I have a 2010 gmc 2500hd 6.0 gas. would like to convert to gasification or is this a hill to big to climb?
I bought the book and membership to support the movement . Any thought and comments would be appreciated.
What are my challenges going to be?
I also have a topper I would like to use to hide the barrels has this been tried? Does the gasifier need to be taken out for maintenance? I’d probably cut a hole above for ventilation and to feed the wood. Is this crazy?
Would the gmc need to be a carburetor?
Do I need to change manifold to aluminum or steel?
What else?
Diesels can be done, but I don’t know if anyone has ran one in a road vehicle. Big hurdle. Woodgas doesn’t ignite from compression so you either have to run a pilot of diesel or add spark plugs, some diesels have LPG conversion kit heads so it’s not impossible.
Also the intake manifold should ideally be some kind of metal. If you have a backfire then a plastic intake could crack from the explosion. I’m having this same hurdle in my 2011 Sierra 4.3L. Plastic Vortec upper intake manifold I’ll have to swap out with a Mercruiser manifold.
Fuel injection gasoline engines are actually better since you can shut off the injectors electronically, or run a PWM/Rheostat to the fuel pump and hybrid it a little.
A camper cover I’d be afraid of overheating and melting the paint or fiberglass for a bigger engine system like a Wayne Keith gasifier. Maybe @KristijanL can testify better for hiding with a camper cover. If you wanted to keep a covered bed I’d say maybe find one for the next shortest bed length and separate it off to keep rain away from cargo. If you went for an aluminum cover it wouldn’t be a problem. Really it’s best to leave something like a WK out in the open so it can condense the moisture out of the hopper from air cooling as you’re driving down the road.
If you take your time in building it nobody will really notice.
I don’t think it would be much of an issue provided it’s a spark ignited gas engine.
I ran a test with my 2011 Sierra and even though the throttle body is drive by wire, electronic, with fuel injectors shut off it still works as normal. Tested with starter fluid to see if spark was still active everything normal.
I dont know about factory topper, though i plan on building a stand up cabinet around my gasifier whole unit, so it looks like a tool box cabinet. and maybe have the cabinet pannels removable, for any conection repairs, though i may build a home made topper with removeable sides and a roof that hinges upen to refill or repairs.instead of a cabinet. AS long as there is plenty of air scooped up from bottom or top , and a vent in rear of topper too keep air moveing, should be fine, though it may not be on the DOW recondenddato. SHOULD BE OK. in my opinion. GOOD TIME BUILDING YOUR MACHINE.
2500 hd is either a 6.6 Duramax or 6.0ls. the ls has been heavily discussed here for it’s merits of power and torque. Factory multiport injection, I see no reason it can’t be done. Plastic intake manifolds easily changed to aluminum, only catch I see is if it is drive by wire would be harder to set up with high idle. Steve will be along shortly with his thoughts as he just purchased a newer 6.0ls
Marcus I don’t think the idle would be too hard. Just set up a cable and turnscrew to tug on the pedal. I’ll need to experiment with this soon on the Sierra but I do know I can hold a throttle position.
Hi MatthewD.
Welcome to the DOW.
First you need to say, as Kevin asked is your 2010 GMC 2500HD an Izuzu Diesel? Or the GM 6.0L gasoline V-8?
Yes. I/we did purchase a 2017 3500 GMC cutaway boxvan with the 6.0L gasoline V-8 to move two family farms with four houses, in the next 1 1/2 years, from one county to another…
Twenty, 150-180 miles trip-loads so far. Two houses emptied. Two moved into. Two more households to go. Then all of the farms outbuildings contents. Some of the outbuildings to be trailer moved too.
Projecting a total of 60-70 trip loads total.
To in-time finish all of this it must remain stock with it’s strong 65-70 mph loaded capability.
After that, then it will be mine to modify as I please.
If you are gasoline I can put up some of my research and ideas.
Regards
Steve Unruh
Leaveing the cover on can be done for sure but you need good planing beforehand on ventilation. There is a lot of exess heat going on in the sistem that builds up if it isnt taken care of. Cuting a filling lid out is a good idea too, to vent hopper smoke at refills.
My Chevy was 2006, and it gasifyed fine. I think there shuldnt be a problem gasifying any newer vehicle, in the worst case scenario you need to simulate some sensors.
Seems each computer can take some abuse, a few errors will show but the motor will run. Up to a point. On the Chevy l culd disconnect the fuel pump when driving on woodgas, bit disconnecting the injectors was too much. Went to limp mode. So l drove with injectors on. Some fuel syphoning occured but not too bad. But probably every sistem is different
Hi Matthew, welcome!
I am both a welder and a mechanic although, just a farm boy and not a pro at either.
I wish I could offer my talents to help you - I am in Middle TN and would be glad to help with the physical construction if you are close to me, but as far as the know-how goes, I’m probably not the right guy - I have been struggling with my first gasifier build that I started around June and here I am in October and still haven’t figured it out yet.
I have a post on here about my troublesome build that has become a long epic tale of an old man trying to learn a new trick! But I am glad you joined the forum, these guys here are the best and will offer you help and encouragement along the way. I have had several times I have kind of wanted to beat my head into a wall over this thing, but I come on here with my latest frustrations and failed attempts and these guys always patiently bear with me and always give me something new to think about that I hadn’t previously thought of. So welcome again and good luck with whatever you pursue in this area and know that you have come to the right place.
I completely forgot to send this video. I own a 2011 GMC Sierra with the 4.3, it has the drive by wire electronic throttle body and it will work with the injectors turned off. I have gotten woodgas to run this engine, but I didn’t drive on it yet because I was just testing it.
Here’s a video showing the throttle body working with the truck turned on, you can test this yourself by just turning the key to On and not cranking up.