Elecronic Diesel Tuning Devices

[Shayne]

The forum member calling himself KZJ90 which is the only way i can describe him without causing confusion lol , fitted an intercooler then replaced the ECU IIRC from an intercooled prado , long story short he quickly swapped back to the original . It seems logical to me that given the worldwide market of these trucks the ECU is programmed as standard to compensate for significant altitude and heat variations or higher and lower oxygen input . Surely the purpose of an electronic fuel pump is so fueling can adjusted by the ECU ?

I am uncomfortable with the idea of manually upping the fuel as i feel the intercooler and 3" exhaust should by my understanding let the turbo spool much easier and by rights improve mpg ?

White smoke on cold start up suggests to me i am blowing out unburnt fuel . I know this can also be suggestive of far more serious problems but i am reasonably confident that its unburnt fuel because it began immediately after the intercooler was fitted (as far as i'm aware , my exhaust wasn't side exit before so it could have gone unnoticed but i don't think so) .

I need to hook up the electrics and see what happens but i'm posting this as it may be of interest to others contemplating going the same route .

 

[Shayne]

I started her up for 2 minutes then shut it down and removed the cooler , the inside of the cooler is dripping wet with what i can only guess to be partly burnt diesel , i am increasingly beginning to think over fueling is the problem ?

 

[fridayman]

I can't see how diesel would make its way into the intercooler? Also, over fueling should give black smoke if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Shayne]

I can't see how diesel would make its way into the intercooler? Also, over fueling should give black smoke if I'm not mistaken.

My thinking is the turbo is spun by recirculating exhaust gases so if i'm over fueling i'm dumping fuel out of the exhaust it stands to reason everything involved in recirculation will be wet as well including the turbo . Of course i'm guessing i don't have the knowledge required to say for sure hence i post my thoughts here in the hope someone with far more experience might point me in the right direction .

 

[jonnyboy54321]

Thought white smoke on start up was turbo seals giving up the ghost, or blue dependent on which "side" of the turbo?
Or of course it could be steam if the weather is cold or it's using coolant?

 

[Beau]

White smoke on start up especially during these cold weather is just condensation built up in the Exhaust system. Black smoke would show signs of over fuelling. I cant see any logical explanation of why fuel will be in your intercooler but if it was then I'm pretty certain you'll be able to distinctly smell it.

Regarding the whole ECU topic, these engines have no sensor that reads the amount of air or oxygen that goes into the cylinders unlike the newer D4D common rail ones. The only measurement is done through what the turbo is boosting at. These engines are very mechanical! The idea of these trucks being able to run at various altitudes is purely down to the standard fuel and air variables. For example at higher altitudes with less oxygen the ECU should be leaning the fuel out for a more cleaner burn but this does not occur, the same goes for then you up your boost, the ECU knows the boost is higher but it doesn't send more fuel in to compensate for the additional air. The same applies for adding a intercooler thus more oxygen.

By adding a intercooler and a 3" exhaust system, yes your turbo should be spooling up a touch quicker at lower RPM's. However as said above, your engine is now receiving more actual oxygen due to the intercooler but the same amount of fuel. This puts the oxygen to fuel mixture out and in theory it can lead to a less efficient burn (subjective), thus meaning less power and less efficiency which would mean same or worse fuel economy. As said earlier these trucks come out of the factory running more on the lean side for emission reasons. The only way to see more gains from your intercooler is to match your increased oxygen intake and up the fuelling a little. Your 3" exhaust system will then remove these hotter gases quicker and keep your engine running at lower temperatures safely.

 

[Shayne]

Smokes only visible on start up though i do have fears the turbo is about to give up the ghost but at the forefront of my mind is the question "why am i using more fuel?" . The turbo is definitely running much more often now than it did before the intercooler and 3" exhaust were added . Fuel should now burn better but not if its constantly flooded . If you look at the cooler below you will see two electric connections i need to find out what they are and where the should connect to . My thinking is the increased volume of air in the chambers added to the normal volume of fuel simply will not fit so fuel is being dumped constantly . I need either the cooler to talk to the ECU which in turn should command the fuel pump to run leaner and if that doesn't work have the ECU remapped . I can't see how remapping will work because the cooler does nothing while the truck aint moving .

 

[Shayne]

Yikes my coolant hasn't dropped but my engine oil is well down since the last time i looked maybe 2 months ago !

 

[Graham]

I guess the diesel that you found in the inter-cooler, was not diesel, but engine oil.
Looks very much like the seals are on the way out, and this is letting the oil in the turbo to escape past teh seals, adn into the inter-cooler.

I had my inter-cooler off, a couple of years ago, on another 120 series that I bought.
The inter-cooler was damp inside, but it was engine oil.

I would think that there will always be an oily mist in the inter-cooler.

But to loose so much oil so quickly, you really need to find the problem.

My 120 doesn't use any noticeable oil from 1 yearly oil change to the next, so you really must determine if it is the turbo seals, as diesel engines with bad turbo seals have a nasty habit of "running away".
This is where the engine runs out of control, and feeds the combustion on the engine oil, normally resulting in a complete engine explosion,

Gra

 

[Shayne]

I'm baffled , a pint of oil brought it back to level and i have traveled over a thousand miles in the last month . There is no power loss nor hesitation and the truck really does drive well . Only through reading back on my posts today have i realized the truck had all night to sit and was only moved 10ft before i removed the cooler , so perhaps what i'm seeing is simply condensation i would imagine a fair bit of water gathers in the cooler overnight , mix water with carbon deposits and you get black liquid which i (having no sense of smell) thought too thin to be oil and so assumed it to be burnt diesel . I will take the cooler off after doing a decent run and see what i find before attacking the turbo i think .

I'm still banging my head against a wall about how to get a satisfactory fuel to air mix though . Maybe if i get the ECU remapped to match a 90 series auto Prado which has an intercooler as standard might be the way to go ?

 

[mrdelmonti]

Or just wind up the pump a little. Yes it doesn't have the sophistication of running a specific map and just raises fuel at all levels but with the intercooler and exhaust you're going to need more fuel for the majority of the rev range anyway. A custom map (considering the collie ecu requires a piggyback to map) will cost you a few hundred £ whereas turning up the pump will cost you half hour of your time.

 

[Shayne]

You fella's know more than me about these trucks so turning up the fuel seems to be my first port of call , what i can't get my head around though is how am i using more considerably fuel if it's running lean at present ? surely turning up the fuel will just make her more thirsty ?

 

[dunk1]

Is turning up the fuel really the best way as wont it be pumping in to much fuel
all the time ?

Wouldn't it be better to fit the plugin box Lindop sell ?

 

[Beau]

By turning up the fuel it will increase the fuel intake through out the range including at idle. I've turned mine up a good amount (2 turns). There is no increase in RPM's at idle and there is no Black smoke, even when on full load. Yes, a plugin box would be better, some (cheap) ones do the same thing as manually adjusting the fuel throughout the range, some can localise the places to increase fuelling, for example mid range RPM's ect. A lot of money for the proper ones, is it worth it? I don't know...

If you are using more fuel now, it would suggest you're not getting a clean burn in the cylinders. This could be down to the fuel mixture being too lean (too much oxygen) so low on power leading to more push on pedal and more fuel but still running lean. A cleaner combustion is much more efficient than a lean one.

Regarding your intercooler, it looks like oil to me which would suggest as others have said that your oil seals in your turbo are on there way out, best to get them replaced or a second turbo on it before it does further damage.

 

[Shayne]

Cheers Beau you have made some sense of whats been driving me up the wall coz i couldn't put my finger on it . I love the sound of my new exhaust and so began driving with a very heavy right foot just to hear it roar , a week later i added the intercooler and i guess the heavy foot has become by the by rather than deliberate mischief . Poor mix means poor burn equals more boot and poor mpg . Turning up the fuel now makes perfect sense thanks mate

 

[Beau]

Cheers Beau you have made some sense of whats been driving me up the wall coz i couldn't put my finger on it . I love the sound of my new exhaust and so began driving with a very heavy right foot just to hear it roar , a week later i added the intercooler and i guess the heavy foot has become by the by rather than deliberate mischief . Poor mix means poor burn equals more boot and poor mpg . Turning up the fuel now makes perfect sense thanks mate

Glad you've got your head around it! And regards to the Turbo, I may have one for sale, looks to be in very good condition too, just thought I'd mention it if you need one...

 

[Shayne]

I will keep that turbo in mind Beau but i want to remove the cooler and check again after shes had a decent run and time to cool , last time the truck had been sat all night before i took the cooler off . Would the turbo seals giving up have any other symptoms ? as i said earlier the truck has plenty of go in it even if the fuel mix is not right .

 

[Beau]

I've never really heard of these turbo's failing, these same turbos are used in supras I believe with different specs so there's a lot of information on them out there. I guess eventually the seals will go and need to be replaced. However how bad are the seals? When I took my top intake manifold off there was a light coating of oil, probably the same reason but it was nothing terrible and I wasn't losing oil. In your case you're losing oil and if it is through the seals then it's going straight back into the engine and getting burnt.

Best to keep track of it and see where the oil is going. When you originally took off the original manifold was there oil in that pipe?

 

[Shayne]

The original pipe was slightly coked but a lot cleaner than i expected . I've been reading up on turbo's and it looks like poor fuel/air mix and turbo's failing go somewhat hand in hand . Roughtrax do a full gasket kit for about £100 and i've found like for like swap for a reconditioned turbo for about £150 . Plenty about i guess so i'm not gonna worry about it until i've got the fueling sorted . I would still like to plug the intercooler in if i could find the connections i think there is an outside chance the circuits are there coz it would prob cost MrT more to remove them than it would just to leave them redundant . Look at the wiring harness , we could all plug in heated seats etc if we had them so the harness is the same throughout the range regardless of spec .

 

[Steve H]

Shayne. As you look at that picture of your intercooler the light coloured connector on the left is your air temperature sensor which on your truck before you fitted the cooler was in the long black intake pipe that runs from the filter housing. The other black connector on the right with the orangey/pinkly coloured filter on is the boost sensor for the turbo. On your inlet manifold towards the front of the engine you should see the same set up bolted to the side of the manifold but on my truck this filter is a grey colour. Don't know if connecting these up instead of the originals will make any difference. Can't see that there would be much difference in boost readings at the intercooler but temperature wise there should be a few degree's difference inside the intercooler to the inlet pipe. Also make sure that the boost sensor filter is cleaned out as this caused me to loose power as while back.