for rjwest & others who have done it - FSD remote mount in cab?

[97SubK2500]

It seems the only remaining possibility for our 97 Sub's no start condition is a dead FSD. Will have a new FSD and remote mount kit ordered and delivered from Mr. Kennedy this week (I hope).

For those who have done in-cab FSD remote installation - any tips or warnings on procedure, tools or mounting locations?

Thanks in advance for any help.

--Ian

[Aryeh Levy]

Likewise, I'm looking to do FSD mount in Cab. Talked to Bill Heath, Said that aint no airflow in cab, needs airflow. Thinking of running 80-100 MM high CFM fam on top of heat sink ala cpu fan style.

Ideas?

[dslpwr]

Any place as long as is not under hood. I have mine under truck on top of transmission cross member for 3 years 50,000 miles with out any trouble.

[HowieE]

Not sure I would agree with mounting under the truck. The air flow off the engine and under the truck is over 150 degrees in the summer and hotter just after you stop.
Mine is mounted behind the bumper with 4 ins. of the heat sink hanging out in open air. Ambient air temperautre is the max. it will ever see.
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze54tx9/id8.html

[rjwest]

FSD mounted to alum heat sink, Computer fan
wired to top of alum heat sink,

Big tie wrap to fasten asembly under dash by steering column.

Hole in bottom of heater/ac air box, with pvc
elbow directing air on fan entry area. blows cold air on unit when ac or vented aie selected..
( remove elbow , tape hole for winter )
thats novenber in maine....

Went with underdash so I could idle truck with AC
on, wife VERY happy ....

Not pretty, but it works, and easy to get to.

[Dimsdale]

I just mounted mine behind and slightly below the air dam in a pseudo Heath setup. Made up a small bracket out of some galvy sheet steel. Not pretty, but effective and cheap! Not even warm after a long highway drive in 95 deg weather. Warm, but not excessively so, in traffic, same weather. Can still touch it.

Originally had it on the manifold, then moved it on top of the fender alongside the antilock brake thingee with a computer fan on top. Still too hot, particularly when the truck is parked or idling.

It will be a snap to change it in this position, but I am hoping it will last a reasonable amount of time there.

[97SubK2500]

FSD and remote mount cooler kit arrived yesterday, and installed it after work. THANK YOU to the DP forum members who have taken their time to help make this repair a success on the first try!

Truck runs just like it should now. Glad I did the work myself instead of paying hundreds in labor.

For now, FSD is mounted on top of the driver's side fenderwell next to the ABS unit. Had to get the truck back in service ASAP, although I realize anywhere under the hood is not ideal due to high ambient temps and questionable air flow. Any location would seem better than the side of the IP, though!

It sounds like the other choices that significantly improve airflow and/or ambient temperature are (in no particular order).

1. Somewhere in the front bumper / air dam area - strong airflow & low ambient temp. relative to engine compartment. I'd be concerned about impact damage from road debris, off-road use,or a fender bender, unless a small "cage" could be installed around the unit.

2. Installation in the cab needs rjwest's mods to provide airflow, but ambient temp would seem to be great due to A/C during hot months.

3. Transmission cross-member location could provide good airflow, but I'm not sure about air temps in traffic or on the interstate. Other than an extra-long mounting harness, no additional mods are required for this alternative.

I'm not comfortable with mounting it down low in front, as the rig does see off-road use and I would hate for a flying piece of road junk or fender bender to put the engine out of commission.

I'm leaning towards rjwest's cab mount, even though it adds another device to maintain and a semi-annual HVAC system switchover, due to best overall combination of protection / temperatures / air flow.

What am I missing here?

[rjwest]

97sub: AC air on FSD is probably overkill,

I did it for florida weather conditions:
Only way I can stop in Gun store or Army surpluss is to leave truck running with AC on...(Wife on board )

Without AC air ( only 12Volt fan ) max temps on top of FSD was about 120 deg F with cab cooled
to normal ( radio shack remote tenp sensor taped to top of FSD as temp ref )

selecting partial ac to floor
provides suficient cool air to keep FSD cool ).
None AC days also no problem.

I started with Air intake mount and than fender mount. Fender Mount was slightly hotter than mounting on the intake plenum. At the the fender mount (left side ) temps exceeded 250 feg F on a Long Slow hill climb ( PA back roads )
That is why I moved the FSD to inside and also to keep wife happy...

From all comments, it appears external mounts work well, I did the inside mount for a specific reason as posted.

Note, I have accumulated Computer Heat sinks with Fans and have made some spare asmbelies ( FSD,heat sink, Fan with 12v plug ). easy to swap out if needed.

I am making no reccomendations: just sharing info..

[DA BIG ONE]

I am happy with outside engine compartment where I have 2 seperate units mounted;

Fin plate cooler mounted at forward leading edge of driverside wheelwell, fins facing forward grabbing air always. The driver is exposed to whatever comes off of tire, so, I sealed it with silicone sealant piled on thick which acts as an impact buffer too and has been fine for some time now.

The other unit is heaths plate setup for 2wd trucks which I have mounted on pass side frt/bumper so it catches air. This location does not see anything thrown up by tire so did not add any extra sealing material.

Still have the (good) IP mounted unit inplace for triple protection. Yes, it maybe overkill but I'll never get stuck because of a bad unit.

[97SubK2500]

rjwest and DA BIG ONE,

Thanks for the follow-up. I spent a while under the truck today, looking around during a planned oil change while the oil sump drained.

At the risk of sounding wishy-washy, I think that I'll go with the inside cab mount. Keeps the unit safer with really easy access

rjwest - where do you hook up the computer fan to 12V power in your setup? Where does the unit mount to the cab side of the firewall? Also, where do you cut the oval shaped hole in the firewall?

Thanks in advance for any further help!

--Ian

[rjwest]

drill to holes side by side, size of oval, file out center with round file

I tyed up asm with a long Tie Wrap, never got around to mounting with a bracket.

hole is above throttle sender asm, should be clear spot there( 96 truck, yours may be different ) ). anywhere a free area is easy to get to. pick a cable for a ref and measure on each side of firewall ( front and back ) for a clear spot..
May want to start with a small pilot hole to insure it goes through in a clear area..

I got a piggy back add a fuse and installed in Radio fuse position, fan comes on in acces position also but ,
I did not want to slpice into any eng control circuits..

Piggy back fuse holdr replaces a fuse with 2 fuses and a wire for the add on circuit..

If FSD is warrented by seller, I would check where they reccomend mounting, may not like under dash location..

[Turbine Doc]

97 Sub I pulled up my last years points to ponder post
http://forum.thedieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=006671

hot weather brings up more FSD/PMD issues under hood is bad karma, I was there for a while, now I run with my Heath unit bumper mounted