6.7L Cummins conversion project

[WhitH]

I can't wait to hear that Cummins sound coming from a 4x4 van. Put me on the list for a walk through when you get it done and I'll gladly come up from Eugene.

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by WhitH

You know I think I saw someone post something recently about a $200k Sprinter..... Anyway, a Cummins plus an Allison in a 4x4 E350 is waaaaay more worth it in my opinion. Keep it coming!

It was actually $300k, and I agree totally!

[mgmetalworks]

Progress is the word of the day! I purchased the Bully Dog GT tuner with ECM "unlock cable" recently and today I finally had time to build a makeshift bench-top power supply/CAN network/Ignition switch wiring harness. After about a half hour of status bar watching and "key on"/"key off" cycles (my ignition "key" being a toggle switch in this case), I finally, finally, finally have an UNLOCKED ECM!!!! let the tuning begin!!



I probably would have eventually gotten to this point without buying an aftermarket tuner but the price of the unlock procedure and tuner came down to a reasonable enough level that it was worth it just in the time it saves me.

As an added bonus...I can actually use this tiny little screen as my gauges when I start up the engine for the first time. I can monitor a number of things (RPM, coolant temp, throttle %, exhaust temps, etc...) without having to solve all of the Ford instrument panel interface challenges first. Actually...it will help solve several of those challenges much faster than I would have without it.

[JWA]

With my extremely limited knowledge of all this it would seem the Bully Dog is a major step forward---congrats!

[E350]

While we await the next installment from mgmetalworks, here is a little on-topic reading regarding the 6.7L Cummins:

http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/1007 ... s_cummins/

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by E350

While we await the next installment from mgmetalworks, here is a little on-topic reading regarding the 6.7L Cummins:

http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/1007 ... s_cummins/

Be careful here... That picture is an ISB6.7 which is different the 6.7L out of the Ram trucks. For whatever reason, Dodge/Ram decided that they needed a front drive configuration whereas all other ISB6.7s are rear drive. Drive in this context meaning which end the accessory drive gearing is located.

The Ram truck engine is different in many ways from the ISB that goes in medium duty trucks. They do share some common parts but they are not interchangeable as complete assemblies.
.............................

I haven't had much to update lately because I've been working on customer vans but I'm done making other people's vans awesome for a little while now so hopefully I'll make some more progress on my own stuff.

Next on the Cummins conversion agenda is to bring the bare frame I got into my shop and start positioning the engine and trans for building mounts. Finally some fun stuff that doesn't involve hours of staring at a computer screen trying to find the right 1's and 0's.

[E350]

MGMetalWorks: Merry Christmas and Hope you are doing well.

Mark Kovalsky is the transmission guru at ford-trucks.com

Alot of us with the 4R100 would like more gears and a more robust transmission (although both BTS and John Woods Transmission rebuilds are renowned).

I wonder what you think of the Torqueshift transmission? Here is Mark's article on the difficulty of the Torqueshift swap:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/tor ... huge-task/

And to peel the onion further, aren't there OTR transmissions which are electronically controlled manual transmissions?" Are there any that would suit our applications which could be controlled by our PCM's?

[carringb]

PCS now fully supports the TCM-2000 for the 5R110. I know Mark is skeptical of the aftermarket being able to make it work right, but I haven't seen any complaints since PCS took over programming support from DeStroked. https://www.powertraincontrolsolutio...ion_Controller

Most OTR trucks use automated manuals (The big Allison's are a $30,000 option). I don't think any of them would be a good match for a van, as their ratios are too close together, and you can only skip shift one gear at a time, and besides the one-gear skip it has to shift sequentially. Shifts require de-fuelling and I don't know if any of the Ford PCMs support a Torque Management input. You'd probably have to fool is somehow by modifying on of the input signals (like MAF maybe) Also, they are heavy. The Eaton UltraShift weight over 900 pounds! I'm not aware of any MDTs under 30,000 GVW that even offer them. Those all use Allison or Aisin autos.

Aisin publishes all their valve body info (valve-body/solenoid schematics) so programming an aftermarket controller should be pretty easy. It doesn't require any weird shifts like the 5R110. But.... the Allison 1000 already has lots of aftermarket support, and I don't see any real advantages of the Aisin over the Allison, and I've blown one up already so I don't really feel like taking my chances on another.

[carringb]

Also, QuadVan just uses the stock controller and harness out of the F650 for doing their Cummins 6.7L-Allison conversions. I think he said they have done 3 so far, and will be doing another as soon as the E-series 4x4 backorder catches up.

[E350]

carringb: Cool! So there will be transmission swap options for us to consider when we eventually blow up our 4R100s? I know you have a V10 which I assume is CAN-bus. But the 7.3LPSD is not CAN-bus. So my guess it is probably easier to swap both the engine and the transmission together 6.7 Cummins / Allison than to put an Allison behind a 7.3 and that is why mgmetalworks and (apparently, who knew) Quadvan is doing these types of swaps. Can't wait to hear how these types of swaps work out. Also off-topic, but did you aftermarket add the dually rear axle to your van?