My F350 is the first vehicle I have ever owned with a turbo...what range do I want to be in on the EGT gauge?

 

below 1100 is safe.

 

Depends on where the thermocouple is at for the pyrometer.
Before the turbo you can go to about 1150 or so.
The pistons start to melt at about 1250 and the turbo is good till about 1270.
If the thermocouple is after the turbo keep it under 900.

 

Thanks for the info...Thermocouple is after the turbo...I have seen the EGT gauge range from 300 or 600.

 

i have a banks kit on my 92 350 and they told me that i could run upto 1200. the pyro is after the turbo. but i dont know, dave may be right and banks could be wrong.

 

Rule of thumbs for after turbo to pre turbo conversion is EGT is about 300 degrees cooler after the turbo.
1200 + 300 = 1500 in the cylinders.
Your pistons started to melt 250 degrees ago, and the fins in the turbo exhaust side started to straighten out 230 degrees ago.
I have my thermocouple in the exhaust manifold about 3" from the exhaust valve on number 8 cylinder. That is as close to the piston as I could figure out to put it.
I also know that the reading is as close to cylinder temp as I can get. That is what pyrometers are all about, protecting the pistons.
Mack, Cat, Detroit Diesel, Cummins and IH all use aluminum pistons. And you keep the pistons under 1250 or they melt.
You could run more than that, and it may do OK. But the pistons are not going to instantly run out the exhaust pipe at 1300 degrees. Every time you go to high they get damaged some, then way earlier than they should they fail. Now you are looking at a very large bill to repair damage that should not have happened.

I personally keep mine at or under 1100 on the pyrometer to allow for some guage error, and it rarely sees 1100 for very long at all. I replaced my engine last year, I know exactly how much it costs to do that and the headaches that went with it. I do not plan on doing it again for a long time.