Join Our Ford Truck Forum Today

Document your Ford truck project here and inspire others! Login/Register to view the site with fewer ads.

Boost issues

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
Thoughts on this please..

When driving for an extended period on the highway...as in at least 3 hours+, sometimes after letting off the throttle to slow down, I have to damn near floor it to get back up to speed.

If I gently press on the accelerator, nothing seems to happen until I'm at least 80% down...then the boost gauge ramps up and it takes off...and it kicks down and accelerates nicely.....but until it seems to hit that 80% down, nothing happens.
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
if thats got the VGT on it.. it sounds to me like youve gotten enough carbon built up around the vanes to cause them to get stuck.. also the possibility your unison ring is getting worn out... not a bad fix.. just takes time...

if youd like to confirm that might be the problem and it is a VGT.. pull the freeze plug on the side of the opposite side of the actuator... its held in with a snap ring.. small bolt can thread into it and help grab it.. youll want to put down some rags here.. theres still a bit of oil that sits inside the housing here.. they claim with a strong enough magnet you can actuate the plunger inside.. but on mine i couldnt... i used a small piece of bent steel to feed into the small hole thats in the plunger and actuated it.. mine screeched like a banchee telling me those vanes were binding... since the rebuild i havent had any problems..
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
It does...it's a 2005.

Freeze plug as in block core plug??...or am I missing something?
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
It does...it's a 2005.

Freeze plug as in block core plug??...or am I missing something?

nahh there a "freeze" plug as they like to call it on the turbo itself.. its maybe 1/4" thick with a rubber o-ring around it.. its there mainly to keep the oil from flowing out of the turbo.. and give the oil something to push the plunger back against..

older turbos used a vacuum actuated cylinder to to open and close plates... the VGT use oil pressure to push on a plunger through an actuator.. depending on if its accelerating and decelerating depends on which site the oil had to push on...

IMG-20140628-01225_zps20b62f22.jpg


best pic i have of it... its the silver plug there next to my knee... might need to "pry" it out using pliers on the bolt threaded into the small hole.. the Oring likes to get stuck in snap ring groove...



^vid that was most helpful when i went to rebuild mine... he shows the how to check the actuation near the end of the video...

best advise any VGT owner can give another.. when you drive a VGT truck drive it like you stole it.. These trucks love Full throttle.. Babying it allows the carbon to build up around the vanes and when you go to get on it will bind those vanes will hit that heavier carbon and get stuck.. which sounds like whats happening there..
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
if you find it still moves freely.. youll most likely want to try getting the electronic actuator to replace it.. its the other common part to fail.. RiffRaff diesel had it the cheapest for me.. and the one they send was actually made by Garratte who originally made our turbos..
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
np duncan.. i hope for you its just the solenoid/actuator.. cuz its a pain to get the turbo outta there lol.. if you do have to pull the turbo.. take my advice... BUY NEW VBAND CLAMPS!!!! thought i could get away without doing it only to have one bust on re-assembly...

also sometimes a block of wood and a light tap of a hammer helps seat that actuator fully... mine was like that.. came out easy.. little bit of a pain to put back...

also your going to want to get 12 point sockets if you dont have any...
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
Got 12 pts....thanks.

Thinking that it will be done by another....doing a shop at the moment for a heavy duty mechanic....same guy that just fixed the 750.
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
Got 12 pts....thanks.

Thinking that it will be done by another....doing a shop at the moment for a heavy duty mechanic....same guy that just fixed the 750.

awww you dont want to have the fun yourself?? lol i took an afternoon to pull it... half the day to rebuild it.. other half the day to put it back in.. and of course it broke the up pipe band when i was doing it last... pissed me off...
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
If I had the time, I'd do it myself....but I just don't seem to have much spare time at all these days.
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
Know that feeling...
 

jebadiah04

Rooster Snorkler
849
27
Duncan. This is a 1-2 hour job.

Take the piping clamps off on the turbo side and the inter cooler side of the rubbers not the pipe side. It's easy to kink the pipes during reinstall, thus prevents that. Pull those out, on that 05 get a gear wrench for the left turbo bolt, a short socket and a 6 inch extension for the back bolt and I bet the other one has rattled out by now. Pull the Vgt plug and unhook the oil lines. 05 has soft braided lines so it's easy as hell. Unclamp that pig and rip it out. It's so easy.

Hell hardest part is hooking the down pipe back up on an aftermarket set up. Stock is easy, just use the hook. Tighten the y pipe clamp up first.

No wait hardest part is getting the air filter out. Damn 6.0 filters
I've had turbos off of 6.0s a lot. It's cheese.
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
Duncan. This is a 1-2 hour job.

Take the piping clamps off on the turbo side and the inter cooler side of the rubbers not the pipe side. It's easy to kink the pipes during reinstall, thus prevents that. Pull those out, on that 05 get a gear wrench for the left turbo bolt, a short socket and a 6 inch extension for the back bolt and I bet the other one has rattled out by now. Pull the Vgt plug and unhook the oil lines. 05 has soft braided lines so it's easy as hell. Unclamp that pig and rip it out. It's so easy.

Hell hardest part is hooking the down pipe back up on an aftermarket set up. Stock is easy, just use the hook. Tighten the y pipe clamp up first.

No wait hardest part is getting the air filter out. Damn 6.0 filters
I've had turbos off of 6.0s a lot. It's cheese.

lol yeah getting that stuff off was the easy part... dunno about the 05... but the alt had to come out to make room for the turbo to come out on my 04.. a lot of others will take off the oil filter housings and bunch of other crap that doesnt need to come out imo...

I thought the hardest part was figuring out how to hold my beer and the turbo at the same time to pull it out???? Lucky the Driver-side battery offered me a hand to hold the beer while i pulled the turbo out...
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
Thanks Tater....might give it a shot if I find time
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
Thanks Tater....might give it a shot if I find time

you can get all the gaskets, seals, bearings and anything else youll need from RiffRaff diesel too. was cheaper getting them there than it was at the local dealership for me... and they also have VERY CLEAR step by step directions for doing the total rebuild...

IMG-20140624-01193_zpsbfc1127b.jpg


after printing them out i put them in a nice binder with page protectors to keep them from getting dirty...

IMG-20140628-01236_zps33318411.jpg


i also chose to upgrade the compressor wheel while i had it apart...
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
What's the deal with the wheel upgrade?....more boost?
 

jebadiah04

Rooster Snorkler
849
27
Blown head gaskets. Lok
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
Blown head gaskets. Lok

Screw that.....just had that crap done a couple of years ago. Got an H&S unit on it now after the EGR delete set on the lowest setting....more than I need for daily driving.
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
What's the deal with the wheel upgrade?....more boost?

quicker turbo spooling for the most part... Riffraff claimed about 7 more psi.. but havent seen the increased pressures... figure its for 1 of 2 reasons.. thinking i might have a leak in the up pipe but cant figure out where exactly... the other reason.. if your still on your stock tune like i am.. the computer limits you to 27psi max anyways.. so even with a better compressor wheel you cant get into the danger pressures without a performance retune... i did notice mine spooled faster after doing it... now if i could find the leak id be able to get the boost pressure i should be having.. I know i have a leak because it keeps getting pulled in through the vent ducts every time i have to stop for a light.. going down the road i dont get it but sitting still i do...

putting a billet compressor wheel on the turbo is alot like changing your harmonic balancer and flexplates on the engine to billet aluminum.. Less weight/rotational mass = less resistance = easier to spin = quicker spin ups... thats why you change the balancer and flex plate to billet you can increase the HP/tq (granted marginally) but also feel a quicker throttle response due to the parts being lighter... knowing that you have a mustang duncan im sure you know that already lol
 

Ford Truck Articles

Top