The star wheel an smoke screws are pretty much useless after you turn in the fuel screw. I have mine all the way "up," in fact, the top of the afc cover is ground out a little to let the fuel pin go all the way "up,"

This is contrary to the traditional dumb-assed smoke blowers that don't understand the concept of efficient combustion and "real" power." It is also the only way you will ever get decent fuel mileage after you add fuel "if" ( big if) you can keep your foot out of the skinny pedal.

 

i couldnt disagree more!!
the starwheel is very important in tuning!
you should drop your star wheel to the bottom and see how your truck runs! it will be a smokey laggy pig i bet!
the difference in spooling with the 64mm i have was unbelieveable!
went from borderline undriveable to spooling like the h1c

 

My fuel screw is all the way in and my starwheel all the way up. Spools my turbo much quicker and truck responds great for a turbo with a 18cm ex. housing. Lower the starwheel and runs like crap, smokey and slow spool up. Starwheel is one of your best tools for smoke and turbo control (next to controlling your foot) if you play with it till you get it right.

 

Every engine is going to be different it all depends on your mods. I have my smoke screw flush, power screw about 3 turns in, starwheel about 4 1/2 turns up, timing all the way to the head. Daily stop and go driving 25 MPG.

Have the smoke screw flush with the inside, set the power screw where you want it and put the starwheel 3 turns up. Drive it to see how you like it , then turn the starwheel up 1 more turn and see if it's better or worse and fine tune from there.

 

They don't really constitute "adjustments" any more if they are backed out all the way.

They no longer serve any purpose, so I deem them "useless."

 

so what your saying is its doing nothing then?

 

ok so ill try running it the the starwheel 3 turns up and see how it runs tomorow. after driving it more today it seems to have lost bottom end power a little and gained top end. i usually do pretty good at babying the pedal. i was getting 18 mpgs before with the 727 tranny and i wanna get 21 with the 46rh i put it. its taking some getting used to with still having the 3.07 gears so i really wanna get the pump tuned right so im not losing power and mpgs with it.

 

If the AFC didn't work after adjusting the screw then no fuel pins would ever be sold due to all of us running AFC deletes instead. Even the high horsepower guys keep there AFC tuned for performance and quicker spooling. I have played with mine alot and there is definitely a difference depending on the tuning.

 

Who said anything about the AFC not working? I run a custom fuel pin with a profile that maximizes full travel (not possible with the smoke screw) for low boost smoke control, and a higher deep travel to delay max boost later in the power curve (not possible with looser star wheel settings).

That equals minimum smoke under normal driving conditions and max power when I mat the skinny pedal.

That's tuning the AFC.

Maybe you need to keep playing(?)

 

You said the starwheel is useless with the fuel screw in. The starwheel is to help control fuel part of the AFC that is my point. People use the starwheel to control fuel and it works fine, with the control of your foot. You just keep saying the starwheel is useless then say you have it tight for smoke control. You need to quit contradicting yourself if your gonna get butt hurt about me saying the starwheel is to control fuel and works with a fuel screw all the way in, and proper tuning.

 

Apparently you don't get it.

Keep playing with your AFC. I'm done trying to explain it to you.

 

I get how it works and have it set just right for quicker spool and less smoke. :thumbsup: No need to explain anything to me buddy. And yes fuel pin ramp matters I agree there, Ive been testing a couple to get even less low boost smoke.

 

ok guess lets not get to tensed up here lol. so would my afc not being adjusted right and/or my timing advance cause my egt' to get hotter all the sudden? does backing the starwheel out or turning it in cause the turbo to spool faster. my egt's climb really fast when i take off now so should i back off another turn ? also the egt is still acting funny from when i have the truck idling in park to when i put it in gear. it rises over 100* once i put it in gear. it never did that before.

 

i think i know who doesnt get it! hehehe

 

With my starwheel turned down the truck runs hot and smokey, plus it will over fuel and flood out the turbo before it can spool wasting fuel. This gives me a horrible delay in the trucks response time. When I have it turned up to the top it helps delay the fuel and my turbo spools faster giving me way better response and it doesn't get hot as fast and has less smoke. Of course your foot always helps control the fueling also. Timing bump should help run somewhat cooler. That M5 fuel pin might be getting you hot fast with it's ramps slope. I've been having my father in law machine me different fuel pins to try and get even better response with less smoke, and I have one in now that is kind of a cross between the M2 and M3 and it has helped control smoke and spool up better than my stock ground pin could since it helps keep it from over fueling to soon so my turbo can spool faster helping cool the engine down that much more. This is what I have learned by "playing" with mine till I was happy with the trucks performance.

 

thats what i thought advancing the timing might do. maybe i cant get rid of it once i get the afc tuned in. i guess ill try backing out on it some more. the idle seems to be a little higher now to so ill turn it down and see if that helps. thanks for the input

 

Once you get all the other adjustments done then fine tune with the starwheel. Some think if it's all the way down it's more power but all it does is flood the engine with fuel it can't burn until the turbo has time to catch up with it.

A slight haze under hard acceleration is ok.

 

The only "fine tuning" to be done with the starwheel is back it all the way out if you are using an aftermarket or modified fuel pin and adding fuel with the full power screw.

I think mine needs a heavier spring or some way to shim it up even further than the adjustment will allow.

 

Screw the starwheel plate off and flip it upside down to get the spring even tighter. The bottom is flat and allows for a tighter setup.

 

Excellent idea, never would have thought of that - thanks!

 

Yeah David, I seem to remember something about spring binding years ago when I was first researching and experimenting with it before I settled on my current settings.

One thing I would add that hasn't been mentioned yet is what I call "guide pin tracking." Smear some heavy grease on the profile face so you see exactly what it did after making changes. You can also see the track scar on the fuel pin itself after its been run awhile. You know you have right or at least as right as its gonna get when it runs full up-down across whatever profile you've got.

 

Yes as usual you are correct, and I should have warned of binding. When I first flipped my starwheel I did bind it up. Since then I have lowered it just enough to be tighter than it could before it was flipped, and it is leaving a small wet mark on the ramp now to show it is still getting full travel.

 

so starwheel up - turn counter clockwise = less fuel at all times or just under low boost

 

When the starwheel is up it makes the spring tighter so that there has to be more boost to push the fuel pin down. When the starwheel is all the way down it fuels to much before you get any boost.

 

in that case at what PSI does the spring fully compress ?
knowing this would help greatly say if all the way out it takes 40psi to compress full rate. If someone is only making 20psi max setting it all the way up is not going to be beneficial to them as they would never achieve full fuel - ideally they would want to adjust somewhere in the middle

Am i understanding this right lol.

 

Am i understanding this right lol.

Yes.

You have to make multiple adjustments with test drives to see what works best for your truck.

 

Alot depends on how much boost pressure your putting out. That's why it's for fine tuning and not every engine is the same.

Mine is about 4 1/2 turns up.

 

right thats why i wanted to know if there was any idea on how much boost it takes to fully compress that spring to the point of full fuel.

Because if someone not knowingly adjusts it all the way up without making enough boost to compress it all the way there not going to get the full potential of the fuel pin

Sounds to me like it would be easier to pull the spring out completely turn the starwheel down all the way back it off 2 turns and just drive by throttle ? that is if you know how to keep your foot out of it at low speeds

 

I always say set it 3 turns up drive truck and see how the power and smoke is, then turn it up 1 more turn and see how it is. If it's worse go 2 turns up and go from there.

 

now does the starwheel control how far down your fuel pin can travel.
say u turn it all the way up "countrclockwise" is your pin only going to go down 1/4 of the way under full boost granted your making enough boost to fully compress the spring.

 

Raising the starwheel makes the spring tighter so it takes more boost pressure to push the pin down, that way it doesn't get to much fuel before you get boost pressure.

 

Understood that - but by turning it up Does it stop how far the fuel pin can travel ?