I took a half mile off of my switchover time!

[Jack_Toepfer]

I've been using my block heater for the last 2 days because we got our first frost a couple days ago. Got down to 30 something for the night. I run the block heater from 5-8am when I leave. I usually leave before 8 but if I don't, the heater may as well be on.

I got into the truck yesterday. It was low 40s out. The truck had been running for 20 minutes, high idle. I got in the truck, and the windows were clear and the truck was nice and warm inside. The temp gauge was at the line on the gauge above the Cold mark. Not necessarily in operating range, but significantly warmer than I thought. I was expecting the system to turn on a little early, but it turned on 25% sooner. I usually have to drive a little over 2 miles for it to turn on, and now it turned on in just shy of 1.5 miles. Whoo Hooo!

One thing I noticed was that after the light came on, if I put any load above cruising on the motor, the light flickered. Not the "clogged filter" flicker, this one is much less intense. If I back out of the throttle, it stays steady. This only happend for the first couple seconds of crusing, so it isn't a big deal. I've had about 50 gallons of oil in my tank for the last couple days so I'd imagine the V3 is sucking up some cold oil... but the motor doesn't hesitate at all and I can keep on trucking.

Temps are supposed to go back up, but I think I'm going to run the block heater until summer. The electricity it uses is significantly cheaper than the diesel I would have consumed... I think.

[Clay]

One thing I noticed was that after the light came on, if I put any load above cruising on the motor, the light flickered. Not the "clogged filter" flicker, this one is much less intense. If I back out of the throttle, it stays steady. This only happend for the first couple seconds of crusing, so it isn't a big deal. I've had about 50 gallons of oil in my tank for the last couple days so I'd imagine the V3 is sucking up some cold oil...

The light flickering was probably cause by a combination of an old, partially dirty filter and cold oil in that filter that doesn't want to flow untill the filter heater gets hot upon powering up when the V3 comes on. A good time to have a pressure gauge to see for sure. Thats one design issue i think could be changed a bit...the filter wrap comes on when the light comes on meaning the oil in the filter is still 30* when the modul is already warmed from the coolant flow during engine warm up. So the filter is the last thing to get heated when it seems it should be the first thing to get heated since that oil is going directly out of the filter and into the heads. I think there would be some cool oil being burned in that first few miles untill the hot oil was delivered to the module. On the flipside, maybe the filter actually has diesel in from the previous purge cycle...i am not sure of the fuel routing of the V3 module. As for the 50 gallons of oil in the tank, it will take several miles of driving to raise the oil temp in the tank a little bit.
That reminds me, i need to wrap my lines tonight.

[Marv]

Wish I could figure out why my light won't stay on...

Anyways...good info on the filter heater Clay. I wasn't aware that it powered up last when the system came on.

[Clay]

Anyways...good info on the filter heater Clay. I wasn't aware that it powered up last when the system came on.

I didn't know it either untill i read a post from jason about it.

[Jack_Toepfer]

I didn't know it either untill i read a post from jason about it.

I must have missed that. I was under the impression, because I'm an ass, that the filter wrap came on with the motor... oops.

I wonder if it gets flushed with diesel?

I always thought I understood the V3 pretty well, but the more I think about it the less sure I am of everything.

[powerstroke73L]

I think the high idle makes a big difference in switchover time. Though I start my truck about 5 minutes before I leave every morning (around 6:15 AM) it hasn't been cold enough to kick the high idle on until this past Tuesday. The truck warmed up faster than it ever has in warmer weather idling it regular speed. I'll try the block heater tonight and see if I can get it to switch any quicker. Clay-you mentioned wrapping your lines-do you mean the module to tank lines or the module to engine lines? My module to tank lines are wrapped but module to engine are not as per the V3 instructions-should I give it a shot to see if it helps?

[Marv]

I think the high idle makes a big difference in switchover time. Though I start my truck about 5 minutes before I leave every morning (around 6:15 AM) it hasn't been cold enough to kick the high idle on until this past Tuesday. The truck warmed up faster than it ever has in warmer weather idling it regular speed. I'll try the block heater tonight and see if I can get it to switch any quicker. Clay-you mentioned wrapping your lines-do you mean the module to tank lines or the module to engine lines? My module to tank lines are wrapped but module to engine are not as per the V3 instructions-should I give it a shot to see if it helps?

FWIW, I plan on wrapping the lines on mine from the module to the engine. Or at least as close as I can get them to the up pipes.

I won't see anywhere near the cold temps most of you folks will, but I figure it can't hurt anything.

[Marv]

I wonder if it gets flushed with diesel?

I'm no expert on how the V3 operates, but wouldn't that almost be more like back flushing the unit?

I would think that the only thing the "inlet" side of the filter would see is WVO, however, I'm not sure on the "outlet" side of the filter. Seems like it wouldn't be a good idea to allow diesel to pump back in the outlet side, possible flushing all the captured contaminants back into the module.

Maybe it's plumped where it won't allow that to happen. Maybe it's got a check valve or a bypass to the purge system. I'm really just speculating...

I guess Jason or James would be the one to answer that.

[Clay]

Clay-you mentioned wrapping your lines-do you mean the module to tank lines or the module to engine lines? My module to tank lines are wrapped but module to engine are not as per the V3 instructions-should I give it a shot to see if it helps?

The lines from the module to wwhere the lines enter the bed is all i will wrap. I can't wrap them behid the tank as there isnt enough room - the lines are stacked back there rather than bunched. My previous install had the lines comming in the bed on passenger side and to prevent cutting another hole in the bed on the drivers side, i used that same hole so i will have 4' of line in the bed that i can not wrap. Actually i may be able to wrap just the fuel feed line to one of the coolant hoses without any issues to accomplish the hose on hose effect.
The line going forward from the module seperate going different directions so you can't really bunch those together either. You could homever wrap only the fuel line to prevent some heat loss after it leaves the module.

[lancaster,pa]

When I did my install on the 7.3, I insulated from the V3 forward. The coolant hose and the fuel hose run together right up to the "T" where veg goes to each head. - Patrick

[SwellMel]

When I did my install on the 7.3, I insulated from the V3 forward. The coolant hose and the fuel hose run together right up to the "T" where veg goes to each head. - Patrick

I thought this wasn't necessary, doesn't the purge push diesel back to the V3???

[lancaster,pa]

I thought this wasn't necessary, doesn't the purge push diesel back to the V3???

The purge does push diesel back to the V3. I insulated to keep hot veg coming out of the V3 hot until it reaches the engine. Seems that in 15F ambient temps, the fuel line running from the V3 to the engine could lose some heat. Just enjoy the piece of mind knowing I'm not losing any of the heat the V3 so efficiently delivers. Additionally, even though I was careful to route hoses away from hot stuff in the engine, I felt there were a few places where the rubber hoses would benefit from a little additional protection from the heat. Might not have been necessary, but again, piece of mind. -Patrick

[Marv]

The purge does push diesel back to the V3. I insulated to keep hot veg coming out of the V3 hot until it reaches the engine. Seems that in 15F ambient temps, the fuel line running from the V3 to the engine could lose some heat. Just enjoy the piece of mind knowing I'm not losing any of the heat the V3 so efficiently delivers. Additionally, even though I was careful to route hoses away from hot stuff in the engine, I felt there were a few places where the rubber hoses would benefit from a little additional protection from the heat. Might not have been necessary, but again, piece of mind. -Patrick

I agree with Patrick, it's not necessary, but it can't hurt. I also plan to finish insulating mine before winter gets here. Right now I already have certain areas insulated. Not so much for the retaining heat factor, but to prevent the hose from becoming chaffed or damaged by rubbing against other things under the truck.

[greasyX]

Great Idea,don't worry about heat loss though that fuel line passes through the heads,before it even gets to the injectors, which will over-compensate any loss..............greasy

[Jack_Toepfer]

I'm no expert on how the V3 operates, but wouldn't that almost be more like back flushing the unit?

I would think that the only thing the "inlet" side of the filter would see is WVO, however, I'm not sure on the "outlet" side of the filter. Seems like it wouldn't be a good idea to allow diesel to pump back in the outlet side, possible flushing all the captured contaminants back into the module.

Maybe it's plumped where it won't allow that to happen. Maybe it's got a check valve or a bypass to the purge system. I'm really just speculating...

I guess Jason or James would be the one to answer that.

If #2 is getting to the WVO tank... it has to be going through everything. Thats my theory.