My duramax WVO conversion

[japerry]

Originally Posted by defer90

Your install looks great. I have a 08 that was running on a Golden fuel systems kit. The truck run great on SVO but my VOcontroller failed and did not shutdown the truck after I left it. This computer failure caused the the truck to run over night on svo. To make a long story short, it ended up that the engine oil had congealed stopping the lubrication of the engine and eventually killed the engine.

This happened to me with the current version of the VOcontroller so just be careful.

Thats good to know. thanks for the info! did you talk to Ray and find out what happened?

[japerry]

The conversion is nearly finished! Time for some more photos

Wiring the Beast
For the wiring, I used the VOController, available at vocontroller.com. Ray has done a pretty good job of documenting the installation. You can download the install module here: http://www.vocontrol.com/VegECU_Manual_2.pdf

What I will be covering here is the specific installation of the VOController on the Duramax. I have the 'premium' version of the controller (not the starter edition). Relevant pages:

1. 13: Fuel Sender wiring diagram
   
2. 14: Temperature sender diagrams
3. 18: Valve diagram with FASS Pump. Note, the diagram doesn't cover the loop valve, which is on page 15. You can add the wiring for 15 where the supply valve is on page 18
4. 20: Sorta.. in theory. Eventually I'll be using a heater blanket for the Racor if I can't get the temp up enough
5. 21: Auto purge and ignition wiring
6. 25: Fuel pressure transducer sender diagram

The other pages talk about the configuration of the controller. I haven't fully configured it yet, so thats for another post.

Tapping into the ignition circuit
Taking apart the steering wheel in the GM is quite easy. This is a great writeup which explains howto access the ignition harness. Once its all apart, the harness is in plain view. Route the 'Accessory' and 'Power 1' wires to the ignition switch:


The accessory wire goes into the brown wire in the harness, and the Power 1 wire goes into the orange wire in the harness. The brown gets voltage when you turn the key to ACC, orange gets voltage when you turn to ON.


I put the ignition relay underneath the dash, near the air bag wire. There is a nice screw that you can attach the relay to.


Here is the end result, after some tape to make it look good.


You can put back together the steering wheel. It might be good to double check your work with a volt meter if you're unsure you did everything right.

Pressure Transducer
I've mounted this sensor to one of the auxiliary feeds on the Stanadyne filter head. The wires are shielded and need to run up front. important! Don't run the transducer wires along side the FASS pump!
Since the wires are 22AWG shielded, it'd be good to find a 4-6 wire shielded cable to splice to:


You can see in the picture below that the battery and FASS cables run alongside the insulated fuel lines (to the right). On the left, I looped out the grey cable to show where I ran the transducer. This will keep the two from interfering. Make sure that when the cables come into the engine compartment to still keep the FASS and transducer wires as far apart as possible.


The grey wire comes out, and crimps to the associated wires specified in the VOcontroller manual.


Valves and FASS wiring
In page 18 (and 15) you'll see the 2 relays that control the pumps and valves. I don't have a Diesel fuel pump, so you can just tape off the Red lead that is supposed to run to the diesel fuel pump.


Also make sure the FASS wires go far away from the temp and pressure wires. I suggest routing the ground and +12v in the front. The FASS needs to be wired directly to the battery feed and ground (not the chassis)

[japerry]

Wiring the +12v for controller
The controller itself does not need that much power. The ignition relay is low amperage, so is the illumination. I wired the ignition relay to the AUX power fuse (the right cigarette port) and the illumination is wired into one of the low-beam headlights. I'd rather put it in the running lights, but the 'add-a-circuit' is too big for this fuse spot, which is wedged between two relays.


Rear filter system
This is the complete filter setup in the back of the truck. You can see the pressure transducer on the left of the stanadyne filter head.


Fuel Sender
I wish the fuel tank had a cover for the wires and fuel lines. I'll probably get that fabbed up when I get case built around the filters.


VOController ECU
I placed the VOController in a nice little compartment under the driverside dash, to the upper left of the brake. It fits in well there. I then ran some shielded CAT5e wire up the A pillar into the roof for the LCD.


I put some packing foam behind the LCD to keep it pushed to the front, and then attached it with some velcro on the top and left side. It works pretty well, you can press on it and it doesn't move.


Whats left now?
1st, I gotta program the VOController for auto purge. Also need to bleed the VO lines. (I put 10 gallons of diesel in there so far. I'll gradually put in more VO)
The second thing I noticed is that the placement of the fuel temp sensor is not right. Since the temp sensor is currently AFTER the supply valve, it will display the temperature of diesel fuel and never raise in temperature to trigger the VO switch. I can manually purge now.
Lastly, do some wire cleanup in the engine bay.

[dbert]

defer, I converted my LMM last summer with GFS system. Biggest mistake I've made in 20 years. I used to idle the engine for an hour or two at a time. I think that may have led to my problem, but I'm not the expert. I had about 1k on the engine oil when the engine oil life monitor told me to replace it. Missed opportunity. Perhaps if I DID change the oil, it may have saved me. I was convinced it was an error due to the WVO conversion. After 2k on the engine oil, I went to pull out of my drive one morning and the DIC told me there was no oil pressure. I checked the dipstick...nothin' but a sticky mess on the end of the stick. I pulled the drain plug..NUTHIN'! I dropped the lower oil pan and found it was full of a black thick jello-o-like substance. Long story longer...somehow the WVO leaked past the piston rings, contaminated the engine oil and polymerized it. After pulling the engine out, we discovered a spun main bearing. The engine had less than 20k total miles. Ever try to find a used or even a NEW replacement LMM? The first used I got was from a crap yard in Cincinatti. I pulled the glow plugs, spun the crank and was treated to a nice rusty water fountain from the cylinders. The engine had LOTS of water in it. I returned that $6,500 piece of scrap metal, but ate the $330 shipping cost. Anyway, I' ve received a few e-mails asking for my opinion on VO and DMax. Her it is again, take Chris' advise..DON'T DO IT! If you decide to try it anyway, I've got all the hardware for the dual 60gal trekker w/ IOS and a centrifuge/pump setup for sale!

[japerry]

I don't trust anything from GFS.. they didn't know what they were doing with Mercedes diesels when I worked with them when they were Greasel, and I'm not convinced they know much more now. They make guesses and assumptions that lead to the failures you ran into.

That said, I've been running a mix of WVO/diesel for the past few months now, no problems. But my mix is around 60/40 wvo/diesel. Sometimes a little higher for longer trips.

I need to contact Ray about an issue with the VOController.. the screen gets all funky when going back to diesel, its somewhat annoying.

[Clay Henry]

Very nice conversion!
I've been running WVO in my PSD for about 80k miles...the truck loves it. This is the first chevy i have seen converted...very rare.

[jayfa82]

Hey japerry, do you have any experience running a mix of super filtered waste motor oil and either diesel or kerosene?