Another EGT question - need it in laymans terms

[bigceltic]

Truck: 2006 Mega Cab 5. 9L, auto trans. 84K miles.



I just got EGT gauge installed (along with trans temp and boost gauge). I understand the latter, but after searching and reading the forum here, I am still confused about EGT - what is good, bad, and how to interpret. I need it put in simple terms.



The thermocouple was installed in the exhaust manifold (pre-turbo?). On Geno's gauge install page it says: "If you installed the pyrometer pre-turbo, in the exhaust manifold, do not exceed 1250 ̊ – 1300̊"



So I am pre-turbo. The only mods to my truck to date (other than the aforementioned gauges) is the addition of the PSM air intake mod and cool hose. I am running the stock paper air filter.



When I am unloaded, and floor it, boost goes up to 30psi and the EGT jumps to 1200 and seems to stay there, but drops right back down when I let off the pedal. Normal 60 mph cruising I have around 600 deg on the EGT (which seems normal per the Geno's write up).



I have not yet tried towing my approx 8000lb trailer. I live at 6000-7000 ft (Colorado Springs area) and do most of my towing thru the Rockies (passes up to 11K).



Are these temps normal? If I run 1200-1250 for a period of time am I still ok, or should I ensure I keep it BELOW 1250 as much as possible. If I am running AT 1200-1250, is this ok for a prolonged period of time (say going up a pass, 10-15 mins)?



Should I be looking at a new exhaust? Is my cat plugged (I read that this may be normal - my truck is at approx 84,000 miles)?



My apologies if these are repetitive questions, but searching the forum and FAQs did not answer my questions.



George

 

[p-Bar]

Pre turbo readings will be higher than after turbo some say 1400 degrees short burst. If your truck is stock you shouldn't have any problems .

 

[Prairie Dog]

Without any timing changes your safe at 1400~1500 degrees.
Cummins tested the early CR at 1500 for 30 minutes and upon tear down found no damage at all.

 

[ScottLewis]

The gauge in my '06 is "post turbo", in the port of the PacBrake. My cruising temps run about 650 towing and I try to hold it below 900 although there are a few times when it climbs to as high as 1050 pulling a grade. When I see it hit 900 I usually back off or shift down, or both. The gauge gives me a pretty good picture of how hard the engine is working. I also have a BD "Cool-down" installed that's set to keep engine running until temp drops below 400 when shutting down.

As p-Bar says, if your engine is stock with no chips, etc. it should be fine. I believe the owner's manual suggests cooling down the turbo after a hard pull and before shutting down. Sometimes I forget when I pull into a rest stop, hence my "Cool-Down".

 

[JWiegel]

Here in the thin air I keep mine below 1200 I have repleaced to many engines in customers trucks because they melted the pistons, be safe dont push it up the pass keep rpms up around 2300 and you should have no problem

 

[bigceltic]

Here in the thin air I keep mine below 1200 I have repleaced to many engines in customers trucks because they melted the pistons, be safe dont push it up the pass keep rpms up around 2300 and you should have no problem

Thanks. Will be towing up to Leadville in a couple of weeks so I will get a chance to see what it is like going uphill in the thin air. Will report back.

 

[CKelley1]

each engine series is different and where you place the probe makes a difference. your 06 has a in-cylinder egr that makes the egt high enough to make a 03 person crap. with your probe pre turbo your going to see 1600* peak but the peak temperature and pressure is far less than a 03 at 1250* egt. by getting rid of most of the in-cylinder egr the oil will stay a lot cleaner, gain 30% in mpg and the egt will drop by 300* but jut remember you increased the peak temp the piston sees and the new egt not to exceed high will be 1300*. do a search on here to see how to. it may be outdated a little know, when we were doing our fleet of 06's efi live was not available, to get the results we had to change to 50 hp nozzles to shorten fueling duration. and smarty jr for timing. this combo adds 100 hp, I hate auto's but I see you have one so be careful. with a anarchy efi live tune and a pdr or colt stage II cam you will not need the nozzles and you can set the hp gain a little lower.

 

[Wingate]

definitely keep the RPM up, keep the boost up, that will keep plenty of air pumping thru the engine and help control EGT.
I run my EGT probe post turbo, and pulling my 5er in 100+ degree heat, it never gets over about 900 degrees.
FWIW, my EGTs were higher when towing in stock form, when I loaded up the Smarty Jr on SW1, my towing EGTs dropped significantly.