818 now with turbo and pics.

[flat tire]

sbkarmen- Were you still looking for an exhaust manifold?

 

[Hooty481]

look at post #72 and you can see where the oil lines hooks into the top of the oil cooler on the passenger side of the truck on the front of the engine.

 

[sbkarmen]

sbkarmen- Were you still looking for an exhaust manifold?

just got my manifold its coming UPS tomorrow. now need a good new/rebuilt turbo and the adapters for them.

I still need to know where to run the oil pressure line. I don't want to start the project until I've got everything down. I see where the drainage plug is going back into the cranckcase just below the manifold.

If anybody can help me with pics I'd appreciate it! thanks

and I'm thinking of going with a HX50 turbo to go with the manifold of a cummings 290. Let me know what you guys think.

thanks again, I just went up the cajon pass this weekend again and am dreading not having a turbo 36mph! yikes those big tires are cool but uphill they stink! lol

 

[sbkarmen]

look at post #72 and you can see where the oil lines hooks into the top of the oil cooler on the passenger side of the truck on the front of the engine.

thanks went back to #72 and it was right there! perfect picture too. I knew I kept skipping the thread somewhere.

anybody know a contact number for cumming parts/

 

[Hooty481]

thats a good questions. everytime i call cummins with questions they dont know what to do. I told several different cummins dealers what i was doing and all i could get was hummsss and ummsss... then it would always be "You need to decide on what CPL you are going to build the motor to" and i told them plainly i was adding a turbo to a nhc250. i called and talked to more than 6 and got tired of getting the same answers. it seems that everybody is to young to remember working on these engines or doing any modifications to them such as this.

You can get on cummins website and it will give you a list of cummins dealers parts/service people to call. i hope you have better luck than i did.

 

[1943ht]

Sbkarmen, sound like your on-track .. just remember that a turbo will give you more power .. but gearing will limit your speed

 

[sbkarmen]

Sbkarmen, sound like your on-track .. just remember that a turbo will give you more power .. but gearing will limit your speed

yeah I understand that but with 53" tires my gps shows 72mph on any empty highway @2100 rpms. slightly down hill though. I just need it to get up the hills, I definitely "need" the turbo.

On the turbo unit I want to go new, I know most of you said just find a donor motor and go to town with it, but I don't have the time to mess around as it is, with my luck I'd buy the one with only 2 hours left on it. I talked to a guy named Manuel at areadiesel.com recommended a borg warner/swisher turbo 4LHR he said its good for 300 hp, specifically designed for the cummins 250 application. I'm hoping he's right and it should do the trick. he said it kicks in without having to flog the thing, agian I don't deal with turbos or diesels so what do I know but he sounded like he knew his stuff and could of sold me anything for what I needed. ebay has one for sale and he was 20 bucks less than ebay so he should be fair
I building this thing with hopefully all new components, I should be able to fab all the stuff, I'm thinking of oval tubing for the cross pipe. Everything looks like its doable especially after all the helpful insight from you guys, but I want to know what you guys think about the turbo unit let me know!
Borg Warner (Schwitzer) TURBO 4LHR-733 *NEW* SCH193903 | eBay

 

[Bolkbich]

Call pittsburgh diesel in pa. They are friendly and knowledgeable. Which turbo you use is important you want as much boost as possible to keep egt's down.

 

[sbkarmen]

Ordered my 4LHR borg warner turbo today after talking to several people. apparently its good for 325 hp. I bought a #17 button from cummins, along with a turbo exit pipe with a clamp and some new exhaust manifold gaskets. Still gotta find where the **** button goes! lol Also I'm going to use 3 or 4 inch oval tubing should sold clearance issues, but wont know until I slap the turbo and manifold in and go from there. Anybody know where to get a good deal on guages for boost and egt? let me know

 

[sbkarmen]

sbkarmen- Were you still looking for an exhaust manifold?

just saw this, thanks but already found one 2 weeks ago on ebay.

 

[sbkarmen]

Ok got my turbo, apparently its a 4LHR, I got my #17 button, I'm going to be probably using oval 3 1/2 tubing for the cross over making it go back by the firewall and into the intake side switching it back to 3 1/2 round tubing. I was going to start the process next week after this weekend with my buddies shooting in the desert! but I wanted to know what thread pitch the fitting in the block was for drainage and the thread pitch on the cooler for the pressure line is? Also where did you guys find 5 1/2 inch turbo intake tubing?


http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d109/superbikearmen/Photo_B9AD326C-D2B2-1075-C999-E26F4AC45969.jpg

 

[flat tire]

Both ports are NPT. The drain on the block is 3/4" and the pressure port on the oil cooler should be 3/8".

Most guys aren't using 5.5" intake tubing. I used 3" tubing then built an adapter to go from 3" to 5.5"

I used 2x4 square tube from my crossover tube, and 2" is almost too high to clear the hood.

 

[sbkarmen]

Both ports are NPT. The drain on the block is 3/4" and the pressure port on the oil cooler should be 3/8".

Most guys aren't using 5.5" intake tubing. I used 3" tubing then built an adapter to go from 3" to 5.5"

I used 2x4 square tube from my crossover tube, and 2" is almost too high to clear the hood.

thank you so much, its little info like this that can save me a whole day of looking for crap to fit at home depot or something. and on the intake I'm going to see if I can use the original intake tube off the air filter and go from there.

Thanks again so much, I'm begining to love this thread even more!!!!!!

 

[Beerslayer]

Great work to you all and tons of great info.
But my question is has anyone done a M923?

Thanks

Jeff
Fort Wayne IN
1986 M923A1

It appears not, but I am about to. In the parts collecting process at this point.

 

[wsucougarx]

Be sure to start a thread Del. I'm sure Steve and I will be duplicating your project

 

[tiny110]

Is anyone other than eastern surplus selling a turbo kit?
Maybe something of a budget kit?
All I really need is the exhaust manifold and a good turbo. I can fab up the rest.

 

[Vintage iron]

I can sell you all the parts you need. I have plenty of Cummins parts. Give me a call on Monday. 617-650-2108 Matt

 

[sbkarmen]

Well finally started putting my turbo in, I ended up going with the backwards set up with the intake side of the turbo to the back like someone had done earlier in the thread. I had to mount my exhaust manifold upside down to make the turbo clear. Putting a new 4LHR turbo on mine. I have 3.5" tubing coming for the intake and am still debating on 5" or reduced to 4" exhuast with a new 4" stack. I will have her done soon and will post pics!

 

[sbkarmen]

I went ahead and installed mine backwards, like one of the other fellas on this thread, somehow the manifold would hit the coolant housing so I mounted it reversed, I drilled some holes for the guide pins on the head. I went ahead with a 5.5" 45 degree intake tubing with a .5" reducer but I'm gonna change it with a 90 so I have clearance for the coolant reservoir that will mount up there by the firewall. the exhaust is going with 2 90's to the back with flex tubing gonna just clamp it up with some nice clamps, and yeah that's a new Turbo



Here's a pic of the 3.5" aluminum tubing I used did a 90 off the turbo with some 45 degree tubing with a coupler and another 45 so I could 180 into the intake came out sweet and was a snap thanks to some fellow steetsoldiers guys and there examples, put some heavy duty clamps and she looks good!



Here is the intake side its awesome using the silicone 90 degree instead of aluminum tubing you have more flex and easy to cut, I used a aluminum 3.5"-4" then a 4"-5" silicone reducer onto the inlet intake. It was a snap so far, got everything from intakehoses.com, guy was great help and they've got everything for the intake



Next up is going to a hose guy so I can get a nice 3/4 pipe thread with some flex silicone hose and some 45 degree fitting on them for the oil dump hose. Gonna make a 3/8 pipe for the turbo oil pressure line too. rerouting all the coolent hose and just so happens I've got 1 1/4" high temp silicone hose for the main collant hose. gonna redirect the 3/4" heater hoses as well. Finally maked progress on the job. Still have to put the piston thingie in the Deisel pump, gotta look at that, then when everything is all set I want to put a temp guage on and a boost guage. and hopefully it will run, I'm nervous as ****, but am so thankful for this thread and only this thread you guys have been great help to me! So I big thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bjmca]

The fuel button is located inside the governor spring cover directly at the rear of the injection pump. There is a square cover on the back, it should still have safety wire on the bolts, and you will see a pipe plug on the hump of the cover. You need to remove the 4 bolts and carefully remove the cover, be cautious not to ruin the gasket, there will be fuel that runs out when you do this.

You will see a plunger under this cover, this is the high speed governor and idle speed control. Carefully remove the snap ring directly at the rear of the governor, Keep one finger on the spring pack so you do not drop any of the parts!!!! There will be a stack of shims that controls spring pressure for the rpm governor, remove them and set aside along with the snap ring and heavy washer and then main spring.

You will have a clear sight of a set screw in the back of the plunger, do not turn it just pull it strait out the rear. You will now have the plunger assembly in your hand which houses the fuel button right in the front, switch it with the new on and reinstall in reverse order.

The most important part is to not drop shims. I would have liked to have some photos of doing mine but I had fuel on my hands and was not about to dirty the camera!

About a 10 minute project as long as you don't drop parts, or drop the snap ring and have to spend another 10 to find it

Good luck, project is looking nice.