cougar1559

My Dodge is finished as far as I am going to go at any rate. Here is what I have learned. When I bought this truck it had several performance issues. The transmission had had been modified with Kevlar and a good input shaft. Also included was a very high stall converter. The converter caused the truck to spool late as it had no load until the rpm was close to 2500. I removed that critter and installed a Suncoast 3 disc with a 1350 stall. Now it will hook up nicely. I filled the transmission, and all of the gearboxes with the purple stuff.

The next issue was only 20 pounds of boost. The 04.5 Cummins with the 325hp engine has an electronic boost control solenoid. The way this thing works is kinda backwards from what you would expect. It has a small hose that runs to the wastegate. The wastegate has a 35 pound spring in it. So when the solenoid begins to open, it sends air pressure to the wastegate which SUBTRACTS from the spring. The ECM send a pulse modulated signal to the solenoid which allows a tiny bit of pressure to go to the wastegate. We are talking about extremely small orifices and needle valves here. So if there is the slightest leak in the circuit, the wastegate opens at 20 pounds and you are done. The solenoid is very expensive, hard to buy, and prone to leaking.

The solenoid screws into the intake side of the turbo. It is easily accessible by removing the air tube from the air filter box to the turbo. What I did was remove the little hose from the wastegate and screw a 1/4-20 bolt into the hose. Leave the solenoid in place with it plugged in so you will not get any codes. What I ended up with is 37 pounds of boost with the Banks 6 gun/S/L on level 6. My EGT is 1250 at WOT in level 6

The exhaust system is 5 inch. It made so much noise that it was unbearable. I installed a 5 inch Magnaflow cat and a 5 x 50 inch Donaldson muffler. It has a nice growl to it and NO drone. The back pressure is zero. It might as well be open to atmosphere. Plus if I have to regester it in a state that cares about cats n stuff, I am prepared.

I installed stock tires on the stock wheels to take advantage of the 3:73 gear. It must be in 4 wheel drive to launch at WOT even without spooling it up. If I spool it to 25 pounds, I am getting an honest 5 second 0-60. It squirrels just a bit in 4 wheel drive as it shifts into 2nd, but it is stable other than that.

The truck is a blast to drive, it is a real sleeper, and I am getting 16.9 mpg in town. I haven't put it on a dyno. I have a pretty good accelerometer with the weight of the truck + me + 1/2 tank of fuel programmed into it. It says the 1/4 mile is 14.4.

madhat

Sounds like you're doing pretty good.

Maybe a boost fooler will fix your boost issues and allow you to put the line back on your wastegate. Quadzilla makes a good one.

cougar1559

My solenoid is leaking. The boost fooler will not help a leaking solenoid. BTW most of them do leak past 50k. Plus they cost over 400 bucks if you can find one. The Banks system simply eliminates the pulse modulated command from the ECM and bypasses the signal from the boost sensor. Please keep in mind that most diesels have no electronic boost control, strictly mechanical.

I have a new Quadzilla fooler if you know any one who needs one. I bought one before I figured out how this system works.

madhat

Gotcha. Not sure if I overlooked what you said in your first post or I'm just a retard... my bust.

Put the boost fooler in the classifieds... it should move.