E99 7.3 Questions
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New User
Joined: Dec 2020
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From: Massachusetts
E99 7.3 Questions
I'm on a relatively tight budget due to still being in high school but wanna squeeze out all the torque and horsepower this motor can make without spending thousands on big injectors and a bigger turbo. Currently the highest psi I've seen is 25 with boost starting at 2000 rpm, it gets really smokey until about 1700 rpm then cleans up really nice and doesn't smoke for the rest of the time on the throttle. Any advice on upgrades I could do would be greatly appreciated.
Lead Driver
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 6,129
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From: Ponca City, OK
What are you seeing boost wise prior to 2k? Have you confirmed up pipes and cac all tight and no losses there, is the turbo good no play in the shaft, compressor not excessively dusted? What tunes are you running? Not all tuners can write tunes for the E99 regardless what they claim.
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New User
Joined: Dec 2020
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From: Massachusetts
Because of the wicked wheel making the turbo spool louder I can here it start to spool up around 1400 rpm but my boost gauge doesnt show any boost pressure till 2k, when lugging it in over drive the boost starts to slowly build around 1600 rpm, I havent touched my up pipes but I believe they are tight, I can check my cac couplings on my day off, I checked my turbo shaft when I installed my napa 6637 and it had no play in it and that was less than 5k miles ago, Im running the hydra tunes the tuner came with from fullforcediesel, was thinking about getting jellibuilt tunes soon, I usually drive on the daily driver or fuel sipper tune and I can feel a pretty noticeable difference but the rest feel the same except for the all out tune which despite being really smokey is very much faster
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 6,853
Likes: 2,330
From: WV
My opinion?
Skip the “custom” tunes and save the money for other stuff. PHP has pretty good stuff in their free library.
Already been mentioned but worth repeating.
1- uppipe leaks. This will drastically effect performance. Check for soot. Also have heard (haven’t done it myself) that you can set it to hot tune and powerbrake it while someone looks for smoke. Be careful.
2- boost leak check. Don’t just look it over. Make a checker and look for actual leaks while the system is under pressure.
3- also check your boost gauge line. Those small plastic lines can get kinked and not read correctly. Long shot, but worth mentioning.
My bet is on a finding with #2 as your main culprit (since you can hear it but not “see” boost) and #1 because almost all of these old trucks have leaky uppipes by now.
Good luck and let us know what you find.
Skip the “custom” tunes and save the money for other stuff. PHP has pretty good stuff in their free library.
Already been mentioned but worth repeating.
1- uppipe leaks. This will drastically effect performance. Check for soot. Also have heard (haven’t done it myself) that you can set it to hot tune and powerbrake it while someone looks for smoke. Be careful.
2- boost leak check. Don’t just look it over. Make a checker and look for actual leaks while the system is under pressure.
3- also check your boost gauge line. Those small plastic lines can get kinked and not read correctly. Long shot, but worth mentioning.
My bet is on a finding with #2 as your main culprit (since you can hear it but not “see” boost) and #1 because almost all of these old trucks have leaky uppipes by now.
Good luck and let us know what you find.
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New User
Joined: Dec 2020
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From: Massachusetts
Thanks for the suggestions, tomorrow is my day off so if weather permits Ill be checking everything I can, the truck only has 181k miles so for a 7.3 its barely broken in lol, Ill let you know of my findings
It's a Van Gogh
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 7,802
Likes: 1,333
From: Elk Grove, CA
Get your cell back in there and get pics of the up pipes where they enter the collector. And the firewall in the area. If they are OEM it's almost a given they are leaking, but confirmation makes it easier to spend the coin.
Also get a general pic of the engine bay so we can look it over, maybe spot something.
Also get a general pic of the engine bay so we can look it over, maybe spot something.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 1,118
Likes: 425
In my very limited experience, E99, performance, and "budget" are at odds with eachother. The turbo is different, plenums, spider, pedestal, collector, up pipes, downpipe(?), injectors, HPOP... all in ways that limit the potential performance upgrades compared to a L99.
That's why, when I found out my plenums n up pipes were leaking, I ripped it all out and put in a T4 system; if I had just replaced the E99 plenums and uppipes with stock replacements, I'd just have to rip them out again if I ever wanted to upgrade the turbo at some point. Why spend the money/do the work twice? Things like IC boots n such make sense though as they are cross compatible.
Of course there are cheaper ways to go. But in my mind, saving for a more cohesive upgrade pays off better for an E99 vs doing things piece-meal.
That's why, when I found out my plenums n up pipes were leaking, I ripped it all out and put in a T4 system; if I had just replaced the E99 plenums and uppipes with stock replacements, I'd just have to rip them out again if I ever wanted to upgrade the turbo at some point. Why spend the money/do the work twice? Things like IC boots n such make sense though as they are cross compatible.
Of course there are cheaper ways to go. But in my mind, saving for a more cohesive upgrade pays off better for an E99 vs doing things piece-meal.
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New User
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 12
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From: Massachusetts
Get your cell back in there and get pics of the up pipes where they enter the collector. And the firewall in the area. If they are OEM it's almost a given they are leaking, but confirmation makes it easier to spend the coin.
Also get a general pic of the engine bay so we can look it over, maybe spot something.
Also get a general pic of the engine bay so we can look it over, maybe spot something.
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