping badly so we just can't Figure out how much horsepower this Engine is making until we install a high Performance transmission I definitely Don't plan to use let's find out mode Too often since it does cause EGT and Smoke problems however it's a lot of Power if I need it I want to go ahead And set the stage for the next video on A high performance transmission rebuild I've already reinstalled a high Performance transmission in the RAM and
We'll see see how quickly it accelerates With a trailer from 0 to [Music] 60 Towing 10,000 lb I'm having to start Off the test slowly to avoid Tire Spin And the ram still experienc some Tire Spin but the truck is accelerating a lot Faster than before the upgrades before The upgrades it took over 45 seconds to Reach 60 MPH and the ram is up the full Speed in just over 25 seconds or 20 Seconds faster very impressive before The upgrades the ram was losing using Speed climbing a 3 to 4° grade this time The truck is able to actually gain more Speed with very little effort very Impressive this definitely looks like Something I would do using a predator 212 powered minibike to tow a truck up a Hill I had a lot of fun getting to meet And spend time with a great bunch of Hardworking guys that really enjoy what They do and are a lot of fun to be Around whatever it takes to get the job Done so did I waste $5,000 on upgrades Or do I have any regrets actually the Only regret I have is that I didn't do It a lot sooner the truck was incredibly Slow I only drove the truck about 39,000 Mi in 16 years because I just did not Enjoy driving the truck now it's a lot Of fun and it performs extremely well I Definitely don't want a truck that's Very inefficient and makes a lot of
Smoke finally the truck gets better fuel Efficiency and performs so much better So a big thank you to power driven Diesel for working with me and agreeing To the collaboration on the next video We'll put together review on how to Actually rebuild a high performance Transmission I'll be doing all the work But the power driven diesel team is Going to give me step-by-step Instructions as usual all the videos in This channel are viewers suggested so if You have a video idea I hope you'll take Time to leave a comment thanks so much For watching please take care and look Forward to next time