Bigger turbo, slower truck?

[Whiplash]

Re: Bigger turbo, slower truck?

I wonder what your Air/fuel ratios were before and after your tune to get a difference in HP near 125hp from one tune to the other?

Doesn't make sense why it would spool great, hold 15 psi and not make any power? I wonder if you have done a leak down test? Just a thought as boost psi could be passing the rings or the valves??? Just a thought.

I don't know what my A/F ratio's were, the guy doing the original tune got me a "ballpark" tune that should have been safe to run using my larger injectors and keeping the boost down until I could come back and spend some time on the dyno. I am no tuning expert by any means, and although this guy was highly regarded concerning turbo'd vehicles, my gut told me just to walk away and go somewhere else. Glad I did!!! Where I thought I might have been lean causing the truck to enter "reduced engine power" mode I was actually WAY rich. So, I was actually down on power compared to stock and you could feel it. That is why I said 125HP, it actually was probably more. I knew something was wrong, but since I did the kit install myself, I wondered if it was something I had done but didn't have time to troubleshoot. New tune, completely new truck. That is where I make my comparison to the original poster. Not trying to hijack his thread, but merely showing some similarities between my problem and his. Most people don't think about blowing an engine from being too rich, but it does happen. I say if you can get some info about your current tune and maybe post it someone here with tons of experience might be gracious enough to help you, if need be. I would help any way I could but I have a VERY limited knowledge of tuning although I am reading up on it as I am writing this. Again, good luck!!

 

[Osmosis]

Re: Bigger turbo, slower truck?

A few things here to consider;

New turbo must match the engine setup. Stage 1 should be a bolt on appllication and tuning is a must. I don't think you need larger injectors. You can get an AFPR and turn the psi up to 52 3 bar map, code 59, wide band o2 kit and be on your way to a nice tune with some time into it.

The exhaust housing has a lot to do with the turbo lag/spool up time. The smaller the exhaust housing, the faster the spool up and less lag, but you sacrifice the upper rpm power. Someone help me out her and fully explain this...I've got massive tendoinitis..typing hurts me The larger the exhaust housing = more lag and slower spool up times. You can run a larger turbo with a larger exhaust housing but you must put a stall converter that will match the turbo to remedy the turbo lag.

I have the rpm stage 3 dual ball bearing turbo and when I first put it on, I could not tell much difference. I then purchased a PLX wide band and tuned my code 59 to perfection on 92 octane fuel and alky I also purchased a 2800 stall converter. With the stall converter and the gradual tuning of my ty, it was difficult to tell the difference in power with the new turbo with my "Butt Dyno". Out of frustration, I swapped back my stock turbo and tuned chip combo and man, my stock turbo was way slower. I had become accustomed to the new turbo and the changes I did to my chip were so gradual, it was hard to notice...unitl I swapped the stock turbo back into the truck. Day and night! My stock turbo spooled up fast, but when I hit 12psi, it felt like the Ty fell on it's face. The new turbo, once I hit 8psi, she pulls like hell all the way to 21psi.

So, my advise, make sure you have a good combo of parts. Turbo and stall converter should match ( stock converter should work fine with the stage 1 RPM turbo..ask mike for help!)

Definately get code 59, AFPR, 3 bar map, devils own alky and wide band o2. Tuning is everything with our trucks:tup:

 

[qbnkiller]

Re: Bigger turbo, slower truck?

A 'ball park" tune is good enough to start with, but not drive on for any amount of time. If it's fat, its going to be very lazy. If it's light on timing, it will fall all over itself. Start tuning what you have. Once you get that working, THEN add the alky kit. If you throw too many parts at it and try to tune it all in (without experience), you'll end up even more frustrated.

 

[Whiplash]

Re: Bigger turbo, slower truck?

A 'ball park" tune is good enough to start with, but not drive on for any amount of time. If it's fat, its going to be very lazy. If it's light on timing, it will fall all over itself. Start tuning what you have. Once you get that working, THEN add the alky kit. If you throw too many parts at it and try to tune it all in (without experience), you'll end up even more frustrated.

Yeah, I didn't drive it but maybe three times until I got the better tune. And you're right, the alky changes everything.

 

[Osmosis]

Re: Bigger turbo, slower truck?

Of the mods I listed, First priority is to get a good base line tune! I have two tunes for my ty. One with alky and one without:tup:

 

[ghettosled]

Re: Bigger turbo, slower truck?

Lets keep in mind that 95% of the trucks that come to my shop for performance upgrades do not have a solid running truck. They bought it from the 3rd,4th,5th owner and just expected it to be faster, however never hooked up a scan tool, wide band 02, or even bothered to read up on what plugs to use, etc. Most of the time I say "instead of spending $1000 on a bigger turbo, lets spend that on a proper ignition tuneup, diagnostic tuning, etc." Ive yet to have a customer leave dissapointed.

So lets assume your truck was running A-OK.

The stage 1 is designed for stock torque converters and as a result has a small turbine wheel, and .63 a/r turbine housing to help spool. Yes, it is going to be slower spooling then a stock turbo. Anything larger is going to be slower, however with just a hint of tuning you should be able to make it spool even faster (and have more top end power to boot). The turbo is proven to make more power then a stock turbo. In either case it is going to be faster. If it feels slower you definitely have other issues going on. Are you the guy whos brakes will only hold 1-2 psi before it starts creeping? ANY truck is going to be slow without a proper boost launch.

The stage 2, i dont sell alot of because if you have a 2800 stall or larger torque converter (required) the stage 3 is probably the better choice. It has a .82 a/r housing, and full size P trim turbine wheel. It is more efficient at stock and increased boost levels and works well on stock engines. It is in its peak efficiency range at 100+ hp over stock, at 14psi.

And to clear things up Alex, we stopped using the Bullseye Power turbine housing 3-4 years ago when David threatened to stop production of them. We now use a standard T3 housing with our own cnc machined adaptor plate so we are not bound to any single manufacture. I think the website image is old though..

I would have to say the majority of people who have ever contacted me with an issue regarding these bolt on turbos either had another unknown issue at the time or the truck had a modified exhaust system with the downpipe welded to the cat which made install MUCH more difficult then the bolt on it is supposed to be.

I always seem to scratch my head at these posts because we probably do a bolt on turbo maybe every month or two and each one always has great results. Goes on really easy, and power is just as expected.

 

[qbnkiller]

Re: Bigger turbo, slower truck?

And to clear things up Alex, we stopped using the Bullseye Power turbine housing 3-4 years ago when David threatened to stop production of them. We now use a standard T3 housing with our own cnc machined adaptor plate so we are not bound to any single manufacture. I think the website image is old though..

Glad you could clear that up Mike. The picture looks like the housing David has on the shelf. He has been pouring them out of stainless steel now, and has been machining them for some nice wheel combos. I made my comment based on the picture I saw on your website.

As I stated in my earlier response, if the truck is not tuned properly, or has other issues, any turbo you put on it will likely exacerbate the issues. Either take the time to learn about your truck, or find someone you can pay that knows them. That will be your best bet!