Last night I finished up assembling my 6.9, it's pretty much ready to go back in the truck. I decided it would be a good idea to do a quick test fit of all the components of the turbo kit. I bought it used, so I wanted to make sure I have everything I need to make it work. I noticed the air filter element is a washable oiled cotton and gauze type construction; much like a K&N. I've heard it's not recommended to run this type of filter on these engines. Is this true, what do you guys recommend?

 

You'll find debates about the pros and cons of K&N style filters on every automotive forum out there. Might as well ask what brand/weight oil to run as well, then sit back with a bowl of popcorn and watch sparks fly.


Mike

 

The K&N needs to be cleaned and oil to work properly. Most people slack off and don't clean and reoil it on time, that's when trouble starts.

 

That's what confuses me, I've run K&N products on nearly every gasser I've ever had with no issues. I am a stickler about maintenance on my rigs. The oil is intended to catch the smaller particles, that's a good thing right? A washable/reusable air filter always seemed like a nobrainer to me.

 

Fine particles will go through a gasser just fine but when you try to run then through a turbo wheel spinning 100k RPM you will sand blast that wheel in a hurry. Plus the 400 PSI cylinder pressures of a diesel force all those fine particles into your rings, and wear them out faster then a lower pressure gas motor.

FWIW, ag diesels with a turbo have used 2 air filters since the 60s, 1 inside the other, the internal is just a backup/ safety if the main outer fails.

Air filtration is utterly important for longevity of a turbo diesel.

 

That makes sense, my New Holland TC40 tractor has 2 air filters. You mentioned how dirt has much more adverse effects on diesels. That makes more sense after mentioning the higher pressures of a diesel. When I brought the heads from this engine to the machine shop, the guy working on them asked if my engine had been used a lot in a very dusty environment. Because the valves and seats were absolutely beat to death. Makes sense, this truck worked on a farm for years before I got ahold of it. Anyway to make a long story short, I ended up going through a complete overhaul of the engine. I wonder if I should look into a pre filter sock to run with the Banks filter. I am running one on the 460 in my wheeling truck, it seems to make a difference.

 

the day after getting the banks turbo put on my truck i took the airbox off and when done it looked like this:

for the next 5 trucks the air box was cut to be like this one before they were ever put on.
i had used a bunch of different air filters over the years on the trucks, but eventually settled on the 6637.

 

The 6637 was another thought in my head. What did you use for piping, what size? I'm already planning on going that route on my 97 PSD.

 

went to the local speed shop and got aluminum tubing. if i remember correctly it is 3 inch.
i also alloy rod braized the CDR bung to the intake pipe and relocated the CDR.

 

That was going to be my next question, what you did for the CDR. I am going to run into some clearance issues with set up I have now. Apparently the bullnose trucks have a slightly different firewall setup. Banks instructions say I need an adapter to clear the CDR. I got my turbo kit used, it's missing a few items that being one of them. Would I have to use aluminum tubing for the intake, could I use steel? Would you mind posting a couple more pictures of your intake setup? Thanks again!

 

what truck are you putting it in?

this was the temporary setup i used to bring it home from the machine shop where we cut up the airbox. yea, i know the cone filter. but it was only on the truck for 6 miles.
you can see the CDR mount mid tube on the intake

the CDR should be no where near the firewall, it mounts to the driver side of the airbox.
the reference to the firewall is the upper seam/floor pan seam that needs to be flattened to give clearance for the turbo and down pipe to fit.

 

It's going in my 84 F250, the truck it originally came out of. I pulled the engine last fall because of a blown head gasket. One thing led to another, I decided to go through and do a full overhaul. I bought this turbo kit some time ago, I was always hesitant to install it due to the health of the engine. It ran pretty good, but had severe oil consumption issues. Now that I will have a fresh engine, I can't think of a better time to install it. Anyway I failed to mention this turbo kit is the wastegated version of the Sidewinder . I downloaded the instructions for this kit, it said something about needing an adapter for the CDR on the early body style trucks. I am aware of the firewall mod required to clear the downpipe. I like your intake setup, I may end up building something similar for my truck. I guess I'll have to get it set down in the truck and see where the clearance issues are, if any. I appreciate the input, any other advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

oh, ok. the adapter they are talking about bolts to the timing cover where the plate is. moves the CDR from the intake to a remote position, and there is a hose off the adapter to the CDR. you can see it here under the oil fill:

 

I do have that spacer/adapter and the hose. The adapter I'm referring to per the Banks instruction manual actually bolts to the intake elbow, then the CDR bolts to the adapter. Another snag I ran into is the transmission dipstick tube, it looks like they have a special one that would come in the kit. I'm pretty crafty with fabbing things up, I'm sure with some massaging I can make the original one work. Unfortunately my aluminum welding skills are pretty much zero, so building the intake tube might be a bit of a challenge. Fortunately I know people, so that shouldn't be too big of an issue.

 

i bent mine out about 1/2 inch and made a spacer to fit between the dipstick mount and the top bell bolt. i have a C-6 trans in mine. but i think you can tweak the E4od tube too.