Allright guys,
Over this past year I have been reading up on this forum for different tips and tricks to gain extra power out of the 2LTE and thought i would share my experience, as I haven't seen it been done on any of these related forums. I obtained the truck in February, and in the saddest condition imaginable. 390,000 kilometers of poor servicing and neglect. I found oil throughout the intake system, a mixer of turbo seal failure and worn piston rings. After removing the turbo and taking it in for inspection at my local, I was quoted $800NZD to overhaul the turbo which was mostly labour for removing carbon deposits so $1500 later i had my self a clocked brand new holset HE200, with a 1 BAR wastegate welded in the correct position, a custom adapter plate which ill instruct you mostly on how to make it, how i got around making oil lines and deleting the coolant feed as it's an oil only turbo.
1: Turbo Adapter Plate
First you'll need a thick steel plate, from memory mine is about 2 inches (50mm) thick, and it must be cut to suit the flange size on the factory manifold. You'll then need to measure the inside diameter and shape of the manifold flange and cut the plate to suit. This could easily been done at a machine shop if you're not skilled or have the equipment to complete the job, at little expense. You'll then need to mark the bolt holes on the steel plate, matching the offset on the manifold and progressively drill them through, i wouldn't recommend doing this without a drill press because you most likely will fail. Next up you will need to purchase some cap screws, allan key or torx head. You need to measure the depth the original studs are screwed into the manifold and combine that with the thickness of your plate and this is how you know the length of the capscrew you require.
Once you have obtained your capscrews, measure the outer diameter of the capscrew head and then get a drill bit that matches that. Get a piece of tape, or cable tie etc, measure the length of the cap screw head and then mark it on the drill bit with the tape or cable tie. Drill the plate down the mounting bolt holes so the cap screws sit flush within the plate this method is called counter-sinking. You can grind down the cap screw head if you feel you are going to weaken the structure of the plate, as your holes will be close to the edge. Now your plate should bolt flush up against the manifold, with no protrusions on top of the flange.
Next we want to mark the holes on the plate that fit the mounting plate on the holset turbo, (from memory they're 8mm) smaller than the ct20 mounting studs. Tap the holes and install some studs, note the nuts have to be installed while holding the turbo up otherwise they wont fit between the tip of the stud and the turbo housing. The adapter plate must be installed and torqued to the manifold and then the turbo fitted afterwards as it will cover part of the capscrews.
I had the turbo clocked before installation to mimic the CT20 position, this will require re positioning of the wastegate (which will have to be welded to the inlet housing)
Now as for the exhaust i took the turbo to a CNC machinist and they traced the back and cut the flange to suit as the factory cummins exhaust flange is junk, it's a plate that covers the whole rear of the turbo with a 2.25" vband outlet in the center. I then tried to make an exhaust - going to leave it at tried, and then had the truck trailered and the exhaust fabricated professionally by some guys we use through work. it is difficult to get the exhaust directly down as it sits back further towards the firewall and goes over the chassis rail, as you can see with your standard exhaust. I used a 2.5" exhaust with a small resonator, not excessively noisy at all and sounds tough.
2. Oil Feeds
The oil feed is located directly above the oil filter on the oil cooler housing, i simply used an AN-3 braided line ran it out towards the R/H guard to avoid it rubbing on anything then p clamped it and routed it to the top of the turbo and screwed it in. Looks untidy, could be done better, but it works and i drive it 32 kilometers a day so i'm happy.
For the drain i used Aeroflow AN fittings, which include generic drain flanges and include a recess with an o'ring for a gasket. These are pricey, but work great and are very time conservative. it has a threaded drain so you can screw on other AN fittings. I found that you need to make sure when installing these multifit flanges, that your washers don't touch the the drain stem otherwise the flange wont pull up correctly when you tighten and leak like there's no tomorrow. I then used an extension fitting to lengthen the drain past the bottom of the compressor housing and then used a 3/4 or 19.1mm hose barb, i found that fitting was bulky and hit the compressor housing why i used the extension, it you're a better general engineer than i am it'd recommend just fabricating a steel drain, much cheaper. Then steadily force a 3/4" oil proof hose or 19mm, and hose clamp it on this will then fit directly over your drain coming out of the block.
3. Air intake
I simply used the factory air intake pipe from the air filter housing, it's a stretch to fit but does the job. Now the sloppy part i did was the compressor outlet, being a 2.25" vband i simply just fitted a 2.25 - 2" reduced and used a hose clamp over the vband and the original "EFI" pipe. I only did it to get it running and driving so i could test the set up but it has ended up working ok so i've been driving round with it over the last 3 or 4 months until i pull the engine out for an overhaul, then ill fabricate some brackets and mount a top mount inter cooler while it's on the stand. What i would recommend doing in place of this , is buy a 2.25" vband and welding it to a 2" pipe with just enough length to fit a silicone joiner and hose clamp and then joining it to the "EFI" pipe, this would work perfectly.
The truck has so much more power, it has even reduced the revs when on the open road at 100ks. Plus it makes cool turbo noises, excellent for towing etc. Makes boost from 1900rpm onwards with no fuel adjustments, and hits wastegate pressure at around 2900rpm. Definitely recommend it. Don't ask why i did this before doing the engine overhaul, you're probably eye rolling that i would put a turbo on an engine with a compression leak but i just felt like taking the challenge of putting the turbo on first and will so be make in the garage once i have my other vehicle on the road again (they get fixed one after the other) any questions feel free to ask. Sorry about the lack of photos, never saw myself contributing to a forum at the time.
Cheers
Arnie
Over this past year I have been reading up on this forum for different tips and tricks to gain extra power out of the 2LTE and thought i would share my experience, as I haven't seen it been done on any of these related forums. I obtained the truck in February, and in the saddest condition imaginable. 390,000 kilometers of poor servicing and neglect. I found oil throughout the intake system, a mixer of turbo seal failure and worn piston rings. After removing the turbo and taking it in for inspection at my local, I was quoted $800NZD to overhaul the turbo which was mostly labour for removing carbon deposits so $1500 later i had my self a clocked brand new holset HE200, with a 1 BAR wastegate welded in the correct position, a custom adapter plate which ill instruct you mostly on how to make it, how i got around making oil lines and deleting the coolant feed as it's an oil only turbo.
1: Turbo Adapter Plate
First you'll need a thick steel plate, from memory mine is about 2 inches (50mm) thick, and it must be cut to suit the flange size on the factory manifold. You'll then need to measure the inside diameter and shape of the manifold flange and cut the plate to suit. This could easily been done at a machine shop if you're not skilled or have the equipment to complete the job, at little expense. You'll then need to mark the bolt holes on the steel plate, matching the offset on the manifold and progressively drill them through, i wouldn't recommend doing this without a drill press because you most likely will fail. Next up you will need to purchase some cap screws, allan key or torx head. You need to measure the depth the original studs are screwed into the manifold and combine that with the thickness of your plate and this is how you know the length of the capscrew you require.
Once you have obtained your capscrews, measure the outer diameter of the capscrew head and then get a drill bit that matches that. Get a piece of tape, or cable tie etc, measure the length of the cap screw head and then mark it on the drill bit with the tape or cable tie. Drill the plate down the mounting bolt holes so the cap screws sit flush within the plate this method is called counter-sinking. You can grind down the cap screw head if you feel you are going to weaken the structure of the plate, as your holes will be close to the edge. Now your plate should bolt flush up against the manifold, with no protrusions on top of the flange.
Next we want to mark the holes on the plate that fit the mounting plate on the holset turbo, (from memory they're 8mm) smaller than the ct20 mounting studs. Tap the holes and install some studs, note the nuts have to be installed while holding the turbo up otherwise they wont fit between the tip of the stud and the turbo housing. The adapter plate must be installed and torqued to the manifold and then the turbo fitted afterwards as it will cover part of the capscrews.
I had the turbo clocked before installation to mimic the CT20 position, this will require re positioning of the wastegate (which will have to be welded to the inlet housing)
Now as for the exhaust i took the turbo to a CNC machinist and they traced the back and cut the flange to suit as the factory cummins exhaust flange is junk, it's a plate that covers the whole rear of the turbo with a 2.25" vband outlet in the center. I then tried to make an exhaust - going to leave it at tried, and then had the truck trailered and the exhaust fabricated professionally by some guys we use through work. it is difficult to get the exhaust directly down as it sits back further towards the firewall and goes over the chassis rail, as you can see with your standard exhaust. I used a 2.5" exhaust with a small resonator, not excessively noisy at all and sounds tough.
2. Oil Feeds
The oil feed is located directly above the oil filter on the oil cooler housing, i simply used an AN-3 braided line ran it out towards the R/H guard to avoid it rubbing on anything then p clamped it and routed it to the top of the turbo and screwed it in. Looks untidy, could be done better, but it works and i drive it 32 kilometers a day so i'm happy.
For the drain i used Aeroflow AN fittings, which include generic drain flanges and include a recess with an o'ring for a gasket. These are pricey, but work great and are very time conservative. it has a threaded drain so you can screw on other AN fittings. I found that you need to make sure when installing these multifit flanges, that your washers don't touch the the drain stem otherwise the flange wont pull up correctly when you tighten and leak like there's no tomorrow. I then used an extension fitting to lengthen the drain past the bottom of the compressor housing and then used a 3/4 or 19.1mm hose barb, i found that fitting was bulky and hit the compressor housing why i used the extension, it you're a better general engineer than i am it'd recommend just fabricating a steel drain, much cheaper. Then steadily force a 3/4" oil proof hose or 19mm, and hose clamp it on this will then fit directly over your drain coming out of the block.
3. Air intake
I simply used the factory air intake pipe from the air filter housing, it's a stretch to fit but does the job. Now the sloppy part i did was the compressor outlet, being a 2.25" vband i simply just fitted a 2.25 - 2" reduced and used a hose clamp over the vband and the original "EFI" pipe. I only did it to get it running and driving so i could test the set up but it has ended up working ok so i've been driving round with it over the last 3 or 4 months until i pull the engine out for an overhaul, then ill fabricate some brackets and mount a top mount inter cooler while it's on the stand. What i would recommend doing in place of this , is buy a 2.25" vband and welding it to a 2" pipe with just enough length to fit a silicone joiner and hose clamp and then joining it to the "EFI" pipe, this would work perfectly.
The truck has so much more power, it has even reduced the revs when on the open road at 100ks. Plus it makes cool turbo noises, excellent for towing etc. Makes boost from 1900rpm onwards with no fuel adjustments, and hits wastegate pressure at around 2900rpm. Definitely recommend it. Don't ask why i did this before doing the engine overhaul, you're probably eye rolling that i would put a turbo on an engine with a compression leak but i just felt like taking the challenge of putting the turbo on first and will so be make in the garage once i have my other vehicle on the road again (they get fixed one after the other) any questions feel free to ask. Sorry about the lack of photos, never saw myself contributing to a forum at the time.
Cheers
Arnie