well im new to all this, but i bought a 97 2500 with 300k miles on it. it had no power ond had oil in the coolent. i replaced the head gasket and put head studs and new injectors on it. come to find out it was the oil cooler, anyways i got it all back togather and it still has no power. i moved the fuel plate all the way foward and turned the star wheel up and it had a little more power. i replaced the over flow valve and changed the fuel filter and cleaned the fuel heater screan. it seems to have a little more power. when driving it you have to lay into the gas till you get to about 2250 rpms and then it feels like the turbo finaly kiks in and it will take off but then i have to shift. driving on the high way it seems to run fine on level roads but as soon as i come to a hill its like i took my foot off the gas and it starts slowing down even at wot. once you get the rpms up to 2250 then it will pick up speed and you can hit the hill and it takes it fine but thats going like 75-80 mph. i have no clue what to look at first. is it my lift pump my injector pump or am i not even close. please help. the truck is a 97 2500 4x4 5 speed.

 

these old 12 valves are pretty slow in stock form. first off do u have gauges? atleast boost n pyrometer. put a different fuel plate in it (or take it out), also, these trucks are governed at around 2200 rpms. buy a 4k governor spring kit n that'll really wake it up. that should make ya a little happier with the truck, but ur clutch wont be happy very long.
n welcome to dieselbombers

 

no i dont have any gauges yet. but it seems sluggish off the start, i have a 91 12 valve and it will leave this one in its smoke. will the 4k governor kit help out on the low end power?

 

check for boost leaks and make sure the wastegate is working. almost sounds like the wastegate is stuck open

 

thanks guys, today drove it to napa and barly made it the truck died in the parkinglot, so i bought a new lift pump and put it on and the truck started right up and runs ten times better. so i gues that was what was causing all my problems, it looked new so i didnt even think about changing it out.

 

cool