5EK 3406e 455 hp questions

The harmonic balancer does not come into effect till after 1800 rpm, and if you are driving at that speed mileage is not you ownly problem.
To check a dampener take it off, from 6 inches bounce the edge on the tire if it rattles it is junk. I have changed very few dampeners, viscous type. I changed a few of the ones used on the "B"s for slipping or distorting. very few.
Clean fuel, and a bug screen to keep the CAC, and rad, clean, get the CAC tested.
Progressive shifting, and driving between 1350 and 1550, cruising at the lower and you will make money.

 

i would replace it that age the silicone can harden from heat and age. its a cheap (about $600) thing to do. compared to replacing a broke crank. the 5ek engines were known to have crank issues for awhile. but only a certain batch. talk to haney he can fix you up with a motor that runs and runs and runs!

 

when was the last time the overhead was run? when the injectors were changed? if so, it needs to be done, usually every 100,000 miles or once a year. keep good filters on it, keep normal maintenance up on it and it should last a while till time for an in-frame, thats the feeling I got from you was it hasn't been overhauled yet. those cats are tough engines if you stay on top of normal maintenance.

 

That is about the best fuel mileage you will get out of that motor. My Dad had one and the fuel mileage didn't get any better till the motor went and it was built into a 550hp engine. Then it really didn't improve, but atleast it will run!

 

The harmonic damper does exactly what it name implies. It absorbs engine harmonics. The harmonics of the crankshaft are a result of each cylinder firing. Each time a cylinder fires it tries to bend the crankshaft, yes the crankshaft does flex and twist from it's neutral position from this. At 1200 RPM cylinder 1 fires 20 times in a single second. At 1800 RPM cylinder 1 fires 30 times in a second.

Now the difference between these two engine RPMs is that at 1800 RPM is where the peak Hp is being produced for this engine, but at 1200 RPM peak torque is being produced. The reason torque is produced at lower RPM versus Hp at higher RPM is the result of the pistons dwell time at Top Dead Center at the different engine RPM. The longer a piston's dwell time is at TDC while the combustion process is occurring, the higher the cylinder pressures exerted to push the piston back down to rotate the crankshaft. This actually creates more harmonics by deflecting the crankshaft from it's neutral position, but it is only happening at a rate of 20 times per second on each cylinder. Now at 1800 RPM we have less cylinder pressure to deflect the crankshaft, but we are trying to do it at a rate of 30 times per second per cylinder.

This makes the harmonic dampers job important at all operating RPM of the engine

The viscous fluid dampers do have the liquid/jell that will harden over time. Bouncing the damper on a tire will not diagnose this type of failure. The reason is the inertia ring inside of the damper can't move, because the fluid is hard. In this type of failure, you can't diagnose it. The only way I've seen this type of failure of the damper diagnosed is to drill a hole in the damper to see if the liquid/jell runs out or if nothing comes out. If liquid comes out........you've ruined a perfectly good damper. If nothing liquid comes out then you're replaced a bad part.

Always look at replacing a viscous fluid damper as insurance. It doesn't guarantee against a crankshaft breaking, but it may keep one from breaking some time in the future

 

Do not play with injector codes

If you want to add Hp there are other ways to do this that will not hurt the life of the engine.

 

The price of a Vibratech Damper is 530.00 plus shipping. CAT will be very close to the same price. Vibratech is made by the same company that builds Fluidamper for NASCAR, NHRA and IHRA racing

If you're interested in a Vibratech, let me know