Info on Banks Turbo

[hotram03]

My Nephew just recently purchased a 4-90 build date '91 W-250 5-spd, prior owner installed a Banks Power Pack on it, from what I can see the exhaust is 3" to the muffler(banks muffler) then 4" on to the tail pipe, a Intercooler, and a new Air Intake that connects to a wastgated turbo, does anyone know what size exhaust housing this particular Banks kit would have? I went to their Web site and couldn't find anything on it. Turbo has BC-1 in the housing on the compressor, at 70 mph he's turning 16-17 psi boost, seems like an awful lot to me, and he's on the floor and no faster than 75 mph, anybody got any ideas as to why? And isn't that alot of boost just cruising? My '03 only turns like 5-6 psi at 70 mph. Any suggestions, thanks

 

[bgilbert]

It should be a 14cm wastegated housing. But 16-17psi is waaaay too high for cruising. You sure it wasn't floored to reach that pressure, then leveled off at cruise? I would guess no more than 10psi for a 14cm at cruise.

 

[Greenleaf]

I think he means that with the pedle to the floor it only goes 75 mph?

 

[JSchlachta]

What RPM is he running?

 

[Bob Beauchaine]

The only thing left of my old Banks is the 14cm wastegated turbo. The only problem I had wtih it was a wastegate flutter when towing up a steep grade and I solved that with an adjustable boost elbow. I now see 38 PSI boost on the dyno. It was what was available in '94 and did work OK until I got to know a little more about what was out there.



Bob

 

[BPaulsen]

Exhaust should be 3-1/2 inches 'til it reaches the Banks "Made-by-Magnaflow" Muffler; from there on it continues at the same diameter and is finished off with a 4-inch chrome tip.

Housing is, a 14-inch wastegated unit. It seems to me that your wastegate is malfunctioning. The crusing pressure is to high and the lack of v-max indicates a stuck housing.

Bob made a good point: buy a 16cm non-wastegated housing for $150. It comes with both gaskets (exhaust manifold gasket and the one for the oil return line below the turbo), and then sell the wastegated one on eBay. Shouldn't cost you much and will save you a lot of headaches looking for the cause of your current problems. The 16cm is a wonderful unit!

BTW, the Banks kit cost about $2,7K when it was new.

 

[hotram03]

Yeah when he is going down the road with the pedal on the floor about 72-73 mph, we are located 30miles east of Nashville so I don't know what our elevation is, but I do know somethings wrong just don't know what, Is there a way to check the wastegate? Oh yeah, his fuel mileage is only, I think he said around 336 miles out of a tank, after I turned my fuel screw I'm still getting around 500 miles out of a tank on my 92. His RPM is 2350 I believe is what he told me.

 

[TWorline]

Sounds like he might have 410s in the rear end, that would explain the higher rpms @ 70 mph.

 

[CSchafer]

Rear gear and tire size are on the list of things we need to know. The throttle linkage could be out of adjustment and not be giving it actual full throttle. The wastegate being stuck should have nothing to do with this problem considering it is making too much boost at cruising speed the gate would be stuck closed if anything. Wait I mean, yes that 14wg housing is junk you should send it too me and I will buy you a ng16 :-laf . No really though you should check for some sort of resistance in the driveline, running that much boost at speed means something is holding it back. That would also kill mileage and top speed. My 14 housing ran about 8lbs at 75 for a reference.

 

[JSchlachta]

It sounds to me like the waste gate is stuck closed and not and causing the higher boost at high rpm. would also be indicated by high EGT temps. Take the housing off and see if you can get the waste gate to move by putting air pressure on the actuator I think they were set at 24 psi. You may also have a clog in the air line that feeds the actuator which in turn opens the waste gate.

 

[hotram03]

I dont know what ring gear it is as of yet but will get him to tell me, tire are over size, something like 36 or 38" tall, I will find out what they are as well, trucks had a suspension lift put on it from prior owner.

 

[Bob Beauchaine]

You don't need to take the housing off to test the wastegate actuator. Just disconnect the boost sensing line and hook up an air source with an adjustable air regulator. You can slowly increase the pressure while reaching under the actuator and you can feel the actuator rod to see if it will move. It should move with less than 30 PSI of air pressure. That rod is hooked to the wastegate and held in place by an "E" clip. You can remove the "E" clip but be careful not to loose it. You are working blind - what I did was to get an old mirror that my ex had and stuffed some rags between the engine and the inner fender. It was a little tricky to line up the mirror but once that was done it worked great. Once disconnected you can tell if the wastegate is frozen - it should move very easily. This will also tell you how the wastegate actuator is working. To hook everything back up just apply air pressure to the actuator unit you can slip the rod back on to the wastegate. Let us know what you find out - BTW the actuator rod is adjustable. I set mine to be fully open at 34 PSI but still had a flutter.



Bob

 

[dpuckett]

My WG isnt even hooked up. That said, I run 10-12psi at 70mph, with 3. 54s and a windsail of a headache rack. So, if you have 4. 10s and a lift, that may be putting enough load and RPMs to put you in the mid to upper teens.



Daniel

 

[TWorline]

My WG isnt even hooked up. That said, I run 10-12psi at 70mph, with 3. 54s and a windsail of a headache rack. So, if you have 4. 10s and a lift, that may be putting enough load and RPMs to put you in the mid to upper teens.



Daniel

Also with the 36-38" tires on the truck it will have more rolling resistence(hope we get the spell check back) and will slow down the speedometer, maybe 70 is really 85.

 

[hotram03]

I appreciate all the info everyone, very much, here's what he said about his boost at cruise, "on that cruise specs it's 10psi @ 65mph/2200rpm's", 37" tall tire, ring gear ratio still unkown. His mileage is 336 out of a full tank of fuel. What would cause the mileage to be off the small 14cm WG housing? Most all the 1st Gens. including mine do alot better than this, mine is a 5-spd and get around 20. 1 in town or highway. So I guess his boost is actually ok, he first told me alot higher than that, I haven't had a chance to drive the truck, will post when I do, with EGT's, gear ratio, and boost, I will test the wastegate and recommend a non-wg 16 cm housing like I have.

 

[cerberusiam]

Hmm, 37" tire, 2200 @ 65 mph. Either the speed is off or its 4. 56 gears in the diffs. Thats a lot of tire to turn and a lot of boost for the speed if its correct. Definitely no wonder the mileage is low. It hard to say what has/has not been done on the pump and injectors also.



Really need to verify speed is correct and what kind of exhaust color and smoke capability it has.

 

[dpuckett]

11mpg, may be time for a pump rebuild, with new springs. I'd also ditch the 37" tires if he is looking for MPGs- go back to a 32-34". Still better than a gasser with that kind of set up, but still a LOT of fuel usage, IMO.



But, if the speedo IS accurate, and he is turning that may revs at cruise, it can explain his fuel concumption.



DP

 

[Niki]

Lose the muffler and adjust the throttle linkage stops so you have "Full" throttle. Also, a 3200 governor spring is good to have. You've got to verify the actual speed of the truck also, so you can calculate your mileage.

 

[CSchafer]

My speedometer was 10-12 MPH slow with my 40's

 

[hotram03]

Like I said I haven't driven it yet but I will, now he says at those speeds everybody on the road is passing him, I wonder about 4. 56 gears myself, the truck has really been raised up, generally someone into off-raoding like that tends to change the gears, my '92 is tall just stock and his truck is 8" taller atleast, his pump is leaking alittle, I believe there is an o-ring in the top that tends to do this(I'm not a diesel mechanic) his truck also has 186,000 miles on it, so the pump is probably tired, I got him adding Stanedyne in the fuel right now, this will help it some I'm sure, I did look at the cam gear and pump housing, nobody has advanced or retarded the timing, stock injectors, just that banks kit. He's going to ditch the 14cm wg housing, and go with a 16 cm housing.