Turbo upgrade?

Discussion in 'Heavy Duty Diesel Truck Mechanics Forum' started by AModelCat, Oct 20, 2019.

  1. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    Now there is something even I was wondering about.

    Im afraid to get involved in this advanced turbo talk. However if you have a turbo that will wake up when it's needed and will feed the boost you want (Not necessarily 3000 pounds of boost...) and hold off breaking stuff you should at least be happy with it eh?

    When I drive turbo all I want to worry about is that it's had 5 minutes to cool at idle when parked for the night. I do not have time or inclination to nurse it upgrade.
     
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  2. magoo68

    magoo68 Road Train Member

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    They put the low nox setting in it. I believe that was a agreement they made with the epa ..
     
  3. Snow Monster

    Snow Monster Medium Load Member

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    Not a turbo expert, but have you considered giving BW a call to pick their brains?

    A long time ago I re-powered a truck, from an NTC 270 to a NTC 350 reman, ran into clearance issues and had to swap the turbo.
    I wound up buying a Schwitzer, (now owned by BW), which had a noticeably smaller housing and spun a lot faster than the stock turbo by 50,000 rpm or more.
    (I think??)

    It was very quick spooling, almost no lag to speak of and had a very distinct high pitched whistle, (more like a scream), that I got great entertainment from while trying to make it play a tune.
    The engine was set pretty warm and there was very little smoke when I stomped on it.
    Mind you a PC Cat is gonna smoke a bit no matter what you do to it.

    Just a thought, good luck.
     
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  4. Shawn2130

    Shawn2130 Heavy Load Member

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    Snow monster:

    A least the ACERT C15 compounds can nearly clean up all the smoke. :cool:

    My company 2005 freightliner is very clean burning with nearly nothing coming out. ;)

    Still not clean enough to satisfy the EPA though to continue to build on highway engines. :mad:
     
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  5. Snow Monster

    Snow Monster Medium Load Member

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    I've driven 3406E's and C-15's that were virtually smokeless, mostly because of electronic fuel injection.

    The 3406 PCTA is a different animal altogether, a mechanical engine with a pre cup injection system which smoked no matter what you did to them.
    They were cold blooded and used glow plugs to pre-heat the air/fuel, were hard to cold start in 70º weather without the glow plugs and they smoked big time!

    The engine in question hasn't been offered since the late 70's, gone by 1980 or 81.
    The 375 hp PCTA was phased out by the DITA which was the direct injection version of the same engine, easier to start, no glow plugs, less smoke, better economy.

    Both were offered as options for a couple years, the PCTA at 375 HP and the DITA at 380 HP.
    When the 3406 DITA got a bump to 400 HP the PCTA was discontinued as was the beautiful classic Cat sound they made.

    Clackity Clackity Clack, here comes a kitty Cat!
     
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  6. Shawn2130

    Shawn2130 Heavy Load Member

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    Snow monster: sounds like those engines have some good history :cool:
     
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  7. Snow Monster

    Snow Monster Medium Load Member

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    The first 3406 PCTA's @ 360 hp seemed a step down from the 1693 TA's @ 425 hp that they replaced, the original bulldozer engine.
    But as time progressed they turned out to be pretty good engines.

    (1693 cold start)
     
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  8. CountryBumkin

    CountryBumkin Bobtail Member

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    Last edited: Oct 21, 2019
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  9. Brettj3876

    Brettj3876 Road Train Member

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    Would something like a 171702 work? Or is that too small for a 15L. Can find em all over for 600-650 no core charge
     
  10. SmokinCAT

    SmokinCAT Road Train Member

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