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Intermittent Power Loss in Engine

So "Pavel" and I got together today to work on the truck. It was slow-going as the previous mechanic that worked on it had really wrenched down on the IP mounting bolts. Pavel finally was able to get to them after I bought a set of wrap around wrenches from HF--he also had to remove the upper plenum from the engine.

He had previously put his meter on the engine and found that the IP was too far advanced. After about 4 hours of wrestling with the mounting bolts we discovered the the previous mechanic had used Permatex on the IP gasket--essentially making it impossible to adjust timing with out cleaning off all the gasket material, etc. This will involve removing the Intake manifold, etc.. I'm pretty frustrated at the mechanic that did this... what was he thinking?

Anyway, Pavel will return to finish the job, but I'm going to get a new turbo first.

I'm kind of leaning on getting an HX 35. The company I work at disassembles construction equipment for parts, and I found a Cummins engine with an HX 35 that still spins and doesn't have any noticeable shake or endplay of the turbine wheel. I know I'll need to get an adapter to connect the turbo to the updated downpipe I installed with my 4" exhaust, but they're only about $140 on eBay.

Anyway, thanks for the input so far, and I'll keep you posted.

Regards,

Smitty
 
What housing size is the hx35? Wheel size counts also.
There were hx35 made just as tiny as the gm turbo, more are slightly larger but not by much.
A common action if redoing the hx35 is to buy exactly the size and wheels you want. Do a simple rebuild by only buying the balanced kits so you can diy assemble it. The housing for the cold side is from an hx40 so the term hx 35/40 hybrid comes about and is an awesome fit for this engine for 75% of pickups.

And if the outfit ya work for has multiples they go through- you could make others happy campers by selling them here. I myself am torn between my new turbo being an hx40 or a 35/40 hybrid.
 
Will L. said:
What housing size is the hx35? Wheel size counts also.
There were hx35 made just as tiny as the gm turbo, more are slightly larger but not by much.
A common action if redoing the hx35 is to buy exactly the size and wheels you want. Do a simple rebuild by only buying the balanced kits so you can diy assemble it. The housing for the cold side is from an hx40 so the term hx 35/40 hybrid comes about and is an awesome fit for this engine for 75% of pickups.

And if the outfit ya work for has multiples they go through- you could make others happy campers by selling them here. I myself am torn between my new turbo being an hx40 or a 35/40 hybrid.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the information Will. I'm not sure how to tell, though I can get the data, etc. It's on a Cummins engine, I'm thinking it's a 6B inline six from a piece of construction equipment. Has individual valve covers like the 12 valve 5.9 used in trucks, but doesn't quite look the same.

I'll check it out next time I'm down at the yard... it's 40 miles away, and I normally work from home, so I only go there every couple weeks or so.

How do you tell what size you have on the HX35's?

Regards,

Smitty
 
Utah Smitty said:
… Anyway, Pavel will return to finish the job, but I'm going to get a new turbo first.
Click to expand...
Yeah, an entertaining day but, unsuccessful on a couple of fronts.
1. No blood spilt.
2. Only two trips to the store for wrenches and a new ECT sensor (sorry Smitty).
3. The nuts torqued to Harmonic Balancer or front axel hub specs
4. Permatex on the IP gasket…PERMATEX!
But, it was Friday the 13th so there was bound to be surprises.

Still, it was a great visit in with UTSmitty sharing 6.5 experiences and Army stories without an eye witness to mess up the plot lines with facts.

We’ll link up again this Friday and get the IP timed correctly. Then, swap in my spare ECM w/ the vacuum pump deleted from the program and see how truck does by making test runs with various spring lengths on the Turbo Master. I spoke with Bill to confirm that since both our trucks are 96’s running essentially the same turbos, the difference in cam shafts won’t affect much. Right now, with the current spring setting backed off, he’s only running around 6lbs and the truck feels very heavy. BUT, he isn’t getting tossed into limp mode. Main thing is to see if we can get his truck’s boost over the 8-10 PSI thread hold, establish a base line and then he can then adjust fire from there…make more informed decisions as to tunes and turbo upgrades rather than throwing parts, even bargain ones, at it.
 
Utah Smitty said:
Thanks for the information Will. I'm not sure how to tell, though I can get the data, etc. It's on a Cummins engine, I'm thinking it's a 6B inline six from a piece of construction equipment. Has individual valve covers like the 12 valve 5.9 used in trucks, but doesn't quite look the same.

I'll check it out next time I'm down at the yard... it's 40 miles away, and I normally work from home, so I only go there every couple weeks or so.

How do you tell what size you have on the HX35's?

Regards,

Smitty
Click to expand...
Make sure the turbo you get has a wastegate on it. a lot of cummins engines in equipment use turbos without a wastegate. No wastegate and there is no way to control the boost pressures. No head studs installed and you will float the heads right off the block!!
 
Paveltolz said:
Yeah, an entertaining day but, unsuccessful on a couple of fronts.
1. No blood spilt.
2. Only two trips to the store for wrenches and a new ECT sensor (sorry Smitty).
3. The nuts torqued to Harmonic Balancer or front axel hub specs
4. Permatex on the IP gasket…PERMATEX!
But, it was Friday the 13th so there was bound to be surprises.

Still, it was a great visit in with UTSmitty sharing 6.5 experiences and Army stories without an eye witness to mess up the plot lines with facts.

We’ll link up again this Friday and get the IP timed correctly. Then, swap in my spare ECM w/ the vacuum pump deleted from the program and see how truck does by making test runs with various spring lengths on the Turbo Master. I spoke with Bill to confirm that since both our trucks are 96’s running essentially the same turbos, the difference in cam shafts won’t affect much. Right now, with the current spring setting backed off, he’s only running around 6lbs and the truck feels very heavy. BUT, he isn’t getting tossed into limp mode. Main thing is to see if we can get his truck’s boost over the 8-10 PSI thread hold, establish a base line and then he can then adjust fire from there…make more informed decisions as to tunes and turbo upgrades rather than throwing parts, even bargain ones, at it.
Click to expand...
Thanks again for your help!! I'm still shaking my head that the mechanic I had do the work (who claimed to have worked on lots of 6.5s) would torque the bolts down so much, then, to add insult to injury Permatexed the gaskets...

I did tighten down the nut on the Turbmaster a little to where I was getting a couple more pounds of boost. No defuelling, but I haven't tried it pulling a heavy grade, but at least I get a little more oomph on acceleration.

And, as you said, I'm glad there weren't any witnesses to fact check our war stories...

Looking forward to Friday.

Smitty
 
Fun day yesterday at Utah Smitty's. Took the upper intake off and barely loosened the IP nuts to see if we could get the IP to maybe turn with the Quadstar Adjustment tool. My thoughts were maybe the Previous Owner had just Permatexed one side of the IP Gasket. Can't hurt to be a positive thinker.
Paid off...WOOT. Didn't have to go through the IP Swap Dance routine. We made the adjustments, found out he didn't have a resistor in the PMD so swapped one in from his spare PMD and when the Tech2 couldn't complete the TDCO calibrations we used the "Key On in Run (not start), full throttle for 45 Seconds" technique from the manual and got the new reading of -0.70 vs. the -2.29 he was at. Yes, I know about -1.94ish but that's what's recommended in the manual, what he is happy with for now, and will serve as a base line until he gets his Turbo and Tune sorted. The motor sounded noticeably calmer/better with the new TDCO too. I suspect the bent pins on my Tech2 to be at fault for the calibration failures. Will try it some more on my truck and see what's what.
Without adjusting the manual wastegate we tossed in my spare ECM and went for a test ride. Whole different truck and he's one happy camper.
He bought the Quadstar IP adjusting tool from me and I left him with my ECM until he gets the set up he wants figured out.
Big success all the way around and he's grateful to the community for the supportiveness.
Win Win for the TTS brother/sister/other-hood.
 
It was a GOOD day. I drove the truck to Murray and back and it was like a whole new machine.

A big thank you to Paveltolz for his help, plus he provided lunch... what a guy!!!

Also a big thank you to others in the forum for their advice and support.

Now I just need to get a turbo, then get my spare ECM tuned.
 
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