Yesterday I took the truck to Mike's Custom Trucks in Northwood,ND to get possible boost leaks checked out and a few other things.

Hooked the pressure tester up to the compressor side of the turbo, plugged the boot below the intake horn and away we went. The results were interesting to say the least.

#1 Leak. Kind of a freebie. When I had a new injection line put on the Cummins shop never replaced a bolt that goes into the intake side of the head. Nice and wide open. Bolt replaced.

#2 Leak. 8psi pressure. Driver's side intercooler boot started hissing. Readjusted boot. Fixed.

#3 Leak. 10-11 psi. Passenger side intercooler boot leaking. Readjusted and fixed.

#4 leak. 14 psi pressure. Compressor housing on the turbo started hissing. Could feel air around the snap ring on the back side. Took the compressor housing off cleaned it up real well, a little bead of silicone around that edge and reinstalled. Fixed.

#5 leak. 24 psi. Passenger side intercooler boot started hissing again. Except that now it had failed. There were 2 cracks in it and at 24 lbs the boot stretched enough to cause a leak.

I decided at this point it was time to upgrade to the BD hose kit. Esp since the ENTIRE kit was only a little more than 1 OEM intercooler boot. The kit was installed, had to adjust 1, and system was pressurized to 34 lbs. Not a peep. SWEET.

One thing i noticed with the BD kit is that those boots hardly swell under pressure compared to the stock stuff. I was cringing a few times watching those stock boots swell up, just waiting for a bang.

Now, results of having a non leaky intake system. Boost guage just bangs to 32lbs like it used to, EGT's are down 100-150 degrees, and the best one, the truck smokes waaaaaay less than before.

IMO - If a boot needs to be replaced, just get an aftermarket kit, you're better off in the long run.

 

Great post, I've been noticeing more black smoke lately and a slight loss in power and mileage, but I know my lift pump is 15/11 and I've got a 1 year old injection pump so fuel is good. I'll definitely look into this. Thanks.

 

"Esp since the ENTIRE kit was only a little more than 1 OEM intercooler boot. The kit was installed, had to adjust 1, and system was pressurized to 34 lbs. Not a peep. SWEET."

Thanks for the test results! Which retailer is this?

brandon.

 

Brandon, look at the title of this thread

http://www.piersdiesel.com/ also sells them

 

how much is the BD kit? I can't open BD's price list, I tried downloading it and I think Acrobat is screwed up on my computer so it won't open. are the stock boots that expensive?
I just blew a hole in the lower driver's side on the way home from the trans shop, I've seen the piers kit and will probably go with them since I've already done business with them with my hybrid. i'm going to try a combination of tape and hose clamps to get me by until the piers kit gets here!

 

Hi Ben;
Talked about you today as I was out at Mike's to see Tim run his 96 on the dyno after a timing bump.

Very good post.

Piers, BD, and other places vend after market boots & hoses.

 

Thanks Bill. I thought the original poster may have got the BD kit from a reseller-- thought ESP stood for the company he got them from. My last set came from Piers, but they've almost doubled in price since the last time and I'm looking for good alternatives. I've got an idea, but I think it's going to roughly cost the same as the whole kit from Piers now.

brandon.

 

Great thread! I would never have thought of checking for leaks like that. Now I got something else to do.

 

bd and piers are two differnent companies, althought piers did work for bd at one time.

BD is at www.bdpower.com

piers is at www.piersdiesel.com

 

Yes, an often overlooked item.
The diesel shop I first visited had learned that from a customer and it was part of their routine checkout.
My stock truck had a 3 psi leak at an intercooler connection.

Mike's Custom has a full arsenal of equipment for boost & other testing.

Mr Bob's Distributing markets a full kit of hoses.
http://www.mrbobsdistributing.com/siliconehoses.html

BTW
http://www.bd-power.com/

 

Hey guys sorry about the late reply.

Yes, it is a BD kit. The esp was me being lazy for spelling especially.

More testing info with towing 14k pounds.

Truck runs waaaay better. The egts are down about 200 degrees. Before running through the gears with a load 1300 was no problem. Had to really watch how hard you pushed it, which was not fun.

Now. You can stand on the throttle and it gets to 1100. That's it. Flat out rips. The smoke is also WAY down. Which I am thrilled with. Just a nice healthy puff then cleans up instead of the serious black belching I had before.

John,

I told Mike he needs to market that boost tester of his. Definitely one slick set-up.

Kind of funny. Every time I set foot in that shop, Scott always cringes and I am there for no less than 6 hrs.

Did Mike show you that dyno sheet of mine comparing the EZ to the Mad ECM? If he didn't and you're curious it's in my members photos.

 

Yep, we looked at the sheet. A bit of oscillation on the upper curve. As long as it drives better I guess that's what counts.

Too bad we didn't meet up on Friday. Tim (WideOpenthrottl) would have enjoyed meeting you and seeing the truck. I put a GSK in a month ago and reset the governor lever. Scott advanced the timing and it put out 325 hp, before getting neutered. Tim found a damaged compressor blade so he is running easy until the HTT wheel & housing arrive. Probably need to boost check his truck, too.
After my experience at the Power Shop in Enumclaw (Seattle), I think boost checks should be part of routine maintenance on a bombed truck.

Scott was hinting I should stick around after the shop closed, but I had to get back to town for theater rehearsal. My fastest trip yet, I was there less than 90 minutes.

-John

 

John.

The driveabilty is what the graph doesn't show. 10x better than with the EZ since it doesn't have a flat spot in the upper rpm range. Really nice for towing since I can wind it out through the gears. Any ideas on the oscillations in the graph?

I wish I could of met up with you guys. Would of been fun to see you again and meet Tim.

 

I assume it is in the sample rate control logic loaded in the Catcher.