Turbo Install Write Up

['strokeThis_'07]

Some of you may have seen this on a couple other forums. Figured it may come in handy here also.



Ok. Never written a tech article, so Ill give it a whirl... reason being, there was some stuff I encountered that I really wasnt expecting, so maybe someone will stumble upon this and be a little better prepared than I was.



First things, obviously, need the new turbo and tools, and a truck to work on. Unhook the batteries.



I left the stock intake box/filter in, and just pulled the tube from it going to the turbo. Then I unhooked the intercooler boot. Actually I took out the cast elbow off the factory turbo before that, to see if it would hook directly to the new turbo. The clamps for the elbow are 7/8, as are the clamps on the intercooler boot.



Industrials website says for an 03/04, regardless of transmission, and 04. 5+ automatics need an HX40 downpipe. I didnt know the stock elbow and exhaust would bolt up, but it does.



Heres the cast elbow Im talking about. Notice the locating pins. Just take a pair of Vise-Grips or pliers and pull them out.

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Heres what you'll be looking at, with the elbow off, the intake off, and the intercooler boot unhooked:

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Notice in the pic above. Right next to the oil filter is a wire disconnected. This goes to the wastegate on the stock turbo. I got a boost fooler from Industrial, and thats where it connects.



I originally was going to leave the manifold on, and just take off the turbo. Found out pretty quick that access to the two bolts closest to the block would be, well, difficult. Ended up taking the manifold off. The heat shield is held on by 15mm nuts. After removing that, the manifold bolts are 13mm. Heres where I ran into some things I had overlooked.



Theres some metal tabs on the rear-most bolts, top and bottom. Of course, I didnt have anything that would cut through them. Obviously Cummins figured it would be funny to throw those on there, just to mess with people. I ended up getting irritated and just grabbed them with pliers and worked them back and forth until they tore. That was obstacle #1. Obstacle #2 was the coolant line heading to the heater...



You can see it run along the block in this pic. This is after removal of the turbo/manifold. The line runs up and connects to a hose. Theres also a bigger hose near the bottom (has the rag stuffed into it... ) Unhooking this will drain most of your coolant. I really wasnt expecting to lose that much, so I made a pretty good mess...

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The nut holding this line to the manifold bolt is 15mm. The lower bolt for this line is also 15mm.



Another view:

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I left the oil supply and drain lines for the last. Oil drain has 2 10mm bolts. Oil supply line was 13/16.



You can see the drain line here:

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['strokeThis_'07]

Ok, so heres the stocker and manifold out of the truck.



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Stocker and new Silverbullet together:

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Issue #3 I ran into was getting the 'bullet to mate up to the manifold. I test fit it, and found one of the bolts on the manifold was hitting. In a frenzy, I spent an hour cutting off the very tip of the stud with a hacksaw. Dont do that! Think it through...



Industrial supplies 2 shorter studs. All you do is grab a pipe wrench and take the stock studs out of the manifold and install the new shorter studs. Then use two of the stock studs and the four original nuts and mount er up!



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These shorter studs are needed becasue the mounting flange on the Silverbulet is thinner than that of the stock turbo.



I reused the manifold gaskets. Theyre metal shims basically, so I didnt see any harm in it. Now its more or less a reversal of the stock turbo removal process. I will say this, getting the oil drain line back on is a SOB. The last hour or so was spent trying to get the inner most bolt back in, unsuccessfully, and dropping it down in the engine mount, where it would get wedged and not want to come out. I still need to go out and try to put it in. Its just got the one holding it now, and its slowly leaking oil. Heres what youll end up with:



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Aint she purdy!?!? Almost a shame to close the hood.

 

['strokeThis_'07]

Another note. Before you hook up the oils supply line, fill the turbo with oil. Its a small hole, so a funnel helps, but you'll still likely make a mess. I filled it, then spun it by hand, topped it off, spun it somemore (counter-clockwise) and then hooked it up. Took it for a spin, with no heat, on account of all the coolant spilling. So had to watch the temp. gauge and go to Smiths to get some coolant.



First impressions, WOW! Is it laggy!. I knew it would be, but honestly wasnt expecting it to be that bad. Its gonna be difficult not smoking everybody out while I wait to get injectors. Its a thick black cloud getting on the interstate, at half throttle. Takes forever to light, but when it does :headbang:. Has more topend for sure.



I notice it kind of has a miss when I get on it some, kinda like its cutting back on fuel. Yes, Im still on stock lift pump and CP3, but it never did it before. Also, when I roll into the pedal, theres a very distinct rattle from the injectors, then it builds some boost, and the rattle goes away. Maybe not getting fuel to injectors... ??



Boost seems to be topping out at 38, where it throws a code P0234 Turbocharger Overboost Condition. Stocker would hit 40psi, but never threw a code.



Also, the turbo is significantly quieter than the stocker was. I could hear the stocker spooling all day long, but now its ever so faint for maybe a half second. Other than that its dead quiet. I need a cold air intake badly!

 

[JWash1]

Good write up, just you are a couple of weeke too late for me. I did most things the same way you did with a few exceptions. 1. the hose bracket on the rear of the exhaust manifold, I just cut the bracket, so I didn't loose any coolant. 2. I hate to tell you this, but, after I partially bolted the manifold back up, I tried for over two hours to get that inside bolt back onto the turbo oil drain. Even Tried u-joint socket with electrical tape, Quit for the night, tried for about twenty minutes the next morning, considered the situation hopeless and decided the inevitable was that I was going to have to take the whole thing back down and install that bolt. I DID. Worst part was I Was warned to install that darn tube before puting the turbo-manifold combination back in the truck by the dealer I purchased the turbo from(TOXIC DIESEL, Thanks Guy, Forgot your name, but I will NEVER forget your advice).

 

['strokeThis_'07]

I should have edited that to current. I did get the other bolt in. Just crawled under there behind the passengers' front tire, ended up loosening the outer most bolt, and somehow got my left middle finger wedged in there to hold the bolt from falling and got 2 fingers on my right hand wrapped around the turbine housing to turn it til it caught threads and screwed it in. Then used my ratcheting wrench and tightened it, one click at a time. VERY time consuming. It may have a slight leak still; hard to tell from the oil that had leaked before...



I also got an AFE Stg. 2 intake today. That was kinda fun to get in. Noticeable improvement on spoolup, still SLOW, but better, and it sounds awesome now! Its starting to grow on me...

 

[MShaheen]

eww fram filter. nice write up though

 

[msperos]

eww fram filter.

I thought the same thing... ... get that Fram off of thereOo.

 

[Semicrazy]

Nice pics... the install instructions I got warned about installing the oil drain on the turbo first and I still did it the hard way like you.