F350 in sig. 293k miles and I put the last 200k on it. I was noticing a little smoke in my 60 tow tune - and never saw that before, so I changed the air filter. No change. I can hit 15 psi easy in 60T, but swear it used to be 20... I know 25+psi was possible in 100 tune, but now seeing 20psi max. Top end power is down a little, but not huge.

I know my up-pipes have been leaking forever, not sure they are any worse. CAC boots all look good, no more grime than usual - the CAC-side boots are Bob Riley's and engine-side are stock...

I'd love an excuse to slap a BB turbo in there, but plan to install bellowed up-pipes and replace the other boots with aftermarket stuff (Riff Raff?) first. (actually the Excursion needs a BTS transmission first, but as far as this 'project' goes...)

My question is what is the failure mode of these turbo's?? Do they lose boost or make funny noises or just blow into peices and take out the engine??

 

They should just blow.. your loss of boost is from leaky uppipes.

Replace those and see where your at.

You can rebuilt your turbo for $85 and a few hours..

Ohh.. and after seeing a 38R in person.. if you can swing it do it.. they are so f'n sweet!!

 

You might as well do it all at once and be done with it. Remove the turbo and either rebuild or upgrade. Install the bellowed up pipes while the turbo is out of the way, and put the new boots on while putting everything back together.

Of course, there's probably nothing wrong with your turbo. Unless you have a damaged wheel or shaft play, there's no reason to mess with it. The up-pipe leak is robbing boost and MPG's so the bellowed up pipes should be your top priority.

 

But for $90 you can have a freshly rebuilt turbo. Worth it while you have it out, IMHO. Think about a larger exhaust housing & gutting the EBPV while you're at it. If you keep the wastegate, tighten up the rod. In fact, that may be a source of a leak too.

 

I'll prolly keep this truck forever, but promise to drive the hell out of it until then. That said, I'm gonna try to suck it up and do it all at once.

(Momma's transmission is still working after all... )

Intl up-pipes, 38R and some new boots. I was gonna drop trans and check/replace pilot bearing next time I go home - that was gonna be a good time for up-pipes anyway. After all of that, it sure would be a fine time for some 'live tuning'!! Damn, PSD mod syndrome. Its OK, I can stop any time I want, really...

Vendor recommendations? Any special deals I wanna know about?

 

Clay at RiffRaff will take care of you. I got my Ceramic Coated Bellowed Uppipes from him and I couldn't be happier.

Give him a shout!

 

ohh.. I didn't see you were thinking 38R and boots..

He has a 38R from RRE that I was eyeing.. but I went another direction..

Also, on the boots.. they are top notch! They hold up alot better than some other boots

Any other questions throw them out!

G'Luck

 

Heck Yah, Riffraff! He has all that you need and then some! Can't wait to order my 38R, like you, I'm going to throw in some IH uppies at the same time. One of the best things about buying from Clay, free install if you come where he's at! Here's a 38R being installed on Stewarts truck. JK about the free install, but he's more than willing to help you get her on there!

 

That's what I'm talking about Andrew, ceramic coated!

 

At RRE, Nick (weekendwarriorfsw32) was telling Clay and I that he was not making over 15 psi in any tune. Nick's Ex has a TN ball bearing turbo and should make a heck of a lot more boost than that. We checked his up-pipes and sure enough they were leaking. We swapped in some IH bellows from Riffraff as well as the Riffraff boots. Once we got it all back together Nick went out and blew 28 psi.

Up-pipe leaks just continue to get worse. But tackle the job with a friend. Trust me you do not want to do it alone. The combo of the up-pipes, 38R and Riffraff boots will make you a happy man. The BTS trans can wait.