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I have a 6 ft cable i bought to relocate my brand new PMD that I also purchased. I see in advertisements to mount it near the hole in the front bumper, i think that might be a little too close to the elements and danger. I see some in the cab on the floor. any other places that are good? i was thinking in the center console or the glove box or just on the fender near the air box intake. anybody ?
I got mine on the inside of the fender well, drivers side.
Check out www.kennedydiesel.com and look at the 6.5 diesel upgrades, FSD Cooler package. You will see some pics there, the second one shows exactly where mine is located.
Any further questions, just let me know.
You can put it on the aluminum skid pan that folds down under the radiator area.
The Idea is to keep it in an area that has lots of the coolest air flowing possible. The Nostril in the pumper is not a bad spot. If the sucker gets mashed the PMD will be the least expensive of the damage.
If the PMD is on the inside of the Nostril the weather pack connector will be fine to keep things sealed up.
The main issue is keep it as cool as possible.
I have mine on the 94 Burb on the inside of the front skid pan under the radiator.
Anything is better than that hell hole down under the manifold.
The top of the engine is poor too as the heat collects there.
Cool wind swept spot is the best.
Robyn
sounds good
Just rereading these posts.
Put the PMD on the inside of the skid pan. I was not specific in this. :eek:
The PMD is totally sealed and the only place anything can cause issue is the connector. The connector should be very fine as long as it is not submerged in water.
If you are going to go on a fording operation I would place the PMD in a spot thats above the high water mark for sure.
Anyplace out in the area behind the grill is good too.
The issue with the PMD is that high residual heat will shorten the life of the two power transistors in the PMD and possibly other components in there too.
I have not cut one of these little guys apart so I dont know exactly whats in there but they dont like heat, this I do know.
I have seen a couple of the PMD's placed on a custom cooler that was clamped to the AC accumulator over on the RH side of the rig.
The accumulator is very cold when the ac is running and during the summer that should be most of the time.
However the plan to get the little critter out of the engine bay seems to work the best.
Robyn
but is the summer heat considered that big a deal considering its not nearly as hot as i'm guessing it would be on the IP. i still have yet to locate this thing. i havent looked either. where is the IP on the motor?
The IP is down in the valley between the heads under the front of the manifold.
The PMD needs to be out of the engine bay, Nuff said :D
Robyn
As mentioned below, go to www.kennedydiesel.com and see for yourself: There are pics as to where the PMD could be located at. Not sure WHY Robyn is so particular about it having to be located outside of the engine bay. (Because this is what you did Robyn???) :rolleyes:
Why would a company like Kennedy show where this thing could be located at if it is no good? There are also many companies suggesting to locate it above the intake, still within the engine bay.
I would say that ANYTHING is better than down in the valley between the heads, right? My Burb had its first failure of the original PMD at close to 168K miles. The Burb is an original CA truck and therefore spent all its years in the CA heat. Nuff said. :)
I have a 2 wheel drive and as such no skid plate. Mine is mounted on a heavy aluminum plate mounted under the bumper, FSD on the backside. I've laid my hand on the FSD after a long hard pull in summer and was only warm to touch. Big difference. Get the FSD in the air flow, lots of places. Some mount on the intake to avoid an extension harness. Like Roybn said, out of the engine bay is best.
Jim
Mine is in Kennedy's suggested location, in front of the driver's side battery on PMD cooler.
Did you get a cooler as well, xtreme?
Casey
I've had my IP drivers located in many areas outside of engine bay and now have them in airflow to radiator to better cool them when stuck in traffic or at idle. When parked w/ac on I switch to hi-idle via switch no issues just cold ac and cool running 6.5td.
I do have a WARN Classic winch bumper and IP drivers are mounted to it. Thinking factory bumper offers less area to mount units in air path to radiator.
As for getting units wet I've found no issues with either unit (1) which I sealed all the edges and at plug thinking it was needed, (2) unsealed when submerged in deep water on many occasions. Dielectric gel at plug to lube and seal plug seal is always a good idea.
Does not matter a tinkers whizzzzz what I did. The issue is get the PMD away from as much heat as possible and still keep it safe.
I have seen them inside the cabin mounted on a cooler with a computer fan on them.
In the engine bay by the battery where JK mounts them.
Down in the bumper nostril
On the skid pan under the radiator
On the AC accumulator.
On the inner fender
On the manifold air hat (Bad choice)
It makes little difference where it is mounted as long as there is plenty of cool outside air getting to it.
The only limiting factor will be the creativity of the person who mounts it and the length of the extension cable that is available.
I respect John Kennedy and have no particular issue with the behind the battery location but I still feel that outside the engine bay is better because its cooler.
The outifts that are still calling for mounting on the intake air hat location are selling a product and in my opinion have not done any research to see that the location and the resultant temp of the PMD is actually no better up top than on the IP and possibly hotter.
My prefered location is anywhere its cool with lots of air circulation and one that is easy to get to in case you need to change the little critter along side the road.
Even a remote mount in a good location is not a 100% guarantee that the PMD will not fail.
The PMD is still a fragile piece of electronics and is very susceptible to heat failure.
The jury is still out on the new DTECH units. I am running one on DaHooooley and we shall see.
This thread basically started with a question as to where to mount the PMD.
So we have a variety of input here as to where to put it.
Bottom line, keep it as cool as you can and in a place that it wont get damaged during off road operations.
I have no issue with a lot of different locations.
What I have stated in my replies is my choice and thats about the long and the short of it.
KEEP IT COOL AND you will have one of these. :D
Best
Robyn
New PMD arrived today. I have the new 6 ft cable also. One question more since i have not taken the old one off yet or anything. I see the cable that came with the PMD is short with a ground wire and a rubber cover on another portion that sorta resembles an A/C eletric plug, not exactly but i think you might understand what i mean. Do i remove the old unit and still use this cable with the ground and only plug the 6 ft one into it and move the PMD where i want it? I notice i get a thin piece that sorta looks like a gasket with it. Do i need anything underneath the PMD when i mount it with thin gasket type square. I see all those cooler type things and didnt buy one figuring a lot looked like gimics These things are more just prone to heat for failure, so i take it that if i dropped it it wouldnt affect it tooo much but i shouldnt play hockey with it
Did I miss something? We've discussed where to mount it, but I don't think we've discussed what you are going to mount it on. If you move it fromthe pump you need a big heat sink to dissipate the heat.
Time has shown that many PMD failures are actually failures of the cable connecting it to the rest of the electrical system, hence the new cable included with the PMD. I'd use it.
The gasket is a thermal transfer gasket. Use it as well, once you've figured what you are mounting it to.
Don't drop it, either. I'm convinced the problem is more due to mechanical stresses generated by thermal cycling than due to the heat itself.
any particular way to make a heat sink or something i can use without purchasing and waiting another week to do anything to this truck. cant i just mount the PMD to bumper by the nostril or the radiator support behind the grill and be done with? i figured the air flow would be enough to dissipate heat unless i'm missing the whole reason to locate it to a place with there is cold air flow. does the IP have a heat sink or is the PMD just screwed to it? i'm trying to figure out what the heat sink is for if the PMD is always in the line of moving air or at least not near any source of heat?
The IP is designed to remove the heat by circuating fuel through the part of the housing where the PMD mounts. Lift pump failure is, IMHO, one of the chief causes of failure, sort of like having the water pump fail and the engine overheat...
That isnt answering my question completely. I dont have a heat sink. Do i need a heat sink? If i don't have one, what can i use for one or do i necessarily need to buy something else or can I just mount it and done with. I know my lift pump wasnt working for a while, might not be working now, but thats a separate issue, one thing at a time as the truck still runs but i would like to stop the stalling
Yes, you need a heat sink.
I cannot recommend making one, but if you do, bigger is better and be sure you get a good thermal bond between the base of the PMD and the body of the heat sink. Whatever you mount it to has to be able to dissipate the heat generated by the 2 switching transistors in the PMD. Mounting it without one is worse than leaving it where it was.
The failed lift pump may well be the cause of the failed PMD.
This lift pump and oil pressure switch i replaced about a year ago so for it not to work it may only not be working a short time. I guess i need to look for a heat sink now.
Actually..... The company who developed the very first commercial FSD cooler is owned by an engineer (Christer Lindstrom), and he did the research. You can read more about his research data in the following two articles, which have been available to the public here in The Diesel Page since 2000...Quote:
The outifts that are still calling for mounting on the intake air hat location are selling a product and in my opinion have not done any research to see that the location and the resultant temp of the PMD is actually no better up top than on the IP and possibly hotter.
http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews/FSDCooler.htm
http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews/beta.htm
Having said that, my opinion has evolved somewhat through the years, and I suggest placing the cooler in a location where it gets plenty of outside ambient airflow. I believe thermal cycles have an effect on FSD reliability, and even if the intake mounted FSD does, according to Christer's careful test data, show it to be a perfectly suitable location, the heat soaking that the module endures when shutting off a hot engine could produce a cumulative negative effect on the module.
We've learned that there is no cure-all location when using the Stanadyne FSD module. Even Heath's PMD Isolator has failed in at least two instances that I know of, and his is mounted in the coolest location possible. While I have heard of original pump-mounted modules lasting for as much as 450,000 miles, most don't run a fraction of that. The root problem remains the imperfect design of the Stanadyne module.
When people call or email me about this subject, I suggest they install a remote cooler (I suggest several, and let them choose which one) in a cool location for one primary reason - to allow changing the module on the side of the road and in the middle of the night with a flashlight. You can't do that while it's mounted to the injection pump. I also suggest they carry a spare module with them if they travel away from home with this vehicle. :)
Jim