BETA Test Report Cackle cure Kit Evaluation by Pete Cleveland (aka trucks.com) for Dino Fuel Alternatives April 3, 2007

Transcription

1 BETA Test Report Cackle cure Kit Evaluation by Pete Cleveland (aka trucks.com) for Dino Fuel Alternatives April 3, 2007 Test Vehicle: 2002 Ford F250 XLT, 7.3L Power Stroke Turbo Diesel, 2WD, Crew Cab, SWB, SRW, 124,000 miles Pre existing Mods: AIH delete, 6637, zoodad, and OilGuard bypass Engine Oil: Amsoil DEO 5w40, approximately 4000 miles on oil & filters at time of testing Testing Location: Birmingham, Alabama Testing Parameters: Audio Wave and Spectrum Analysis, acceleration speeds Testing Timeline: Baseline testing on Sunday, March 11 Kit installation on Saturday, March 17 First Preliminary Evaluation on Sunday, March 18 Final Re evaluation on Sunday, April 1 Road Conditions for Testing: Hilly roads and highways, few long runs of level road surface Theory behind the mod: By installing a crossover line between the otherwise deadheaded fuel rails on the engine, the two fuel rails would operate under a balanced pressure condition. Furthermore, by including a fuel bleed from this crossover line back to the fuel filter bowl s return line, there would be an increased fuel flow through the rails. This balanced pressure and increased fuel flow condition should allow the #8 fuel injector to experience a reduction or elimination in occurrences of being starved of fuel due to its position in the firing sequence (last injector at the end of the fuel rail, and firing immediately after the #6 injector beside it). The predicted improvements are reduced engine cackle and increased engine performance that can be measured by throttle response, or, reduced acceleration times. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION The potential performance improvements have been evaluated based on comparisons in sound recordings and acceleration times. Ultimately, MPG comparisons will be made and added to this report once adequate data has been accumulated. Observations have also been made, and are noted throughout the remainder of this report. Based on these tests and observations, I can easily conclude that the Cackle cure kit has made noticeable reductions in engine noise as soon as 30 miles after installation. In fact, after an additional 300 miles on the engine, the same set of tests were re evaluated and confirmed that the Cackle kit had indeed settled in to provide even further reductions in engine noise levels. There has also been a noticeable (15 20%) decrease in acceleration times in the mid range test runs (40 70 and mph accelerations). EVALUATION PLAN Deciding exactly how to quantify the impact (or improvements) from this Cackle cure Kit was very difficult. Once the methods were determined, getting hard and fast measurements was another hurdle, even with sound recordings and sound data analysis. Something that has to be kept in

2 mind when trying to measure these improvements is your starting point. You see, "cackle" is supposedly created one, some, or all of multiple influencing factors: A oil pressure/flow to #8 injector, which is typically addressed with the HPX mod. B fuel pressure/flow to #8 injector, which is typically addressed with a regulated return, or Big Oil type of installation, but in this case is being addressed with the Cackle cure mod, AND C entrained air in the fuel flow to all injectors, which is typically addressed with a FASS, Air Dog, and/or In tank mods. In reality, there is at least one more factor that affects the combustion related noise levels of our engines, and that is the type, weight, and condition of the oil in the engine. This really affects Factor "A" above, but it does so for all 8 injectors. Obviously, for every mod installed that addresses one or more of these factors, there will be a corresponding reduction in cackle". Every time an additional cackle related mod is installed, there is less cackle for the next mod to work on. This is just another example where the "Law of Diminishing Returns" kicks in. For me, I had not installed either the HPX, FASS, Air Dog, or In Tank mods prior to installing this Cackle cure kit. What I had done, though, was switch to a 5w40 synthetic oil in January (4,000 miles before this kit installation), which had already quieted my engine significantly. Acceleration Runs & Sound Recordings: Theoretically, if the #8 injector is to experience less fuel starvation, there should not only be a reduction in engine cackle, but there should also be a slight improvement in corresponding fuel efficiency and potentially increases in acceleration times. Since the #8 injector is at the end of the firing sequence, you would further expect to see these reductions show up most prevalently at higher speeds (higher fuel flows). In order to measure potential reductions in cackle, there would have to be recordings made from the engine compartment. The sound recordings were planned in order to quantify these expected reductions in sound (cackle). The reductions are supposed to result from balancing the fuel rail pressures and bleeding off extra fuel through an orifice into the fuel return line that goes back to the fuel tank. I recorded the sound by attaching a Labtec microphone under the hood of the truck and running the mic wires to a laptop computer in the cab. I used a Freeware program (Audacity) for making the sound files. From these sound files, I was able to get a sound image and plot the amplitude versus frequency to get visual plots of what the sounds looked like. Ultimately, the sound recordings were made for the following list of conditions: acceleration speeds at 40 70, 50 70, 70 90, and 0 70 MPH (also timed) startup & idle, cold (first in the morning, ambient temps cold as permitted by the season) cruise NOT, 20, 40, 50, 60, 70,,and 80 mph startup & idle at Normal Operating Temperature (NOT) rev speeds, in neutral, at 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, and 3000 RPM (@ NOT) INSTALLATION The installation was not difficult, but was very tedious. It took approximately 5 hours for the complete install, which is significantly longer than it should take most mechanically inclined individuals. I stopped frequently to make notes and take photographs. I was also helped by my oldest two sons (18 and 14) who were very interested in the entire project and what it was supposed to accomplish. This job could probably be completed easily in under three hours by someone who is more experienced in working on diesel engines. There were only two problems encountered, neither having anything to do with the equipment supplied by DFA. First, I unknowingly lost one of the flexible compression grommets that goes in

3 the Vibra Lok tee, and had to locate a replacement, which required visits to various parts stores. I finally had to use a grommet for a larger fuel line, and made it fit by stretching this larger grommet on a 3/8 inch brass rod and slicing the grommet in a spiral pattern. The spiral slice allowed me to wrap the grommet around the fuel line, which also allowed it to fit inside the Vibra Lok cap. The sliced grommet did not leak at all due to the compression created in tightening the Vibra lok fittings. The second problem was a temporary delay to super glue some tape strips across the tip of my thumb that got sliced open on the very sharp edge of the fan blade (wrench slipped). INITIAL ENGINE STARTUP Once the installation was complete and the fuel pump was cycled, the engine started perfectly. I revved the engine for a few minutes, verified that there were no leaks, and then put everything away for the night. The next afternoon, I took the truck through the same sound recording and acceleration routines I had used for before installing the kit. About 5 minutes after starting the engine, which again started normally on that Sunday afternoon, I experienced a momentary skip or miss that happened twice in very quick succession. I had never experienced this before, but the interesting thing is that it has not happened again since. My conclusion is that it must have been a slight bit of air trapped in the fuel rails that finally worked its way out. TIMED ACCELERATION RUNS There were very noticeable reductions in acceleration rates for mph and mph, with a smaller but still measurable reduction in the mph runs. However, the total time for accelerating from 0 70 remained virtually unchanged, indicating perhaps a slight loss on the low end?? The table of acceleration times below quantifies these observations. WOT Baseline Fuel Fuel + HPX 40 to not yet tested 50 to not yet tested 70 to not yet tested run run run to not yet tested SOUND RECORDINGS Some of the graphs seen are the Power Spectrum plots of decibels vs frequency at various cruise speeds. I honestly do not understand why the plot data reported by Audacity is in primarily negative values, so I left the data as provided by the recording program. Audacity defines this spectrum plot feature (the source of these particular plots) as: a Power Spectrum of the audio over that region, calculated using the Fast Fourier Transform. The graph represents how much energy is in each frequency. For each of these graphs, both the decibel and frequency ranges were kept identical in order to have a consistent comparison. What is most important about these graphs is to look for specific frequencies or frequencies ranges where the Baseline and Fuel (after kit installation) sound recordings show a difference in profile. Another type of plot use din this report is the Sound Spectrum Intensity plots. I have to note here that the colors did not come out as true as those in Audacity when I used the screen capture utility to post the images in this report. To understand how to interpret these plots, imagine how the news centers demonstrate rain intensity on radar maps by using increasingly intense colors. These Spectrum plots are similar in function, and you can read the sound intensity by the

4 warmth or coolness of the colors, cold being dark blue. As the intensity increases, the color temperature scale goes from blue (coldest, or least intense) to pink to red to orange to yellow to white (hottest, or most intense). These intensities are plotted both along the horizontal timeline axis (in seconds) and along the vertical frequency axis (in Hz). On each of the Audio Wave Track plots, you will see the conditions referenced as Baseline and Modified. As probably expected, the Baseline data was recorded approximately one week prior to the installation of the Cackle cure Kit. The Modified data was recorded on the Sunday afternoon following the kit s installation on the previous day. There is also a time reference on the main title of each pair of comparison Wave plots which simply demonstrates how long this condition was maintained while being recorded. Each pair of comparisons have the same recording time, but each different set of conditions have more or less time than the other conditions depending on how easy it was to obtain and maintain those conditions (accurate throttle control just by using my foot was not easy). The height of the sound wave correlates with amplitude, or volume, taller being louder. I did not show either the Wave or Spectrum plots for the acceleration runs because the acceleration time was the most important feature. Besides, there are many other examples of sound plots for the other conditions tested. I chose the Spectrum plots for the Cruise speeds because, for some unknown reason, the Wave plots did not show any signs of improvements after installing the kit. I later found the microphone loose under the hood, and concluded that there must have been either movement related noise or higher levels of ambient road noise overriding the reduced base engine noise. When the acceleration runs were re evaluated at the two week point, no sound recordings were taken at all for the reasons already stated. Startup & Idle Cold In the Cold Startup/Idle evaluation, the startup time shows fewer turns of the engine before it fires. Admittedly, there is also an 8 F warmer ambient condition for the Modified case, which could easily affect this reduction in crank time. Another difference that shows up in the Wave plots is the difference in sound variability between the two cases. Interestingly, once the engine fires, there is an immediate 3 second period where there is a wider range of engine noise which quickly settles into a more stable sound pattern. To the ear, the difference between these two periods immediately after firing is almost imperceptible. Once the idle has settled in, so to speak, there appears to be virtually no difference between the before and after cases. Finally, the Spectrum plots of the Baseline and Modified conditions appear very similar to each other across the full audio spectrum. The largest difference appears in the 4,800 to 9,100 Hz audio range (identified by the blue dashed oval on the graph). (Note: the % difference is calculated by the following formula: 100x(baseline modified)/baseline). Cruise Speeds While performing these test runs, the engine was completely at NOT for all speeds in both Baseline and Modified conditions. All of the data for these runs are plotted on Power Spectrum plots, and some of it is plotted on Sound Spectrum Intensity plots. As with the Cold Startup/Idle plot, small differences can be seen in various positions along the audio spectrum axis, with some portions showing increases in energy levels while others show decreases. Given the almost random relationships in differences between baseline and modified conditions at the different speeds, I believe that little can be concluded from these particular plots. As mentioned earlier, the roads used for these test recordings have very few level lengths of road in which to obtain truly stable throttle positions for any given speed. Therefore, I propose that it is the influence of the roads slight hilliness and the potential influence of road noise that prevents this data from demonstrating the same type of clear differences seen in other data.

5 However, when you look at the same sound data plotted in the format of a Sound Intensity Spectrum, it is easier to see that there are some differences that are consistent with the differences seen on the Power Spectrum plots. I chose to plot only the 20, 60, 70, and 80 mph data on the Intensity plots because those at 40 and 50 mph revealed almost imperceptible differences. On the first two Intensity plots (20 and 60 mph, respectively), it is very easy to see the reduction in sound intensity at virtually all sound frequencies (upper region of the plots are more blue and the lower region is less red after the modification). These particular differences are not as easy to detect on the higher cruise speeds at 70 and 80 mph, even though they are still there as well. What is very noticeable at these higher speeds is the increased intensity in a narrow band at the higher frequencies. This narrow band shows an increase in yellow, which is consistent with a more audible whistle from the turbo. Startup & Idle and Rev NOT There are significant reductions in sound levels and sound variability at and immediately after startup once the engine has reached NOT, which can be seen very clearly on the Audio Wave Track graphs. Additionally, the frequency range that demonstrates the largest degree of change is 40% wider (3500 to 9600 Hz) than that found at Cold Startup & Idle, and is once again highlighted by a blue dashed oval on the graph. In reviewing the Wave Tracks for each of the Rev rates, there is a noticeable reduction in sound amplitude after the installation of the Cackle cure kit. It is predicted that the higher of these Rev rates are representative of comparable cruising speeds as indicated in the table below. RPM Corresponding Cruise MPH Verification Method Measured by speedometer Measured by speedometer Calculated from others The reason for testing the engine noise at these higher RPM levels is related to the theory behind the need for the Cackle cure kit, which is mainly that the #8 injector begins to starve for fuel due to the dead headed rail design and the fact that it is at the end of the rail and fires immediately after the injector preceding its position in the engine (#6). This firing order and rail design worsens the potential starvation of #8 injector at higher fuel feed rates. Since it is this #8 injector starvation that creates the cackle that the kit is designed to cure, the noise reduction in the engine should surely be noticeable at the higher fueling rates (i.e higher RPM s). In fact, these Rev Speed Wave Tracks demonstrate that the noise reductions can actually be detected at virtually all fueling rates (at least for my virtually stock engine setup for the conditions at which it was tested).

6 Audio Wave Tracks & Power Spectrums COLD Startups, 10 seconds BASELINE: COLD Startup and 37 degrees MODIFIED: COLD Startup and 45 degrees COLD Startup & Idle ,239 4,393 6,546 8,699 10,853 13,006 15,159 17,313 19,466 21,619 Hz 20% 0 0% 20 20% 40 40% 60 60% 80 80% db BASELINE FUEL % Difference 100% 120% Difference

7 Cruise Speed Power NOT

8 Cruise Speed Sound Spectrum Intensity Plots (by color temperature NOT 20 mph baseline modified 60 mph baseline modified

9 Cruise Speed Sound Spectrum Intensity Plots (by color temperature NOT 70 mph baseline modified 80 mph baseline modified

10 Audio Wave Tracks & Power Spectrums Startup & NOT In Park, START and IDLE, 10.5 seconds BASELINE MODIFED Startup & NOT ,239 4,393 6,546 8,699 10,853 13,006 15,159 17,313 19,466 21,619 Hz 20% 0 0% 20 20% 40 40% 60 60% 80 80% db BASELINE FUEL % Difference 100% 120% Difference

11 Engine Rev Audio Wave NOT In Neutral, 1100 RPM, 9 seconds BASELINE MODIFED In Neutral, 1500 RPM, 15 seconds BASELINE MODIFIED

12 Engine Rev Audio Wave NOT In Neutral, 2000 RPM, 14 seconds BASELINE MODIFIED In Neutral, 2500 RPM, 7 seconds BASELINE MODIFIED

13 Engine Rev Audio Wave NOT In Neutral, 3000 RPM, 9 seconds BASELINE MODIFIED

14 Installation Instructions and Details for 2002 model PSD Tools Needed: 8mm socket 13mm deep socket 13mm standard socket ratchet(s) ¼ inch and 3/8 inch plumber s tubing cutter vice grip or 6 inch adjustable wrench fuel line wrenches 5/16 box end wrench Locktite Thread Locker blue, medium strength Pint or quart container (to catch fuel from draining fuel filter bowl) Small bungee cord Legend for Schematic 1 OEM diesel supply line 2 OEM diesel return line 3 Engine valley 4 OEM fuel filter housing 5 OEM fuel ports & lines 6 Previously unused fuel ports 7 Passenger side Cackle cure hose 8 Driver side Cackle cure hose 9 Short Cackle cure hose 10 Return orifice tee 11 5/16 inch Vibra Lok tee Driver Side rear 6 5

15 INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS 1. Before working on the engine, go ahead and install the shortest fuel hose (#9) from the kit to both the return orifice tee (#10) and the Vibra Lok tee (#11) fitting that came in the kit. Tighten the hose connection on the Vibra Lok tee, but leave the connection to the Return Orifice tee finger tight for now. i. CAUTION: make sure to not lose the tubing grommets inside the compression caps, or the fittings will not create a seal on the hard fuel line and you will experience severe fuel leakage. 2. If present, remove PowerStroke cover (above fuel filter #4) using 13mm deep well socket. 3. Drain the fuel from the fuel filter housing in order to prevent spillage of diesel fuel into the engine valley when you later disconnect the fuel lines. 4. The fuel lines must be loose so that when they are disconnected from the Fuel Filter Housing, the fuel return line can be pulled up high enough to be cut with the tubing cutter. You may have to bend the fuel supply line slightly out of the way or use a bungee cord if you re working by yourself to hold it out of the way. All or some of these next steps may or may not be required, depending upon what you need to do in order to get the fuel lines free enough to move upwards as much as 6 8 inches. See Pics 1 3. a. Remove the single fuel line bracket bolt that is located on front of engine, driver s side, beneath the water pump housing, 13mm b. Release the tension on the serpentine belt and remove it from the alternator and power steering pump pulleys (you can use a large ½ inch ratchet with no socket in the square opening on the belt tensioner) c. There are two sensors that need to be disconnected near the fuel filter housing (Engine Oil Temperature and Injection Control Pressure sensors). These are both located on the right hand side of the filter housing when standing in front of the truck looking towards the engine. The ICP sensor is connected to the driver side valve cover, while the EOT sensor is mounted on the beck side of the HPOP. Remove both sensor s connectors and push them back out of the way for easier access to the fuel lines. d. Remove the 4 13mm bolts that hold the alternator and power steering pump bracket to the front of the engine CAUTION: be very careful of the back edges of the fan blades, as they are very sharp and can easily cut an arm, hand, or finger e. Disconnect both the supply and return fuel lines from the right (driver) side of the fuel filter housing (# s 1 and 2). The larger of these lines (#1) is from the fuel pump to the filter housing, and is located near the bottom of the fuel filter housing on the driver side. The other, smaller line (#2) is located almost directly above the line feeding the fuel filter housing, and is the line that returns unused fuel back to the fuel tank. 5. Locate where to install the Vibra Lok tee in the return fuel line (vertical portion right after the tubing bends down from the fuel filter housing is typically the best location). See Pic Cut the return fuel line (#2) and remove approx. one inch of tubing to make room for the Vibra Lok tee. No need to flare the ends of the tubing, as the Vibra Lok fittings are rated for up to 225 psi, which is well above the actual pressure in this fuel return line. 7. Install the Vibra Lok tee (with the short hose attached), making sure to get the fuel line tubing well inside the compression grommets and the tubing seated against the metal bottom of the tee fitting, and tighten the compression nuts. See Pic Re install both fuel lines back to the fuel filter housing. 9. Re install the alternator and power steering pump bracket back onto the front of the engine, but leave the serpentine belt loose for now. 10. Re connect the two sensors that you disconnected earlier.

16 11. Re install the 13mm bolt on the fuel line bracket beneath the water pump housing. (Pic 2.) 12. Loosen the 3 nuts that hold down the coolant overflow bottle on top of the radiator. 13. Remove the single 13mm bolt that attaches the belt tensioner to the air conditioning bracket. 14. Remove all 4 of the 13mm bolts that hold the air conditioning bracket on the front of the engine block. 15. Remove the fuel plug (#6) on the passenger side. This plug has a 3/16 inch square head on it and may be covered by a wire loom that can be pushed aside for easier access. Use either vice grips or an adjustable wrench to break this plug free. Then use a 5/16 inch wrench/socket to complete its removal. See Pics 5 and Using thread lock (do NOT use plumbers Teflon tape, because it can get into an injector and foul it), install one of the supplied 1/8 NPT fittings in place of the plug. 17. Connect the medium length hose to a #4jic fitting, again using thread lock. 18. Connect the jic fitting at the end of the hose onto the NPT fitting that you installed in the fuel port, again using thread lock. 19. Make sure that the hose connection is tight. See Pic Re install the air conditioning bracket on the front of the engine. 21. Re install the belt tensioner. 22. Re install the serpentine belt on all the pulleys. 23. Re install the three nuts that hold down the coolant overflow bottle. 24. Remove your cold air intake hose/tube and inlet tube from the turbo for easier access to the rear fuel port fitting on the driver s side. 25. Remove this rear fuel port plug in a similar fashion as used for the first one. See Pic Install the last 1/8 NPT fitting into the fuel port where the plug was located, making sure to use thread lock. 27. Use thread lock and connect the last hose from the kit (#8), which should be the longest hose, to a #4jic fitting. 28. Using thread lock, install the jic fitting (with the hose attached) to the 1/8 NPT fitting that you just installed in the rear fuel port. 29. Tighten the hose and fitting connections well. See Pic Route the hose underneath the turbo intake tube path so that it falls close to the Return Orifice tee. NOTE: The hoses supplied in this kit are Biodiesel compatible as well as fire and vibration resistant. Close proximity to the turbo will not affect the hose. 31. Re install the turbo intake tube and the cold air intake hose/tube. 32. Using thread lock, connect the two longer fuel lines to the Return Orifice tee and tighten the connections. See Pic Get ready to test for leaks. 34. Insert the key into the ignition and turn it on without starting the engine so that the fuel pump will begin re filling the fuel filter housing. Leave the switch on for about 20 seconds, and then turn the switch off. 35. Repeat Step 38 at least two more times before trying to actually start the engine so that you can purge any potentially entrained air from the fuel supply lines. 36. Start the engine and check for leaks. 37. If there are no leaks, you can re install the PowerStroke cover that was taken off in Step 2, if desired. 38. You should take the truck out to run it for at least minutes as a way to ensure that all potential air has been completely purged from the entire fuel supply/return system.

17 Installation Photos Cap on Fuel Filter Housing Fuel Supply Line Fuel Return Line ICP sensor EOT sensor Looking up from under truck. Oil Pan, driver side, front corner Ground Wire on Block Fuel Line Bracket & Nut Pic #1 Pic #5 Pic #7 Pic #10 Final connection of all three hoses in Orifice Tee Tip of Driver s side rear fuel port Pic #8 Pic #6 Fuel Port plug removed Passenger Front Fuel Port plug Pic #4 JIC Fitting and hose installed in front fuel port. Fuel Return Line cut Mark for second cut Alternator bracket Pic #2 VibraLok fitting installed Pic #3 Pic #9 JIC fitting and hose installed in rear fuel port