Performance upgrades

[luvdieseltorque]

Ok this might be a little of a delicate question. As I think both companys are represented by moderators.

Doing some performance upgrades and am trying to decide with what companys programmed ECM to go with. Heath or Kennedy?

Heath reccomends dropping vaccum pump and use a manual turbo controller with his ECM , and Kennedy's ECM work with the stock vaccum pump. Which system is better?


Is Heaths 21" 9-blade composite fan and severe-duty fan drive better than Kennedy recalibrated fan clutch with stock fan? or 21" plastic fan with Kennedy recalibrated fan clutch? best of both worlds

Also looking at HO injectors, there is quite a price difference in Heaths and Kennedy HO injectors, is there a performance difference?

Also are the Bosch duraterms better than the 60G's for the price difference?

I already have remote PMD cooler, phazer gear, uni-foam filter, 4" exhaust, dual t-stats, HO water pump, guages trans, pyro, boost, turbo fooler, had intercooler, but removed as was no good offroad, headlight booster in a 97
C2500 4x4 extended cab.

Ordering fluiddampr balancer as well.

Next step, 4L80E, extra ponys up front means upgrades to driveline, what is required for the trans?

Already have detroit locker carrier and gears in the diff.

Transfer case?

Any comments appreciated

Larry

[ercaduceus]

I've been told that the Heath chip/ ECU is geared more for towing and the Kennedy chip/ ECU is geared more for performance/ race. I don't know for sure and that is from a secondary source. I'm trying to decide who to go with myself for a new ECU. I'm looking at Heath, Kennedy, SSDiesel, and Westers. I've not heard anything bad about any of them. I want the most performance I can get without having issues with reliability.

[winemaker]

I can't speak to the quality of one chips vs the other, but I can say that I look forward to ordering Heath's MaxE Tork, Turbo Master, and exhaust.
My Buddy had a 94 dually. I drove it stock, then with upgraded exhaust, then with all 3 components changed. Man, what a difference!

It was a high-miler, about 385,000km when this was done. I borrowed it to pull a 1979 27' trailer 500km up the venerable Coquihalla Hwy, and it ran like a champ.

Again, I'm not weighing in on the side of Heath over Kennedy, but I can say I'm a believer in those Heath upgrades, and my buddy couldn't say enough about dealing with Bill Heath. Hope this helps....

[JohnC]

First I'd like to point out that neither Heath nor Kennedy have any moderator privileges here and none of the moderators have any ties to either vendor.

That said, the turbo-master verses PCM vacuum control are just two different solutions to the same problem. Some prefer one approacch, some the other. At the risk of putting words in her mouth, I think Robyn prefers the Turbo-master approach due to its mechanical simplicity. I prefer the PCM approach because it is more precise. That said, either one will get you there.

My suggestion is to talk to the vendors, get their input, and spend your money where you think you're getting the best products for your particular needs.

[Kennedy]

Ok this might be a little of a delicate question. As I think both companys are represented by moderators.

Doing some performance upgrades and am trying to decide with what companys programmed ECM to go with. Heath or Kennedy?

Heath reccomends dropping vaccum pump and use a manual turbo controller with his ECM , and Kennedy's ECM work with the stock vaccum pump. Which system is better?


Is Heaths 21" 9-blade composite fan and severe-duty fan drive better than Kennedy recalibrated fan clutch with stock fan? or 21" plastic fan with Kennedy recalibrated fan clutch? best of both worlds

Also looking at HO injectors, there is quite a price difference in Heaths and Kennedy HO injectors, is there a performance difference?

Also are the Bosch duraterms better than the 60G's for the price difference?

I already have remote PMD cooler, phazer gear, uni-foam filter, 4" exhaust, dual t-stats, HO water pump, guages trans, pyro, boost, turbo fooler, had intercooler, but removed as was no good offroad, headlight booster in a 97
C2500 4x4 extended cab.

Ordering fluiddampr balancer as well.

Next step, 4L80E, extra ponys up front means upgrades to driveline, what is required for the trans?

Already have detroit locker carrier and gears in the diff.

Transfer case?

Any comments appreciated

Larry


My ECM's are done in house by me. I think the only other 6.5 programmer selling his own product to the public is Westers.

I prefer the vacuum controlled wastegate. No it's not the most robust system, but it's pretty simple and with a little maintenance works well. It actually manages boost and can do so dynamically. A spring device simply manages peak drive pressure and nothing more. I recommend and sell the spring device for those with mechanical systems, and those with old trucks not worth investing money in. If you are upgrading, then I'd think it's worth maintaining the vacuum system.

The Hayden severe duty clutch that you mentioned is a bone stock Borg Warner unit. Mine is also a Borg Warner unit but it's made specifically for me and calibrated to a 15°f lower engagement temp. Believe what you want about the blades, but in my opinion, the 15992650 blade that you have (no I'm not in the business of selling fan blades) on your 1997 is the best for the purpose.

It is my belief that the Bosch and AC 60g are one in the same. I use neither and have my QH plugs listed on my site.

On the 4L80E it is my preference to use the Transgo kit # 4L80E-HD2. I also firm up the ****ing in my programming, but unfortunately I am finding out that very few remember what a good shifting TH350 or TH400 was about and they tend to dislike the firm shifts.

[Kennedy]

I've been told that the Heath chip/ ECU is geared more for towing and the Kennedy chip/ ECU is geared more for performance/ race. I don't know for sure and that is from a secondary source. I'm trying to decide who to go with myself for a new ECU. I'm looking at Heath, Kennedy, SSDiesel, and Westers. I've not heard anything bad about any of them. I want the most performance I can get without having issues with reliability.


I'm not sure where you heard this, but people tend to get this misconception because we race a lot. My trucks also need to tow and I can hit all steps in between. I have had numerous comments that my chips and tuning have produced lower EGT, while being stronger, and quicker. Again, of those mentioned, I believe only Westers and Myself do our own tuning.

[Robyn]

Howdy

Well as a moderator I am not going to endorse any product over another just because I dont want any hard feelings at all.

Now almost everyone here has heard my rants on electronic devices.
IMHO the chip from either supplier is going to do the job well as long as you tell them what you want to do.
If you need power to tow, tell them so. If its a fire breathing pavment ripping animal you seek, say so.

As far as the wastegate controls go I personally like the spring thing.

As long as the chip is programed to eliminate the boost control code issues there will be no problem.

The vacuum system when in good order does work fine. BUTTTTTTTTTTTt as daddy used to say, parts left out dont fail.
I have had the vacuum system and still do on my 94 Burb and its stock and is fine for the grocery getter.
My DaHooooley has the spring unit and I love it.
I feel that once you step off the dock and sail off into performance land you ned to be watching your gauges and pyro and take care of the boost.

My rig is set to peak at 10 PSI and then after it reaches top gear it will slowly crawl up to 12 under hard throttle.

The spring unit will never loose a pump or a hose or a solenoid or have electronic issues.

As far as the fan clutch goes. JK has the lower engagement temp unit and this is a blessing.
I personally am working on a setup using a mechanical drive Horton clutch but this is not commercially available for the 6.5 and has entailed modifying the water pump using a Powerstroke flange to adapt the Horton to the 6.5 HO Pump.

This setup is water temp contolled and will come on when the water temp reaches 210 and off at 185 Or whatever I decide I like.
This drive also runs the fan at full speed .

Unfortunately this is not available nor will it be unless I decide to produce a KIT.
If you dont have the dual stat crossover and the HO pump, get them and run 180F stats if you live in hot country.

A lower temp fan engagement is better for the engine.

Hope this offers something

Robyn

[More Power]

I've been told that the Heath chip/ ECU is geared more for towing and the Kennedy chip/ ECU is geared more for performance/ race.

The only "market" for performance 6.5 tuning is towing.... ;)

Jim

[GMC Hauler]

Next step, 4L80E, extra ponys up front means upgrades to driveline, what is required for the trans?
Larry
I just installed the shift kit. It was better than any programming the vendors provide in the chip (at least the Heath, in my opinion).

You can here about it here:

http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/tdpforum/showthread.php?t=28967&highlight=transco

[luvdieseltorque]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, made up my mind for now with the stock 6.5 I have. Lots of informative information on this forum that I had never considered before. A great asset for GM diesel owners.

Saving up my money for a schoolcraft. Eventually:)

OEM balancer at local GM dealer in Alberta is $243, with our dollar just about par now the fluiddampr is looking better and better.

I have a unassembled 1998 506 casting 6.5 block, was wondering if this would be a good block to start a power project with or go with new AMG?

Larry

[94burb]

This may be late, but my truck was just like yours in spec almost and I found that it was peaky in the power band. I couldn't just punch it and it would go all the time. Also the turbo would spool up/down/up/down when crusing. Very annoying. Got a chip from Kennedy, he calls it his tow chip. I also got it with firm shift upgrade. Boy what a difference. Punch and go at any speed any gear. Turbo spools up much faster. I would guess it runs at 17psi and spikes to 23-25psi when I gun it. Truck runs much cooler with more boost it seems. With your mods I would think Kennedy would be the way to go as I don't think Heath's chip makes boost.

[GMC Hauler]

This may be late, but my truck was just like yours in spec almost and I found that it was peaky in the power band. I couldn't just punch it and it would go all the time. Also the turbo would spool up/down/up/down when crusing. Very annoying. Got a chip from Kennedy, he calls it his tow chip. I also got it with firm shift upgrade. Boy what a difference. Punch and go at any speed any gear. Turbo spools up much faster. I would guess it runs at 17psi and spikes to 23-25psi when I gun it. Truck runs much cooler with more boost it seems. With your mods I would think Kennedy would be the way to go as I don't think Heath's chip makes boost.

Is that a stock engine running those boost levels???

On edit, I noticed that you said you "guessed" those were your boost levels. If that is indeed the truth and you have a stocke engine (Compression ratio wise), you won't drive it for long.

[94burb]

No its lower compression than stock but not 18:1 low. The motor only has about 20k on it from a rebuild with cracked block and heads. When I punch it to the floor, the boost will go that high on the gauge for a sec or two and level out at around 17psi. Without the chip it would probably spike to about 17psi and level out to 10-12psi but it would also drop to 0psi and rise again to 10-12psi over and over under constant throttle (not floored, maybe at 65mph). Before the intake/exhaust mods it was way worse. My boost gauge is plugged up into the rear of the intake manifold. I have been a bit of a lurker on these forums and never could understand why my truck wasn't doing what others trucks could do. Basically I have been reading and throwing money at it where I think it will do best performance wise.