November 9^th, 10^th and 11^th were three monumental days in our history.  We installed the new Pittsburgh Power computer on Tom Davis’ 1995 W-900L Kenworth.  The Cummins engine in Tom’s truck was an N-14 Celect, 435 horsepower.  Cummins, in Pittsburgh, Pa., reprogrammed the computer to allow the engine to produce 500 H.P..  As of this writing the engine has 465,000 miles on the odometer and only two injectors have ever been replaced.

This K.W. pulls a 42-foot covered wagon with three axles and is generally in excess of 80,000 pounds.  During the testing of the Pittsburgh Power computer the rig was grossing 89,245 pounds.  Route 28 north of Pittsburgh was our test road.  The hills on this section of highway has several grades of 6 to 8 percent. That made it possible to give the Cummins powered Kenworth a good workout.  Once the Pittsburgh Power computer was installed, which takes about three hours, we headed for the hills.  Our team of engineers were controlling the performance of the engine while riding in the bunk.  Tom Davis was driving, Gary Hoffman, president of Diesel Injection was monitoring the engine functions with our lap top computer, and I was in the bunk with the engineers laying out our final programming for the new performance computer.  For three days we rode, tested and computed the functions of this N-14 Celect engine before we came to the conclusion of how we wanted the engine to perform.  One year ago, in November of 1999, is when the work had begun to develop the performance computer.  Many hours of dyno testing had taken place on numerous N-14 Celect engines at Stoops Freightliner in Indianapolis, IN.   Peter Turke is the dyno technician at Stoops and is certainly an expert in his field.  We really enjoy working with this gentleman.

After one solid year of work the Pittsburgh Power computer is ready for your truck.  With the turn of the dial, you the driver can change the horsepower output of your N-14 Celect Cummins engine from stock to a total increase of 175 horsepower.  Previously we had the computer set for a maximum of 140 horsepower.  However, after road testing, we increased the power level to 175 horsepower.  The dial which will be mounted in the control panel on top of the instrument panel will have 7 positions numbering zero through seven.  At the zero setting there will be no power increase.  Setting #1 will increase the power by 25 horsepower and #2 will be 50 horsepower.  Each setting will continue to add 25 more horsepower all the way up to level seven which will be a 175 horsepower increase.  Tom Davis has used the computer for one week and loves the additional horsepower and response.  The truck was loaded with an 80,249-pound chill (steel coil) giving the rig a 120,426 lbs. Gross vehicle weight.  Tom was able to pull the hills one gear higher with the computer set on the number four position adding approximately 100 additional horsepower.  He easily out pulled his good friend JR’s N-14 Celect Plus 525 and Rick Thompson’s 3406B 425 Cat which has the fuel screws bottomed out and a turbo from a 3406 E Cat which produces 41 pounds of boost.  Quote from Tom Davis “ This performance computer is phenomenal.  I love the response.  It feels like my old NTC BCIV 676 CPL which produced 700 horsepower.  I now have to learn how to drive this truck all over again because I only have to rest my foot on the throttle.  All week long I kept the power selector on number 4 because it had all the power I needed.”

We at Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh, Pa. have been developing ways of increasing horsepower with the Cummins diesel engine since 1977.  When the electronic engine was released in 1991 we knew that the factory computer could not be hot-rodded.  The day of the owner-operator enjoying 700 to 900 horsepower was over.  Regardless of what we tried the horsepower from these engines would not increase.  Finally in November of 1999 we were able to assemble a group of electrical, mechanical and computer engineers who were willing to work with us to develop an adjustable performance computer for owner-operators that desire more than stock power.  The name of our computer is “Pittsburgh Power”.  This computer is only for owner-operators that demand, respect and deserve a great running truck.  As for the rest of you, I’m sorry.  However, somebody has to drive stock sluggish trucks.

Don Phillips of Williamsport, PA. has brought to my attention that several newcomers to the trucking industry have never heard of a “K” series Cummins engine.

Don, here are two pictures of the special “K” we sold to Frank Heidon.  Cummins released this engine for the truck market in 1974.  The engine is 19 liters, 1150 cu.in. bore 6.25”, stroke 6.25” and stock settings were 450, 525, and 600 H.P.  The engine in the pictures has twin turbos, hydraulic variable timing, (HVT), which is very similar to the step timing control of the BCIV 444 NTC.  The advantages of the HVT are no white smoke when the engine is cold and retarded timing when using power.  This engine at stock specifications is 700 to 750 H.P.  With a few changes this engine produces in excess of 1,000 H.P.  Not bad for something developed in the 1970’s.  This 700 to 750 H.P. version engine was not intended to be used in a class eight truck.  It was developed for off highway and locomotive use.  Today’s version of this engine is computer controlled.

Frank Heidon now has his special “K” A model 1981 extended hood, double bunk, two sticked Kenworth on the road.  He wants to give special thanks to the technicians at West Texas Peterbilt in Lubbock Texas for the great installation job they performed to his truck.

As far as driving his special “K”, Frank says that when the turbos start producing turbo boost, the hair on his legs and arms stand up, he gets goose bumps, muscles start to twitch and it reminds him of his youth when he drove a bored small block 57 Chevy, dual quads with 4:56 posi rear end.  For you younger gentlemen, dual quads mean two four barrel carburetors.  If you want to see the racer come out of Frank Heidon, pull up beside him, and try to beat him.

Now, on to the “Pittsburgh Power” computer for electronic engines:  As of this writing, many of our customers are experiencing the pleasure of driving high performance N-14 Celect engines.  With a turn of the dial they can go from stock H.P. to an additional 175 H.P.  Tom Davis, the test truck on January 10, 2001 was hauling a chill coil weighing 80,260 pounds.  This gave his T-900 Kenworth a gross weight of 132,497 lbs.  Tom Pulled Somerset Mountain on the Pennsylvania turnpike traveling westbound at 50 MPH with the Pittsburgh Power computer set on level five.  At this position the N-14 Celect was producing 625 H.P.  Near the top of the mountain Tom turned the power dial back to zero rendering the engine to a stock 500 H.P. and the truck slowed to 36 mph.  That is Fourteen miles per hour faster with an additional 125 H.P.  That’s two full gears higher with the 13-speed transmission.

As of this writing there is 100% satisfaction with the Pittsburgh Power computer.  Currently one owner-operator is testing the performance computer on an N-14 525 Celect Plus.  There are several changes that must be made before the Celect Plus computer is ready for on highway use.  By the time you read this article the changes may already have been made and the “Pittsburgh Power” black box for the Celect Plus engines may be in production.

Don’t loose this part number:  3885737.  This is diesel engine injector cleaner and can be purchased at any Cummins distributorship.  The cleaner comes in a box that contains 1.25 gallons and must be used in its entirety. 

To use this box of cleaner the fuel suction line and return fuel line will have to be removed from the engine.  Cummins has a hose kit part number 3885739, fleet price of $30.30, which is designed to be used with the injector cleaner.  The directions are on the side of the box in English and Spanish.

The injector flushing should be performed outside because the engine will have to idle at 1200 RPM for one hour.  After the flushing or cleaning process is completed, the valves and injectors are now ready to be adjusted.

Why clean or flush injectors prior to setting the overhead?  Carbon, which is a by-product of diesel fuel which has been burned in a combustion chamber will travel up through the small holes in an injector cup and form carbon deposits inside the cup and on the injector plunger.  If the injector settings are loose, there will be a greater amount of carbon in the cup.  Once the injector adjustments are properly set, the carbon is compacted into some of the holes in the injector cup.  I’m sure that you have heard people say, I had my rack run and now my truck runs worse.  Did you ever wonder why?  Now you know what happened.  Some of the holes are plugged with carbon.  By the way, the injector flush should be used the evening before you plan to set the overhead because the engine will have to cool down to 70 degrees Fahrenheit in order to properly set the overhead.  

Carbon in injector cups can only be removed with an ultrasonic cleaner once the injectors are disassembled.  When you send your injectors to us to be cleaned and calibrated the carbon cannot be removed from the tips at that time.  Our Hartridge 290 injector test stand hammers very hard when carbon is present in the injector cup.  Please purchase the injector cleaner and hose kit from Cummins and flush the injectors prior to removing them for recalibration.  It is a good practice to flush the injectors once a year even if you are not going to reset the overhead.  The cost of the cleaner is $37.87.

DO NOT use this injector cleaner in electronic engines.  This caustic cleaner was designed only for mechanical engines.  It was developed for use in STC (step timing control) engines, however it works great in small cam through BC IV engines and STC N-14’s.  

Clean, properly adjusted injectors, diesel fuel fortified with Lucas fuel conditioner and clean engine oil will enable the injectors to atomize the fuel to a fine mist state.  The end result is better fuel mileage, greater performance and longer injector life.

                 A note from Gary Hoffman, president of Diesel Injection of Pittsburgh.

Once an engine has been rebuilt, start the engine and idle for a maximum of two minutes.  Reset the valves and injectors and take the truck for a ten-mile ride preferably on an interstate with hills or mountains.  Once there is six to eight miles on the engine wring its neck, ease the throttle to the floor, check the fuel pressure gauge, turbo boost gauge and pyrometer, ease out of the throttle and return to the garage.  Now its time to hook into a loaded trailer and go to work.  

DO NOT allow a new engine to idle or high idle for more than FIVE MINUTES AT A TIME.   Gary’s recommendation is to have about 2000 loaded miles on the engine prior to doing any excessive idling.  

The old school of letting a new engine idle in the parking lot for several hours is a guaranteed way of building an engine that will consume oil.