max boost psi on 6.0L powerstroke?
 

I have a 04 6.0L powerstroke F250 4x4 FX4 with torque shift trans. I wanted to know what is the limit of boost the 6.0L powerstroke should run? My 04 will make 35 Plus PSI of boost. Is this O.K. ? I don't want to blow head gasket or intercooler or tubes. I have the Banks six Gun with Power PDA and 4" magnaflow exhaust for torque and K&N air system. It will run 35psi and over on setting 4 on the banks pda and still has 3 more setting above the 4th. Any help would be great. I'm a new member and this is my first post and would like to say HELLO to everyone.
Thanks Stroker04,

Whenever you get over 30, the pucker factor starts.

what do you mean the pucker factor?

cac tubes blowing off, egt temps, from my experience, after 30, you're on borrowed time. This is not to say that failures are going to happen, its to say, conditions are better for failures to happen.

What can i do it will run 30psi plus stock, I'm not one that drives hard at all most of the time 60 mph and below. I do have a 24ft enclosed car trailer and when loaded its about 12k I live in eastern KY where there are alot of very big mountains to go up. It pulls alot of boost when going up these. I take care of my truck because I want it to last for many,many years to come. I have boost,egt,engine oil temp,trans temp,trans slip percentage,engine water temp guages in it so I can keep a eye on everything aswell.
stroker04

If your turbo tubes and intercooler are stock I'm surprised it didn't blow off or crack the intercooler. I was told by a Ford mechanic that the 6.0's can't handle over 26 psi of boost with out blowing the tubes or cracking the intercooler. I had mine up to almost thirty and it stayed together. However it made it throw the PO299 code with the engine light right after that. I uninstalled the module and no codes since. I'm stopping at the exhaust for upgrades on the performance side anyways. Good luck!

YES, stock intercooler and tubes. So, why will it run 30psi plus stock if they said it would hurt it if over 26psi?
Thanks,
stroker04

factory gauge wrong maybe?

sticking turbo vanes?

My 04 didn't come with a factory boost gauge. I don't think it was even an option, at least on the early 04's, so I guess you're running an A/M boost gauge, or is it something with the Banks system? Irregardless, 36 is way high for a stock intercooler.
I see 30 regularly--maybe a 32 spike occassionally and I'm plumbed into the throttle body elbow with an autometer manual gauge. On a WOT run it will usually spike about 30 and hold 26 or 28. I've never blown a boot or intercooler (knock on wood) so I think you're lucky, but I also suspect you may have a funky gauge.

Factory boost guages are not all that accurate and should only be trusted by mild users. But you said your reading a aftermarket gauge and seeing 35psi so it really depends on if you are sustaining that much pressure under acceleration of load or if you see it jump up there on a throttle dump. I have a diablo on my '05 with all the good gauges and i see mine come up there but you have to be looking at the gauge cause it doesn't stay there long as the motor quickly starts sucking the pressure back down. I haven't had any problems and if you stay on top of your gauges then you should be alright. If your not blowing coolant or seeing a bunch of white smoke and still running 35psi then i would say its going to be ok because your truck is still newer and gaskets aren't like a old man and give out when they are tired they give out when the see a condition they can't handle by design and that mostly happens when they see that condition the first time and not because the have been seeing that condition for a prolong time, but as far as that goes you have to sometimes pay to play and if you get to have a bada$$ 6.0 running like a hoss for a good while and you blow a head gasket or a hose or a intercooler than just think of it has renewal fee for having the bada$$ truck you have....

enjoy

Well now, if the truck can't handle more then 26 psi, then why would you put in a turbo that, atleast according to gauges(both factory and aftermarket on my truck anyway), handles more then 30 psi and that is a stock turbo too? I have gotten it up to 33 once and nothing, but that was just once. That doesn't seem to be a good thing that Ford did based on that information. Unless there is something missing that I just didn't get.

If you find a hibernating bear, and he doesnt wake up if you slap him, does that mean he wont wake up if you slap him again? Eventually youre gonna get bit!

That's a good analogy when it comes to the dangers of red lining something. But it does not however, answer my question as to why would ford put something like a turbo that is capable of producing more psi then what the engine can handle. I would rather have an engine that can handle whatever the stock turbo can give. It would be like having an amplifier that can produce more watts then a speaker can take, your run the chance of blowing the speaker. You want to have a speaker that can handle what ever the amp. can dish out (of course, if your speakers can handle too much more the what the amplifier can give then you run into tweater problems(no not as in tweater speakers), but thats another story). That's how I like my engine to be, it can handle whatever, ESPECIALLY if your talking about a totally stock truck, everything should be able to handle whatever the other parts can dish out. If you got a turbo that can handle upwards of 30 psi, then the engine should be able to handle that, now you can hit those numbers without dragging it, I'm not talking about the speed demons that are just running everything to death, but you can hit those numbers pulling up a steep hill, but if you have to slow down to keep your turbo from going over 26 and your halfway up the hill that's not going to work, it's going to take you a LONG time to get up that hill if you have to keep it under 26.

tex25025,

I think it has been stated that the stock motor can handle 30 psi in boost, and if you see a momentary spike to 32-33 you will be okay. But if you run consistently above 30 psi then problems can and do occurr.

If you are running high boost above 30 psi regularly then you may have a problem with the VV Turbo or one of its sensors. The VV Turbo can provide more boost than these engines can handle if the vanes stick. The VV Turbo works to limit boost by changing size, whereas a fixed vane turbo uses a waste gate to limit boost pressure. By the basic design of a turbo charger, it will produce more boost than the engine requires under certain load conditions, this is just a normal occurrance with a turbo charged motor. Hence the reason a waste gate or Variable Vane turbo is used to control boost.

Hope this helps :-X25

Ok, that does make more sense to me then early. Thanks for the input on that.

max boost on 6.0L
 

thanks to everyone for there replys, I do have a boost guage but its a digital guage that works from my PDA that come with the banks six gun. It records the highest boost level you reach that day. It plugs into the OBD port under the dash so, it may be reading high with the banks on setting 4 it will go over 35psi 36psi is the highest it ever run. when driving on flat road about 60-65 mph it will read between 5-8psi.

Thanks,
stroker04

I think you're banks is a little off. Remember-- from the OBD port it's getting an inferred signal vs. an actual reading of a manual gauge. You could be just fine. Maybe you should find some way to verify by plumbing a manual pressure gauge and seeing the difference. I see virtually no boost at 65 mph. I might see 10 lbs cruising 75-80 (it's hard to find flat ground in this part of North Carolina). It may be normal for your truck (all are a tiny bit different) depending on options, etc. to have 5-8 lbs. just cruising at that speed.

:-banghead

Let me guess.......it's the motor paint right?......and the block wouldn't fit in your mom's oven???

I only have to bake the exhaust manifolds....I think your daughter took my comment the wrong way :-D

And no, sadly its not the block paint :rolleyes:

And yes, I know it's a Banks system.......it's been slow today.......what more do you want me to say????? :-missingt :-missingt :-missingt

yall better not say that around gale!!!! lol

I think the tech told me 26psi is because any time the boost is getting close to or over 30psi it could cause damage. I have had mine up to 30psi with my edge module while pulling hills when my engine light came on I said its time to return to stock. As far as the module is consurned . It never went above 25psi before the module. I would think that ford designed it that way so the tube blows off and avoid more expensive repairs on the engine. Obviously when ford designed the powertrain is was based on the stock numbers on the power of the engine. Yeah the engine might handle the extra power but when you add 100+HP more its just a matter of time untill the powertrain fails. Remember a chain (truck) is only as strong as its weakest link(part)! It was made to handle what the engine puts out (stock) some parts might not break but eventually something will happen if pushed to far. I'm just as guilty as the next diesel person when it comes to mods & xtra HP. It costs some $$$ to play. Also the boost gauge was not put in factory untill 2005 and I think is standard. Here a quick ? has anyone had the tube blow off and if so what was the boost at when it happened? :-X22

A couple of points of clarification. The boost signal that is displayed on the PowerPDA is the signal that is coming from the MAP sensor that is mounted in the intake manifold of the engine. This is the sensor that the engine electronics is using for calibration, so it is a very accurate gauge, probably more accurate than most mechanical gauges. The signal is accessed through the OBDII port which is the same data that a Ford technician would use. All the data that is displayed on the PowerPDA is transmitted to the PDA through an infrared signal in the docking station. This has no affect on accuracy.

The Six-Gun is calibrated to maintain a safe turbo speed. This helps to keep boost levels in check. This of course assumes that the turbo is in proper working condition (not sticking). Most instances of sticking turbos that I am aware of result in boost levels around 50 PSI. If you follow the directions in the Six-Gun Owners Manual and do not exceed Level 4 while towing, you should be OK as far as the head gaskets are concerned. The intercooler might be a different story. The plastic end tanks are prone to failure.

Peter Treydte
Banks Power

I've noticed this very issue between my stock '05 PSD and my bro-in-law's stock '06 PSD. Mine will never exceed 24psi (as per stock gauge) and my bro's will get up to 35-37 psi (as per stock gauge). We've pulled the same hills at different times pulling the same trailers and it's crazy the amount of power he has over my truck. His won't downshift, he has more power, and he generally is getting 2-4mpg better while doing it. To say the least I was blown away at the difference. So yeah, mine might be remaining at safer levels, but he kills me when it comes to towing. So I just thought I'd chime in with my experience on this subject.

dc3----,

Your '05 compared to a '06 (granted everything is the same, 4x4, f250, ect.) shouldn't show much of a difference in power or anything at that matter. Now if he has a chip or program and you don't then you would see a diff. Other than a different factory installed program (recall) then you should be comparable and i would say the '05 with a little edge being probably having more mile and break-in. If this is nto the case what so ever then i would be asking ford some questions. (try to fin someone else that has the same truck and see how theirs differs.

RideRed05, Like I said, both of the trucks are stock and we purchased them new within 2 months of each other. The only difference that I can see is that his truck will boost a lot more, giving him more power which keeps him from downshifting as much as I do. I have seen other forums discuss this issue and many out there seem to notice most '05s and '06s generally max out their boost between 22-25. So it's just interesting that his will boost so much more than most which really gives him an upper hand in terms of power. I'm in the process of buying a new code scanner (with CAN this time) just to check the codes on both trucks to make sure neither are throwing any codes.

After reading all the numbers im kinda puzzled. My truck without my tuner runs at about 20-22psi where as with the superchips flashpaq on performance runs 25psi. I have a 3 gauge pillar with autometer gauges and my boost gauge is hooked up via T fitting. Is it possible my gauge fittings are loosing air/boost and giving a false low reading or doesnt those numbers sound normal?

IMHO, I think this is normal. Most of the tuner manufacturing companies are aware of the head gasket issue and they don't want to push the envelope too badly. On another forum, most with tuners were saying that they still weren't even near the 30 psi mark yet. Remember, tuners don't just get their power by adding boost, but also by altering the timing of the fuel delivery and increasing injector pressures. So you shouldn't see a huge increase in boost....or at least that's how I understand it and what I've seen others posting in the past. Maybe someone else will chime in with more knowledge on this subject than myself.

Like I stated in my org. post my truck will hit 30psi plus with stock tune and with banks system on number 4 it will hit 35psi and 36 being the highest I have been. Just yesterday I was going to pick my girl up at school and with the tuner on stock and not really running it very hard it hit 29psi easy. I guess that some trucks make more boost then others. I just don't want to hurt the engine or intercooler. I would like to know what the limit is or should be. Thanks to all your replys to my question and keep that coming because you can not get to much infor. on these trucks.
Thanks,
stroker04

stroker04,

As has been stated more than once in this thread, if you are running more than 30 Psi in boost, you are asking for problems. My guess is either the programming strategy of the tuner is causing an over boost situation or the vanes in your turbo are sticking. Sticking trubo vanes are not that uncommon in an 04 PSD. With the boost over 30Psi if you don't blow and intercooler hose first or crack the end tanks on the intercooler then Yes a head gasket failure is a likely outcome.

You may want to take your truck in and have the turbo checked, because 29-30 Psi stock, empty and just motoring around town is high.

Hope this helps :-X25

Just at dealer about 2 weeks ago and everything O.K. No sticking vanes. The truck does not throw any codes.

stroker04,

Well unless your boost gauge is not reading correctly then something in the turbo system is not working properly. Because seeing 29-30 Psi boost easily is not normal.

When you took it into the dealer a couple of weeks ago did you remove the tuner first and remove the battery cables?

Vgt
 

I think there is some confusion about the purpose of theVGT. THe Variable Geometry's purpose is quicker spool up. I don't think it acts as a wastegate. The only way that would work is if the turbo is physically too big to boost above 30PSI on stock fuel with the vanes all open. The Turbo is not too big therefore, with enough fuel, the boost will scream. My buddies 05 hits nearly 40 on a Hypermax Mach 7. Headgaskets will eventually be a factor, but as for intercooler pipes and intercoolers. . . they won't fail. Maybe blow a tube off, but thats just worn out boots.
Tim

What do you mean, intercooler wont fail? I've replaced them with the tanks blown off from overboosting!

Just to put my .02 in
I have a 04.5 6.0L I have a program on my laptop the plugs into the OBD port I can read the boost pressure with this software. I also have boost and pyro gauges on my truck. The MAP sensor in my truck always reads 6 psi more then what my mechanical gauge reads. When my boost gauge reads 26 psi (I have never seen my boost go above 26 psi) my MAP sensor reads 32 psi. Just some info on what I see in my truck (and I don’t have cheap gauges on my truck)

WOW according to you guys my truck should be dead. My turbo when it was stock would produce 35psi with great result never had a problem. I have a customized stock turbo that produces 40psi and the truck takes it fine. I dont think you guys realize how tuff these motors are. so far my stock studs and gaskets have taken 40+ psi, nitrous, and maximum fuel flow the injectors can supply with out a problem. I think some of you guys have problems with your trucks because you dont run them hard enough.

Well for a new guy around here you make some pretty big statements and assumptions about the current members :rolleyes:

You may want to do a little searching and reading around the forum. There are several members with some heavily modified engines around here, and i think we have a pretty good handle on what these motors will take. And yes head gaskets and studs are definitely a week link at boost pressures above 30Psi.

Glad you have had good luck so far, just beaware your stock head gaskets and bolts are bound to fail sooner rather than later running the boost numbers you are talking about. The other possibility is you are going to melt some pistons on the right bank of your motor. :-X22

Not trying to shoot anyone down. I have been reading this forum for some time now and have repect for its members. But I have noticed and so have my ford tec friends that the trucks that are tuned properly and are run pretty hard have less issues than trucks that sit around ideling or get babied all day. explain this: after I take my truck to the 1/4 mi and make 4 or 5 passes my truck will start up, run, and have better throttle responce for the following week. It happens every time I take her to the strip. I think she needs a spanking every once and a while!!

You are exactly right, we don't have the slightest clue what will make or break them.

The maximum efficiency of the stock turbine and compressor maps is around 31.5 lbs. 35-40 lbs of boost will make LESS power than 30-32 and does nothing but add backpressure. Drop the boost down and you'll notice the truck will pull harder up top.