Lowering EGT's

[Pmaloney]

I am wondering what the best things I can do to lower EGT's on my 24v. I am assuming turbo, but which one?? So many choices. I would also like to do injectors, once again for towing which would give the best power and still keep EGT's manageable, I want to be able to pull my 30' gooseneck with camper and jeep on it. I have noticed that if I run at 1200 degrees too long I start to run into coolant temp issues so I would like to be able to run it hard and stay around 1000 degrees, is this even possible? Thanks. BTW I am at 6000 feet and frequently travel the rockies.

 

[rblomquist]

If you already have a problem with EGT you don't want to add injectors as that will just add more fuel (literally) to your problem; at least until you get more air flowing.



I'd ask the guys at DD or similar to see what they'd recommend.

 

[jcarey]

You may want to do a search on High Tech turbos. There have been some good reports on them on the TDR. I beleive a TDR member was one of the testers.



There web site is http://www.htturbo.com/



Jim

 

[JSchooley]

I put a boost elbow on my last truck and on my current 2001. It is very simple and reduces the EGT quite a bit, 200 degrees?

 

[NIsaacs]

1200 degrees is not that hot. It is going to be hard to get that down to 1000 degrees if you want to put out any power. What is your boost when you are pulling hard, the stock turbo will do a good job with mild mods. What RPM are you towing at, and what is your rear axle ratio? I would check your radiator cooling capacity, fan/shroud, thermostat. I see that you have a conversion, is your fan matched to your radiator and or depth in the shroud ok? I think if you fix the coolant problem the EGT'S problem will go away . Good luck!





"NICK"

 

[jcarew]

Lowering E.G.T.

I have a 2002 6spd cab, chassis that has been converted to a Class C M. H. it stands 11ft 6in. high and pushs a wall of air. I had egt problems right away, I had lots of hp. but could not use it. I went with the big free breathing air filter, discarded the muffler, still ran hot!!! not water temp hot. but egt hot. So I went to T. S. T. products in Columbus Ind. an they recommended changing my turbo for a hx40 . the change was good for me rarely do I get hot anymore, may have to drop a gear once in a while on some very steep grades. I am not interested in adding more hp. all I want to do is to be able to use what the truck has safely.

 

[y-knot]

I really don't know of ONE thing that will take care of your high EGT problems, it's more of a matter of several smaller things that will add up to a meaningful change. The addition of a 4" free flowing exhaust will help. On my truck I think it lowered the EGT's my 50-75 degrees, some might have done better and some worse. The addition of a 16 cmsq turbo housing helped the most, it was relatively inexpensive and very easy to change out. I went with the non-wastegated one and have been very pleased with it in towing, I have a 36' tri-axle gooseneck(16,000lbs). This new houseing flows much better when under a load, only drawback is lower boost numbers at low rpm's. I fixed that by insulating the manafold and turbo.

My way is very inexpensive, I am sure others can do better with more money invested. I do not tow alot, nor do I use my truck alot, so this set-up worked out good for me, it was more of an experiment then anything.

 

[DLBurns]

I am also interested in this topic... Pulling my 12K fiver up the Siskyous last month in 93 degree temps I had it in 3rd gear at 45 MPH and feathering the throttle to keep it under 1200 degrees.

Water temps got up to 210-220 and the trans temps were about 190 or so.

I would like to know more about the turbo - turbine combo's

would a HX 35 and 16cm turbine do the trick? what would be the reduction in EGT's with this combo? Would I need a bigger turbo like a 40. What are the tradeoffs ie... lower boost turbo lag, more smoke etc...

I really don't understand alot about theses combos and what they will or won't do. Looking for good sound advice from all of the pro's here on the TDR.

Also... . If I go to a bigger turbo I may want to add some EDM Mach 1. 5's for a little more power, what impact will this have on EGT's?

TIA

Dave

 

[Pmaloney]

I definately understand about controlling water temps, I am working on a better mechanical fan and shroud and I will see what that does, but EGT's raise coolant temps, so I would also like to most likely run twins or a hx-40 to help keep the EGT's down also. To change subject a bit what turbo could I run with my stock turbo in a twin set-up?? I am not neccesarily looking for ridiculous boost figures just something I can tow with and not have EGT issues. Why go 45 up a hill when you have the power to go 70 :-laf :-laf

 

[Shooter]

Had the same problem on my 00.

BHAF,Piers modified HX-35 w/ stock exhaust housing( eliminated all turbo lag-- you will have sevier turbo lag at altitude with larger than 12cm housing), 4" w/ Donaldson 4" x 40" muffler , EZ on least agressive and DD2's solved the problem. I live at 6k feet and had severe egt problems bone stock. The turbo gave 36# boost with DD2's and with the EZ never exceeded 1250, even on 10k' passes, doing the speed limit ( 75 ) on any grade grossing 17k. Put 85k on the truck that way and would pull the grades at posted speeds. Working on the 03 to equal the 00's performance.

Good luck Oo.

 

[NIsaacs]

Pmaloney,



We need more info on your truck and driving habits. The only numbers I see is 1200 degrees EGT. Is this with pyro. pre or post. Is this temp hammer down or backed off. What is your boost, RPM, and water temp. Is this pulling a load or empty. If loaded, how much, what grades, what speeds, what is your rear axle ratio and mph. At your elevation and with the Comp. your stock turbo should work. If you go to a larger turbo or twins you will need more fuel. More fuel means more HP and higher water temps. The only way you can get a good running Cummins to run at 1000 degrees pre turbo, is to put a 2x4 under the go pedel My 01, HO with an Edge EZ, 275 inj. and boost elbow will pull hard with no EGT issues. This is with stock intake and stock exhaust to the resonator, then 4" back from there. If you have a post pyro, then yes, you have high EGT's. and 1000 degrees is about the max.





"NICK"

 

[Pmaloney]

OK, here are some details, my pyro is mounted pre-turbo, this is full throttle temps have to let off to bring them down, boost is around 24-28psi in 5th gear at around 2400 rpm I have 4. 10 gearing and need to check the accuracy of my tach it is a VDO so I am not positive if it is calibrated correctly. I am pulling a 30' gooseneck with a camper mounted on it and some ATV's/dirtbikes this was going over mountain passes speed varies from 35-70mph had the comp on 2x3 if this helps any. Highest water temp was 225-230 then I would either pull off or back off of it to bring temps back down. I understand that 1200 degrees is an OK temperature but if I run that temperature too long I start raising coolant temps, at 1000 degrees it stays cool.

 

[zari]

Temps Testing

I did some testing last Friday while on my way to camp with the Montana (GCW about 500-750 lbs shy of my rating; cf. signature for set up details). Outside temp was around 70-75 degrees; winds essentially calm.



First, I took out the O/D, and drove around 2700-2800 RPM. My trany temps got up to around 195 degrees; boost up the hills on I-80 Eastbound between Omaha, NE and Des Moines, IA would go up to 32-34PSI. EGTs got up to 1200 and I'd have to back off the pedal. I was able to hold speed around 70-75mph with no problem for the most part.



A little later the same day (no good free spots at the state park), I drove Westbound the same I-80 towards Omaha/I-29. This time I was running it with O/D, 2000-2200 RPM. My transmission temps stayed below 160 degrees; boost about the same; EGTs ran about 50-100 degrees cooler; didn't have to 'back off the pedal' at all, and stayed below 1200 all the way. Speeds were between 73mph and 78mph.



Current mileage on the truck is just shy of 28,000.



-zari

 

[NIsaacs]

Pmaloney,



Those are all good numbers, and good driving habits. But to me, the issue is still the cooling system, not the EGT's. I realise the lower exhaust temps drop your coolant temps, but thats because by backing out of it to 1000 degrees, you drop the power level. The 1200 degrees is not hot, you should be able to run that all day long. Can you maintain ok coolant temps at high speed, like 60-70 mph? If you can, that tells me the high speed air flow is making the marginal radiator system work. If the temps raise more at low road speed, that is an idicator of radiator problems. The older Ford and Chevy radiators can be had with 4 or 5 cores, but the frontal square inch flow is small. The Dodges have big wide air flow radiators, and huge fans compared to most vehicles. The wide & thin ones work better than the thick & narrow ones. My two Dodges run cool, but my Ford conversion with the largest radiator I can put in it will run hot at low speeds and high power pulls. Do you have an intercooler and air conditioning, just wondering?





"IF IT AIN'T CUMMINS POWERED, IT AIN'T A TRUCK"





"NICK"

 

[Pmaloney]

I am pretty sure that it is a air flow problem due to the fact that it always stays cool at slow speeds and the fact that I ran without any fans for a week or so and never had an issue, so I am in process of buying a Flex a lite 4600 series 20" or bigger nylon fan to see if that will help at all. And yes I am running a intercooler, no A/C as of yet.

 

[Berrigan]

PMALONEY,



Your on the same mission as me. Cooling system upgrades to be able to use 700 ft lbs and 300 hp at 23,000 gcw at 100 plus degree ambient temps pulling 7% grades that go on for ever.



Do you think stock fan cfm is to low? Where did you find your aftermarket fan? And you mentioned shroud, are there improvements that can be made in that area also? Bill

 

[NIsaacs]

The fan plays an important role in a vehicles cooling system. Running without or with an electric will not work for towing. Keep in mind with your purchase that most after market fans are for gas powered vehicles and high rpm. The Cummins fan hub runs at about 1. 35 rpms of the engine. This is fairly slow, so it requires large aggressive type blades to move enough air for good performance. Try to get one as large as the smallest width of your radiator. If you have the clearance ( a problem with most conversions) use or build a shroud that matches the radiators overall size and install fan half in and half out for best results. The cost of HP lost with the best fan for the application, is HP well spent.





Berrigan,



The cooling system from the factory is one item that is very hard to improve on. When your truck was new, it probably almost never had an overheat issue. The Cooling system deteriorates over time and needs attention sometimes. Check all of your system and make sure it is the same as new and you should be ok. Again, no mods of the fan or shroud, just good factory stuff





"NICK"

 

[dcamilleri]

The 4600 series fan made a big difference for me, I used a 22 inch, could have possibly used a 23. Extended runs of over 1200 degrees still make the coolant temps creep up. Those poor flatlanders that have never pulled an 8% grade that is 9 miles long and all up at 8000 feet on top of it just don't understand! My TST powermax 3 comp on level 5 is about max for towing and I can still hit 1500 pretty fast. I did a little passing while towing on a trip over the 4th of July with the TST on 8, after I passed 3 trailers (90 mph) had to put the brakes on to get in behind the 4th trailer(wife was screaming-too fast) looked at the egts and they jumped to 1750 real quick, I backed out.

I just towed a loaded stock trailer to Casper last weekend(moving daughter to college) and never saw water temps exceed 200 with a/c on and pulling all the hills hard. Now I just wish I could figure out how to fit an electric clutch in there for on/off.