Hey guys. Im having an issue figuring out what to do here. I need to do something about a turbo issue.

I was towing through the south this past weekend, between Tennessee and Ohio, and experienced severe turbo flutter. I was going around 60-65 in OD and going uphill, 12-15 PSI, flutter and loss of power. Kicked it to downshift and up we went. I did some reading and I guess the flutter is a cavitation and can ruin the turbo. Ugh. I have just under 200K on the truck and I can only assume the turbo has never been serviced.

So heres my question: Should I install a 'wicked wheel', a ported turbo intake or just bite the bullet and go 38R?

Also, while having the turbo off, should I do the EBPV delete? What is the advantage of doing this??

Details of my current mods are below vvvvvv

 

You should post or be moved to the 7.3 forum, that's were the answers are.

 

Yup, done. I'll see what others say here as well. Thanks.

 

Doing ALL that now, including up pipes. 38R will cost you 2K. You can do everything else a LOT cheaper, going to have less than 1K in mine for everything. Check my posts, good info

 

Where the hell did you get yours for 2k?! Clay has them for $1300 and has for a while now... as has everyone else that sells them. I spent less than $2000 upgrading to the 38R, delete pedestal and pigtail, TurboSmart actuator and a high flow exhaust housing.

My recommendation would be based on whatever your final goal is - that's the way you build. @Nicmike and I both found out recently that the stock turbo does NOT live very long over 25-26psi. His shattered internally and mine just plain grenaded and sent the extruder wheel into the down pipe. If you want to run some tunes and really make the best of the money spent on the tuner, then I'd recommend a 38R. Otherwise if you're happy and just want to keep it the way it sits and refreshed things, rebuild the stocker.

Deleting the EBPV is another personal choice since you're going to have the turbo out, I'd say go for it. The high idle will still kick in if its cold enough outside to help warm up. Be sure ou pick up the pigtail for the EBPV solenoid otherwise you'll be throwing a code and CEL every start up.

 

I saw that Clay had the 38R for $1300, which is now my top direction. Its fairly close to my budget so I may do the delete pedestal as well. The rest of my $$ allocation will be to fix the rust issues. Spring will yield a new fresh monster!!

 

I am going to check what the comments are on this issue in the 7.3 forum ( https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...rade-help.html ), just as expected. The 7.3 section guys (for the most part) are a little different. I'll just leave it at that.


You are doing the right thing, replace with a 38R do whatever else you can when you can within your budget.

 

Go with the 38R. Even if you don't put in new injectors, upgrade to hot tunes or whatever...

Simple fact is, your truck will not have to work as hard pulling loads with the 38R. It provides so much more air volume, everything works more efficiently. As an example, I saw a reduction of 190 degrees on my EGTs pulling the same load up the same hill at the same speed after installing the 38R. Went from 1100* on the hill to 910*. Just driving around town you can feel the engine having an easier time pulling the truck around. You won't regret it, and the other upgrades fall in line with it on your truck.

I got mine from Bob over at DieselOrings.

 

Thanks for the input and clarification of what seems to be 70-30 in favor of the 38r and delete pedestal. I also polled a mechanic friend of mine and he said "38r and only look back to see your competition."

Now, if a few of you can call my wife and convince her that the expenditure is worth it in the long run, I'll buy the beer!! hahaha...she knows the mileage on this thing warrants some fixing....plus, I complained about pulling up the hills this weekend, seed planted.

 

I just did the turbo a few months ago on my truck. Here is a basic list of what I did......

New turbo center section
billet 4/4 compressor wheel
all new viton o rings
EBPV delete pedestal
EBPV delete / high flow turbo outlet
EBPV delete plug (gets rid of soft CEL)
all new silicone boots
new stainless clamps
IH style bellowed up pipes

Figured while I was in there....

FRx
HPx

My truck already had a mild tune, 4 inch exhaust, AFE intake / filter.

I had about 1700.00 in my turbo 'repair' .... but that included some extra stuff, like enough o rings, bolts, to remove turbo a couple more times, and a turbo rebuild kit for potential future use.... extra 12 point bolts, etc.

As far as the results go.... I'm completely impressed. At anything over 2000 RPMs it accelerates HARD. So hard, it really startled me. OK... I'm not talking top fuel dragster here, but it really puts you back in your seat. I tow a 6500 lb. travel trailer around Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont..... and as long as my RPMs are 1700 or above, I have yet to come across a mountain pass I can't accelerate up (with the travel trailer in tow). I'm not saying maintain a speed.... I'm talking accelerate. There have been times we are headed up a mountain and my wife will look over at me and ask what the hell the ****-eating-grin is for on my face. It really makes me smile.

OK.... now the bad. I use the cruise control a lot when not towing. It surges on the hills with the cruise on. The bigger the hill... the more it surges. Not sure if my foot is compensating when I'm driving by foot... but I don't get the surge then. For now it's just an annoyance, but in the future I may look for a cure.

In retrospect..... if I were to do it over, I would definitely just do the 38r. I couldn't back peddle once I started buying parts, but the cost difference wouldn't have been that bad. Of course, I had to buy a new center section .... but you may not.

 

Should have said all in...

 

I understood it as that...

 

I had just woken up when I posted that, having re-read it now it makes a lot more sense to my non-sleep-addled brain

 

Between the 38R, big injectors, tunes, and a few other supporting mods... My Excursion is QUICK for being a 7.3 powered 9000-pound dinosaur. It'll out-run a mildly tuned 6.7 Cummins as well as a 6.7 Powerstroke. IS300, Porsche Boxster, Harley 1200 Sportster (from a dead stop to 100), and several other things have succumbed to the Fun Bus

In all honesty, like Mike said - the 38R is a more efficient and just all around better option. It'll spool faster, get power moving sooner, drop the EGT's a LOT, and just in general make your truck more fun and efficient to drive. If you have to rebuild the stock one anyway, I'd spend the extra coin and snag the R and be done with it for the rest of the ownership.

 

Just asking about a follow up from CC if you did the mod?

In light of my reading about the 38r I'd like to know about the whistle/whine of the turbo at towing speeds (65-70mph). I generally tow from 7K up and I'm not at all displeased with the performance of the stock turbo but getting close to rebuild time (144K).

For those who tow on a regular basis using the 38r I'd love to hear from y'all about the upgrade overall... pro's and con's.