Banks Big Head Wastegate Actuator Installed!

[ndamico]

Last night i installed the Banks wastegate actuator on my 2002 CA-EGR equipped dmax. i must say some of the what i think is EGR junk made it very hard to get my hands in there but i got the job done. it has an adjustable arm on it, so i'm trying to figure out how much boost it SHOULD let me make. i set it according to the directions and i'm making about 30PSI right now. which is roughly 10PSI higher than i was making before. i'm a bit surprised that it went up so much. perhaps i used too little/too much preload on it.

My EGT's are of course a bit lower, but i mainly did this because i'm waiting for the wiring harness for my otto mind.

This weekend i'll be installing the full stinger kit in my buddy's truck, minus the ottomind as i have the unit but they are still a couple weeks out on the wiring harness! argh!

[a64pilot]

IMHO 30 is about all you want to try for in a stock turbo. any increase overstock and you get into a point of diminishing returns. apparently around 30 is where you actually start to lose efficency due to increased back pressure and too much heat for the intercooler to be happy.

[ndamico]

i agree with you on that one! i honestly only expected to see maybe +5 from stock and was a bit surprised to see 30... strangely, i did some more runs today at lunch and could only hit about 28-29.. its about 62 degrees today. last night it was about 50 when i did the first runs. 12 degrees cooler wouldn't make that much difference would it?

[Kennedy]

30 psi @ 3000RPM can = 45 psi back psi...

[Cowboy_120]

regarding the wiring harness, I called Banks today and they said they were about 1 week away from shipping them out, but it could be even sooner. They are also calling all the customers with the Stinger package when they have been shipped.

How much stuff did you have to do to replace the accuator? Was it relatively easy?

Kennedy, how much back pressure is too much?

[Kennedy]

In a perfect world, anything over boost psi. 45psi is getting up there for the boost delivered, but the exhaust housing sizing is our limiting factor.

[ndamico]

Cowboy,

Well to replace the actuator you need to remove the cooling line for the turbo (T-55), 2 bolts in the mount for the actuator, 3 bolts in the heat shield, the old boost line, and 1 E-clip. that being said I found it quite hard as there is not much room to work, especially since i have an EGR truck. i think the EGR stuff gets in the way. i was able to do it with minimal finger damage but would have fared better with a child-size hand..

it took me a couple hours as i did it at night. the next one should be easier though. removing the e-clip was the hardest part :( :( :(

[Cowboy_120]

thanks for the info guys. I am aiming to install the entire stinger system (minus the guages) in about 3 hours if I can. I will install the guages later when I return home (I am picking the system up and installing in Kentucky at my aunt's house)and then I will drive back to Canada. I figure that the guages are not totally necessary since the ottomind will keep track of most info, and I will not be driving it too hard to begin with anyway.

[a64pilot]

John,
Since the exh. housing is the limiting factor, I guess that someday we can expect one of the bigger manufactures (sp?) to supply a new housing?

[a64pilot]

Sorry,
Posted too soon. Or can we "hog" out the existing housing for increased flow?

[GMCTRUCK]

There's definitely room for improvement from the exhaust manifolds to the turbine housing. This combined with a free'r flowing post turbo down pipe would let these things breath better and make more power. Then you could add more fuel and boost. From looking at the manifolds on my truck I'm sure someone has already gotten there hands on some exhaust manifolds and "hogged" and ported them and run them. We just haven't heard about it yet.

[a64pilot]

GMC,
I am pretty sure that JK has done this to the passengerside manifold already. I was curious about the "hot" side of the turbo.

[Mark Bajus]

check out ATS for their turbo/downpipe/manifold upgrades...
http://forums.atsdiesel.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6

I havent seen or heard of what this combo will do if its even run yet, but it looks good!!