2001 F250 XLT PSD 4x4 Auto. Stock everything except AEM Brute Force Intake.

Apologize in advance - Novice diesel owner here. This is my first, have had it for a week.

When I am accelerating, the turbo engages and makes a whining, or whistling sound. I think that is normal. Then, just before it shifts, it makes a noise like darth vader breathing out. Is this the wastegate thing? Is that normal?

I also noticed that when I am going from 2nd to 3rd and giving it more than 1/2 throttle, it makes that noise and shifts Hard into 3rd. Like the rpm's drop about 1000 rpm in an instant. Normally, when giving it only moderate throttle, it shifts smoothly, and eases back over those 100 rpms over a little more time. Is this a turbo issue, or a tranny issue?

 

No need to apologize, and congratulations on your new addiction.

The sounds you hear from the turbo are all normal. I would worry more when you hear a "siren" type sound (bearing, mainshaft) or no sound at all. The "darth vader" sound you are hearing is compressed air making its way out of the engine via the compressor side of the turbo - again normal. - there will be debate over whether this harms the turbo - watch and see.

If you are getting a firm shift, then I would say you have a shift improvement kit. There are several to choose from, and they can improve the life of the tranny.

The instant gear engagement you wrote about is probably the torque converter engaging - normal.

 

the free-flowing intake is the culprit for the whooshing noise. that is completely normal. since these do not have blow off valves, the air can go two ways, in the engine or out the same way it came in. usually coming out the same way it came in is alot easier,and the air is just going backwards past the compressor wheel.

we all have to admit, the stock transmission pattern sucks. at least I think it does. the unlocked 2nd gear shift into third gear and locking the TC is horrible, i hate how it does that. you can be moderately accelerating at 2250 rpm, it shifts and goes back to near 1400 rpm. you lose the boost and power falls flat. i can over ride my TC lockup, i manually lock the TC when i can anticipate the shift, but i lock it about 5 seconds before i let it shift. so instead of the drop from 2250 to 1400, it goes 2250-1900 (then accelerates to 2000 because my foot is still in the pedal), and then shifts down to 1600 or so. much more equally spaced shifts. however when shifting during TC locked, the feeling is like jamming gears without a clutch on a manual truck. if you don't finesse the pedal just right, it bucks the entire truck and HAS to be hard on everything. i usually let up when i anticipate the shift into another gear, and i don't feel anything if done right.

 

EXACTLY how it felt. I used to have a standard shift car, and i could shift it without the clutch, and it feels very much like that. (no, no real reason for learning that, it was 15 years ago, and it was a 16 year old kid playing with a POS 84 renault lol)

What you described is what I am doing. When I feel that it is about to shift, I let up and let it go in easy. Otherwise, it feels like it is jammed into gear, and that was making me feel like it would introduce unnecessary wear.

THANKS!

 

I found out that the tranny was rebuilt because it wasnt shifting from 1 straight to 3 without using 2nd. So they rebuilt it. Oh no - whats a rebuild? A real one or rubber bands? Anyway - when accelerating under moderate to heavy power, it seems to just slam shift from 2nd to 3rd, and literally jars the whole truck. So I either baby it, or I feel like I am waiting to hear components dropping to the asphalt. Any ideas if there are adjustments that can be made to this "rebuilt" tranny?