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How to turn up fuel on 6.9/7.3 IDI

127K views 22 replies 22 participants last post by  nevrenufhp 
G
#1 ·
taken from http://www.members.shaw.ca/k2pilot/

Lots of guys have at one time or another wanted to know how to adjust their Stanadyne DB2 fuel injection pump on an idi 6.9 or 7.3 diesel engine. It isn't really difficult to do, but I recommend not messing with the stock setting unless you have a pyrometer. It doesn't take much to overfuel a stock naturally aspirated engine, often with disastrous results.
Safety as always is important. On that note, probably the first thing one should do would be to disconnect the batteries, to ensure there is no power to the pump, or at least remove the wires so that if/when you rotate the engine, it will not start. The adjustment screw lives within the pump, but can be accessed through a little door on the passenger side of the pump. It is triangular in shape, and is held in place with 2 small bolts, and a gasket underneath to seal it. It looks like this.You will want to have either a shallow dish or a bunch of rags under the pump when you remove the plate, as about a pint of diesel fuel will spill when the plate comes off. The next thing to do is to turn the engine to align the adjustment screw internally. This can be done one of two ways that I know of. 1. You must put a large socket (15/16'ths) on the bolt on the front of the crank pulley. Rotate the engine till the timing mark on the vibration damper is at about the 1 o'clock position as seen from the front of the engine. This should line up the insides of the pump so that the adjustment screw will appear in the opening behind where the cover plate was on the pump. Since the crank turns twice for each one rotation of the injection pump however, you may get the timing mark to the 1 o'clock position and still not be able to see the adjustment screw inside the pump. It would look like this. (A small dental type mirror may help to see inside the pump here because of the angles etc)... If you look in and cannot see the adjustment allen screw, you must rotate the engine 360 deg. or one full rotation clockwise, till the mark again lines up at about the 1 o'clock position, and then you should be able to see the screw, and it should look like this. The other way to align the pump, is to take the cover off of the front of the injection pump cover housing. Inside this is the bolts that hold the injection pump timing gear onto the pump. There is also an alignment dowel. If you rotate the engine till this alignment dowel is at exactly the 12 o'clock position, then the adjustment screw will be visible through the opening behind the cover plate. Here's a pic of the opening and the dowel, but with the gear-to-pump bolts removed, and the dowel is at the 4 o'clock position instead of the 12 o'clock. Ok, now, all that is required is to get a good quality allen wrench which fits the adjustment screw(5/32) in size. The adjustment screw has locking threads, so make sure you have a good wrench, 'cause you don't want to damage this one or drop little bits of metal shavings inside your pump. To increase the fuel setting, it is generally recommended to go in small increments. Usually 60 deg. rotation, which is about the same as turning the wrench one flat, or 1/6'th of a turn. Clockwise will increase the fuel setting, counterclockwise will decrease the fuel setting. Put the cover plate back on, being careful not to overtighten the little bolts, replace the wires on the pump, and go for a run to see how it goes. Don't forget to watch that pyrometer!! Good luck with it.
 
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#4 ·
i had a 7.3 with a turbo. i made an intake and fabed up a DP. I noticed a couple more pounds of boost from that alone. maybe to like 10 as aposed to the stock 7ish. This was a few years ago, so if my #s arnt totally correct, im sorry. after i turned the pump up i was getting something like 14ibs and it would hit 1400 pretty fast. so you need a pyro. and i dunno how a old school 7.3 will do with a constant 14ibs of boost, i didnt hit it but once or twice before i took my foot out of it, so it might have gone further. In short, i noticed a big defferance. but i wouldnt of wanted to tow anything. got really hot really fast.
 
#6 ·
I got a 96 7.3 with no gauges. will it be healthy to crank it a 1/6 of a turn?
 
#8 ·
dirkadir35 said:
I turned up my 1986 6.9 idi diesel engine by turning the adjustment screw 1/6 turn and I did not notice much increase in power of my old ford. should I turn it another 1/6 inch.
i have a 6.9 ford 1986 iturned it up 1 flat of the allen wrench i got a little more get up a go but i went back and turned it up another flat and got alot of black smoke and more power :smoke but you need watch you pyrometer to keep from fring your motor
 
#9 ·
i maxed out my screw on my 6.9l and i can cloud out three lanes of traffic
 
#12 ·
F250 '90 7.3 liter

I have a 90 7.3l idi. And I want to turn up the fuel. Am I going to break anything other than letting the exhaust get to hot? Do I need a pyro just for everyday driving? All I want to do is make the sky black.
 
#13 ·
4cstr said:
taken from http://www.members.shaw.ca/k2pilot/

Lots of guys have at one time or another wanted to know how to adjust their Stanadyne DB2 fuel injection pump on an idi 6.9 or 7.3 diesel engine. It isn't really difficult to do, but I recommend not messing with the stock setting unless you have a pyrometer. It doesn't take much to overfuel a stock naturally aspirated engine, often with disastrous results.
Safety as always is important. On that note, probably the first thing one should do would be to disconnect the batteries, to ensure there is no power to the pump, or at least remove the wires so that if/when you rotate the engine, it will not start. The adjustment screw lives within the pump, but can be accessed through a little door on the passenger side of the pump. It is triangular in shape, and is held in place with 2 small bolts, and a gasket underneath to seal it. It looks like this.You will want to have either a shallow dish or a bunch of rags under the pump when you remove the plate, as about a pint of diesel fuel will spill when the plate comes off. The next thing to do is to turn the engine to align the adjustment screw internally. This can be done one of two ways that I know of. 1. You must put a large socket (15/16'ths) on the bolt on the front of the crank pulley. Rotate the engine till the timing mark on the vibration damper is at about the 1 o'clock position as seen from the front of the engine. This should line up the insides of the pump so that the adjustment screw will appear in the opening behind where the cover plate was on the pump. Since the crank turns twice for each one rotation of the injection pump however, you may get the timing mark to the 1 o'clock position and still not be able to see the adjustment screw inside the pump. It would look like this. (A small dental type mirror may help to see inside the pump here because of the angles etc)... If you look in and cannot see the adjustment allen screw, you must rotate the engine 360 deg. or one full rotation clockwise, till the mark again lines up at about the 1 o'clock position, and then you should be able to see the screw, and it should look like this. The other way to align the pump, is to take the cover off of the front of the injection pump cover housing. Inside this is the bolts that hold the injection pump timing gear onto the pump. There is also an alignment dowel. If you rotate the engine till this alignment dowel is at exactly the 12 o'clock position, then the adjustment screw will be visible through the opening behind the cover plate. Here's a pic of the opening and the dowel, but with the gear-to-pump bolts removed, and the dowel is at the 4 o'clock position instead of the 12 o'clock. Ok, now, all that is required is to get a good quality allen wrench which fits the adjustment screw(5/32) in size. The adjustment screw has locking threads, so make sure you have a good wrench, 'cause you don't want to damage this one or drop little bits of metal shavings inside your pump. To increase the fuel setting, it is generally recommended to go in small increments. Usually 60 deg. rotation, which is about the same as turning the wrench one flat, or 1/6'th of a turn. Clockwise will increase the fuel setting, counterclockwise will decrease the fuel setting. Put the cover plate back on, being careful not to overtighten the little bolts, replace the wires on the pump, and go for a run to see how it goes. Don't forget to watch that pyrometer!! Good luck with it.
i have a 94 7.3 turbo diesel i turned the pump up one whole turn and got a tiny bit of smoke in fourth gear pinned but only a little more power what can be the deal?
 
#14 ·
hey bud i got a quick question is this the same pump for a 2000 powerstroke 7.3l turbo diesel or is this non turbos 7.3 only? please reply back



4cstr said:
taken from http://www.members.shaw.ca/k2pilot/

Lots of guys have at one time or another wanted to know how to adjust their Stanadyne DB2 fuel injection pump on an idi 6.9 or 7.3 diesel engine. It isn't really difficult to do, but I recommend not messing with the stock setting unless you have a pyrometer. It doesn't take much to overfuel a stock naturally aspirated engine, often with disastrous results.
Safety as always is important. On that note, probably the first thing one should do would be to disconnect the batteries, to ensure there is no power to the pump, or at least remove the wires so that if/when you rotate the engine, it will not start. The adjustment screw lives within the pump, but can be accessed through a little door on the passenger side of the pump. It is triangular in shape, and is held in place with 2 small bolts, and a gasket underneath to seal it. It looks like this.You will want to have either a shallow dish or a bunch of rags under the pump when you remove the plate, as about a pint of diesel fuel will spill when the plate comes off. The next thing to do is to turn the engine to align the adjustment screw internally. This can be done one of two ways that I know of. 1. You must put a large socket (15/16'ths) on the bolt on the front of the crank pulley. Rotate the engine till the timing mark on the vibration damper is at about the 1 o'clock position as seen from the front of the engine. This should line up the insides of the pump so that the adjustment screw will appear in the opening behind where the cover plate was on the pump. Since the crank turns twice for each one rotation of the injection pump however, you may get the timing mark to the 1 o'clock position and still not be able to see the adjustment screw inside the pump. It would look like this. (A small dental type mirror may help to see inside the pump here because of the angles etc)... If you look in and cannot see the adjustment allen screw, you must rotate the engine 360 deg. or one full rotation clockwise, till the mark again lines up at about the 1 o'clock position, and then you should be able to see the screw, and it should look like this. The other way to align the pump, is to take the cover off of the front of the injection pump cover housing. Inside this is the bolts that hold the injection pump timing gear onto the pump. There is also an alignment dowel. If you rotate the engine till this alignment dowel is at exactly the 12 o'clock position, then the adjustment screw will be visible through the opening behind the cover plate. Here's a pic of the opening and the dowel, but with the gear-to-pump bolts removed, and the dowel is at the 4 o'clock position instead of the 12 o'clock. Ok, now, all that is required is to get a good quality allen wrench which fits the adjustment screw(5/32) in size. The adjustment screw has locking threads, so make sure you have a good wrench, 'cause you don't want to damage this one or drop little bits of metal shavings inside your pump. To increase the fuel setting, it is generally recommended to go in small increments. Usually 60 deg. rotation, which is about the same as turning the wrench one flat, or 1/6'th of a turn. Clockwise will increase the fuel setting, counterclockwise will decrease the fuel setting. Put the cover plate back on, being careful not to overtighten the little bolts, replace the wires on the pump, and go for a run to see how it goes. Don't forget to watch that pyrometer!! Good luck with it.
 
#15 ·
This mod is for IDI's only, turbo or N/A. NOT POWERSTROKES. I pyro would be highly suggested. EGT's can rise very quickly, even driving unloaded.
 
#17 ·
how hot is to hot on the pyrometer
 
#18 ·
I have a 94 F250 7.3 that produces alot of fuel smell in the exhaust along with smoke. It does this continually.

Would adjusting down the fuel amount on the Pump be a posible solution, or should I look elsewhere first?

What should I do to fix this?

Please help, my Girlfriend will not ride in my smokey truck.
 
#19 ·
peejcj8 said:
I have a 94 F250 7.3 that produces alot of fuel smell in the exhaust along with smoke. It does this continually.

Would adjusting down the fuel amount on the Pump be a posible solution, or should I look elsewhere first?

What should I do to fix this?

Please help, my Girlfriend will not ride in my smokey truck.
Sometimes if the tiny servo pin at the lower end of the pump housing is stuck inward and won't return on its own as it supposed to do your engine will spew raw fuel smoke and run roughly.I've seen this many times on some GM diesels with the DB2 pump.The 6.9/7.3 DB2 pump is also very similar in design as it too uses a servo pin.It could also be that your pump already has the fuel delivery adjustment set to the maximium limit.You could try to decrease the fuel rate 1/8th of a turn if someone already messed with the adjustment.
 
#21 ·
heres a tip, turning the screw up inside the plate is only step 1, there is another screw on the pump to get it to smoke, that screw everyone tells you to turn up only affects how much fuel you get at peak torque and under a load, but going less than 1/4 turn will help for step 2. to get to the 2nd screw, go to the injector outlet lines where they are in a circle, in the center of that there is a fuel line going in to the pump, unscrew the line, and there is another allen screw inside there, turn that one in clockwise 1/8 to 3/16 of a turn, if you want go no more than 1/4 turn. It will smoke good now.
 
#22 ·
peejcj8 said:
I have a 94 F250 7.3 that produces alot of fuel smell in the exhaust along with smoke. It does this continually.

Would adjusting down the fuel amount on the Pump be a posible solution, or should I look elsewhere first?

What should I do to fix this?

Please help, my Girlfriend will not ride in my smokey truck.
that sounds more like a personal problem than a truck problem. LOL :evil:
 
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