Upping the ante this month, we’re installing our first set of aftermarket injectors in our ’03 6.0L Power Stroke. For those of you on tighter budgets yet not afraid to tear into your engine, this upgrade should be right up your alley. With the help of Elite Diesel Engineering, we pulled our stock injectors apart and converted them to 155cc units using its Stage 1 DIY injector kit. Along the way, we added power and fuel economy, learned a thing or two, and saved ourselves more than $2,000.
| project Outcast Part 5 elite Diesel Engineering Injector Kit
"“For those of you on tighter budgets yet not afraid to tear into your engine, this upgrade should be right up your alley.”"
After a quick trip to the lie detector (chassis dyno) at Randall’s Performance, we were able to see the gains from this injector upgrade. But more importantly, we were able to pinpoint what was holding our horsepower back, which we’ll be addressing next time. So stay tuned—an aftermarket high-pressure oil pump, and a popular turbo upgrade are coming your way for Part 6.
Dyno Results
Although we were expecting a little more than 440 rwhp, peak power checks in at a lower 3,000 rpm (vs. 3,300 rpm without the nozzle upgrade), and 430 hp or more is made from 2,800 to 3,400 rpm. On the other hand, we can definitely see why Elite calls these 155cc injectors its Torque Tow units. The truck picked up nearly 60 lb-ft of torque and is making it 200 rpm lower in the powerband now. It’s easy to notice the extra twist on tap when driving the truck, and the throttle is very responsive. Another positive was that EGT never topped 1,300 degrees while on the rollers, and boost checked in at the same 33 psi we’d seen in the past.
| In an effort to try to gain more horsepower while on the dyno, we reflashed our Stage 1 FICM back to stock (it’s still a 58-volt unit) and tried a different Insanity tune from Elite. Although we saw pulse width (injector on time) drop from 3.0 milliseconds to a more desirable 2.7 milliseconds with the new tune, we only picked up an additional 5 hp on the dyno graph below. Our next upgrade will entail a new high-pressure oil pump and turbo, so stay tuned for that in the months ahead.
On the horsepower front, we can attribute our minimal, 15hp gain to a possible high-pressure oil pump problem. While data-logging on the dyno, ICP voltage (which, in a perfect world, reads at least 4.6 to 4.7 volts, sustained) bounced all over the place (from 2.9 to 4.6 volts). With this data, and the fact that we had a newer ICP sensor in the mix and strong fuel supply pressure from the lift pump, we believe (unfortunately) our early ’03 high-pressure oil pump is getting weak—and it definitely held us back on the dyno.
- Dyno pulls were made in Fourth gear (converter locked)
- Dyno runs began at 55 mph and ended at 95 mph
- 30 percent load applied
- DynoJet correction factor
| project Outcast Part 5 dyno Graph
Then and Now
Previous Horsepower: 426 hp at 3,300 rpm (Elite Insanity tune and Stage 1 FICM)
Current Horsepower: 440 hp at 3,000 rpm (Elite Insanity tune, Stage 1 FICM, and 155cc injectors)
Previous Torque: 786 lb-ft at 2,550 rpm (Elite Insanity tune and Stage 1 FICM)
Current Torque: 842 lb-ft at 2,350 rpm (Elite Insanity tune, Stage 1 FICM, and 155cc injectors)
Previous MPG Average: 14.6 mpg (Elite Insanity tune and Stage 1 FICM)
Current MPG Average: 15.9 mpg (Elite Insanity tune, Stage 1 FICM, and 155cc injectors)
