Hi. There's a lot of good info on this site that has answered almost every question I've had on my 6.5. My Dad bought this new in Dec 1996. Drove it to 65k miles and just sold it to me a year ago. He was having PMD issues and decided to get a new truck. So I took this one off his hands. I've pretty much handled the majority of the maintenance on this truck over the years. Definitely all the repairs like PMD replacement (twice...), thermostats (twice again...), oil cooler lines (lubrication specialists), a/c compressor/lines, oil pressure sending unit.
I wanted to start a thread and show a little bit about the truck and maybe it'll help somebody or more than likely you guys will help me! haha.
I pull a lighter 27' 5th wheel and a pontoon tied to the back of that. So I wanted to put some extra gauges on the pillar to watch exhaust temp, boost, and trans temp. I bought this kit from kennedy diesel and it went on fairly well thanks to the previous posts on this site. They're isspro gauges and I think they look good.
The pillar housing mounts over the original pillar. I used the supplied 6 plastic push pins. Drilled a 3/16" dia hole and push them in. I did a little trimming of the new pillar to get it sit better. Not for sure how well it worked.
Went to the local paint shop and they made a can of ruby red interior paint (code 79i) for $16. To paint, I washed everything down with soapy water, scuffed with a scotch bright pad (which is really rough). Then sprayed SEM plastic adhesion promoter, followed by a few coats of my interior paint. And it appears to be holding up well.
Next I drilled 2-1/8 holes in the back of the old pillar to get access to the gauges. Still tight to work around. I tried to put the holes lower to get the wiring and plumbing to come out easy.
Put the gauges in and wired it up for lighting.
The pyrometer and transmission temp gauges require a little control box that have to be powered with the key on.
Before putting the pillar up I drilled and tapped 1/8-27 NPT the intake for the boost gauge. I used a 5/16" drill 11/32 is preferred, but 5/16 is doable (in aluminum).
Fed the wiring up, the boost line and slid the pillar on.
To run the lights I did the "add a fuse" on the No 14 fuse. These work well. I'd rather do something a little more hidden, but this works for now. I did the same thing for powering the pyrometer and trans temp sensor, but found a key on fuse under the hood.
Alright pillar on, and lights work. Dim too.
I did the pre-turbo sensor. To tackle the pyrometer, as suggested here, pulled the inner fender, which is quick and simple. All the bolts are accessible from the fender well. You might should remove the battery or be prepared to support it as it will come down on an a/c line and rest after the fender is pulled out.
Set the fender to the side.
Drilled a 5/16" hole. covered the drill in grease and it seemed to get all the chips. I just work slow and as I felt the drill go through I stopped to get some more grease and eased it the rest of the way.
More grease for the tap. The 5/16" drill makes starting the pipe tap nearly impossible. So I hate to admit it but I resorted to chucking the tap up in my drill to get it started... It worked but I could've broken the tap off in the manifold...
Once the tap was going I would continuously take it out and grease it up. Seemed to be collecting the chips fine.
Threaded in the probe mount.
The pyro has a leader cable and I thought this was odd but the wires bolt together. I have been thinking about cutting this off and splicing it with a weather pack connection.
Last order of business, I decided to buy a B&M pan and tap it for the temp sensor. The leader for the temp sensor wasn't real long so I tapped on the forward left side of the pan. Tried to go above the filter but below the outside shifter linkage. And it seems to be working. I liked the B&M because it comes with an aluminum filter extension tube, and takes 6 quarts. I think the original pan is 3 quarts. To keep the filter in place B&M provides a little spring bracket that keeps a little down force on the filter.
I wanted to start a thread and show a little bit about the truck and maybe it'll help somebody or more than likely you guys will help me! haha.
I pull a lighter 27' 5th wheel and a pontoon tied to the back of that. So I wanted to put some extra gauges on the pillar to watch exhaust temp, boost, and trans temp. I bought this kit from kennedy diesel and it went on fairly well thanks to the previous posts on this site. They're isspro gauges and I think they look good.
The pillar housing mounts over the original pillar. I used the supplied 6 plastic push pins. Drilled a 3/16" dia hole and push them in. I did a little trimming of the new pillar to get it sit better. Not for sure how well it worked.
Went to the local paint shop and they made a can of ruby red interior paint (code 79i) for $16. To paint, I washed everything down with soapy water, scuffed with a scotch bright pad (which is really rough). Then sprayed SEM plastic adhesion promoter, followed by a few coats of my interior paint. And it appears to be holding up well.
Next I drilled 2-1/8 holes in the back of the old pillar to get access to the gauges. Still tight to work around. I tried to put the holes lower to get the wiring and plumbing to come out easy.
Put the gauges in and wired it up for lighting.
The pyrometer and transmission temp gauges require a little control box that have to be powered with the key on.
Before putting the pillar up I drilled and tapped 1/8-27 NPT the intake for the boost gauge. I used a 5/16" drill 11/32 is preferred, but 5/16 is doable (in aluminum).
Fed the wiring up, the boost line and slid the pillar on.
To run the lights I did the "add a fuse" on the No 14 fuse. These work well. I'd rather do something a little more hidden, but this works for now. I did the same thing for powering the pyrometer and trans temp sensor, but found a key on fuse under the hood.
Alright pillar on, and lights work. Dim too.
I did the pre-turbo sensor. To tackle the pyrometer, as suggested here, pulled the inner fender, which is quick and simple. All the bolts are accessible from the fender well. You might should remove the battery or be prepared to support it as it will come down on an a/c line and rest after the fender is pulled out.
Set the fender to the side.
Drilled a 5/16" hole. covered the drill in grease and it seemed to get all the chips. I just work slow and as I felt the drill go through I stopped to get some more grease and eased it the rest of the way.
More grease for the tap. The 5/16" drill makes starting the pipe tap nearly impossible. So I hate to admit it but I resorted to chucking the tap up in my drill to get it started... It worked but I could've broken the tap off in the manifold...
Once the tap was going I would continuously take it out and grease it up. Seemed to be collecting the chips fine.
Threaded in the probe mount.
The pyro has a leader cable and I thought this was odd but the wires bolt together. I have been thinking about cutting this off and splicing it with a weather pack connection.
Last order of business, I decided to buy a B&M pan and tap it for the temp sensor. The leader for the temp sensor wasn't real long so I tapped on the forward left side of the pan. Tried to go above the filter but below the outside shifter linkage. And it seems to be working. I liked the B&M because it comes with an aluminum filter extension tube, and takes 6 quarts. I think the original pan is 3 quarts. To keep the filter in place B&M provides a little spring bracket that keeps a little down force on the filter.