Please Help. Someone has to have an idea whats going on.

[Mic Hubble]

Ok, Im going to try and keep this as short and to the point, but this has been a process.

I have a 16' 3500 DRW that I only tow heavy with. It has been a great truck up until this issue came up. My longest trip I use it for is out to glamis and back which is about 1100 miles each way. It pulls My 50' race trailer around 20k lbs. I put 10k miles on the truck stock then did the ppei tuning with sotf, delete, fass lift pump/ filter combo, SB cold air intake and full exhaust. First trip with tune/ delete about 100 miles in I blew the hot side intercooler boot off the turbo where its pretty common to blow. I got through that trip with driving it easy and putting a T-bolt clamp on it. I found several people that had the same issue so I opted to upgrade and got the afe hot side intercooler pipe kit. I also realized that the sotf switch messed up some how and I was on the biggest tune while towing. (200hp) I took it back to the shop that installed everything and got the switch/ tuning issue fixed and installed the afe pipe.

Now, I just got back from the same 2200 mile trip. well, its not fixed. about 150 miles in, boom, pipe blows off turbo. The afe pipes have silicone couplers. Now the silicone coupler is melting out to the point the clamp cant hold it on. Luckily I had several 2.5-3.0 silicone couplers and replaced it a few times and just kept boost 20 psi and under and limped it through the trip.

The truck runs and drives great.

This is what I have done. I put a boost gauge on hot side of intercooler to see if there was a big pressure diff, and the most I can get is about 10 psi on spikes and it runs about 5-8 psi higher most of the time. I unplugged the egr plugs and the Throttle valve. I called several diesel shops and got nothing from most, but the ones that would offer anything told me to unplug the plugs I mentioned above, maybe bad intercooler, maybe bad turbo actuator? I never got any good hard answers on what could be causing this.

At this point I'm thinking about installing a new aftermarket intercooler and turbo (something similar the the 63mm cheetah) and seeing if it fixes it, But I hate throwing parts at a problem to just continue to have the same issues. I will have a proper EGT gauge installed because the one on my monitor cant be right because it only goes up to 700 deg pulling, and idles at around 200 deg.

Im looking for any help on what is going on here.

[Joey D]

Originally Posted by Mic Hubble

Ok, Im going to try and keep this as short and to the point, but this has been a process.

I have a 16' 3500 DRW that I only tow heavy with. It has been a great truck up until this issue came up. My longest trip I use it for is out to glamis and back which is about 1100 miles each way. It pulls My 50' race trailer around 20k lbs. I put 10k miles on the truck stock then did the ppei tuning with sotf, delete, fass lift pump/ filter combo, SB cold air intake and full exhaust. First trip with tune/ delete about 100 miles in I blew the hot side intercooler boot off the turbo where its pretty common to blow. I got through that trip with driving it easy and putting a T-bolt clamp on it. I found several people that had the same issue so I opted to upgrade and got the afe hot side intercooler pipe kit. I also realized that the sotf switch messed up some how and I was on the biggest tune while towing. (200hp) I took it back to the shop that installed everything and got the switch/ tuning issue fixed and installed the afe pipe.

Now, I just got back from the same 2200 mile trip. well, its not fixed. about 150 miles in, boom, pipe blows off turbo. The afe pipes have silicone couplers. Now the silicone coupler is melting out to the point the clamp cant hold it on. Luckily I had several 2.5-3.0 silicone couplers and replaced it a few times and just kept boost 20 psi and under and limped it through the trip.

The truck runs and drives great.

This is what I have done. I put a boost gauge on hot side of intercooler to see if there was a big pressure diff, and the most I can get is about 10 psi on spikes and it runs about 5-8 psi higher most of the time. I unplugged the egr plugs and the Throttle valve. I called several diesel shops and got nothing from most, but the ones that would offer anything told me to unplug the plugs I mentioned above, maybe bad intercooler, maybe bad turbo actuator? I never got any good hard answers on what could be causing this.

At this point I'm thinking about installing a new aftermarket intercooler and turbo (something similar the the 63mm cheetah) and seeing if it fixes it, But I hate throwing parts at a problem to just continue to have the same issues. I will have a proper EGT gauge installed because the one on my monitor cant be right because it only goes up to 700 deg pulling, and idles at around 200 deg.

Im looking for any help on what is going on here.

I’d start with a functioning EGT gauge. Is 5-8lb pressure drop normal on a duramax?

[Rvn4me]

If its just a boot problem they do make a silicon boot 3 long by 3 in diameter and is reinforced with support rings for extreme amounts of boost pressure.
You have done a pressure test for boost leaks.

[Mic Hubble]

Originally Posted by Joey D

I’d start with a functioning EGT gauge. Is 5-8lb pressure drop normal on a duramax?

Im installing an egt gauge for sure.

Originally Posted by Rvn4me

If its just a boot problem they do make a silicon boot 3 long by 3 in diameter and is reinforced with support rings for extreme amounts of boost pressure.
You have done a pressure test for boost leaks.

I talked to Jason Wehrli and he suggested I do a boost leak test, and to get one of his hot side setups w/ extreme temp. rated silicone boots. I will be doing this in the next week or so.

[snowman22]

Also remember the EGT probe from the factory is post turbo so readings are generally 300+ lower than manifold temps.

Changing over to better boots is never a bad thing, but I regularly run 35+ psi and have never had a boot come off.

If you haven't already, be sure to block your EGR for test. They do NOT fully seal and you will lose a small, but noticeable, amount past the EGR valve.

[Oregonnovaguy]

“. Now the silicone coupler is melting out to the point the clamp cant hold it on. “

Seriously? You are actually melting the silicone coupler? That’s a lot of heat! Typically, the couplers slip off due to oil in the intake via the PCV; reroute it or put an air/oil separator on the PCV. Did you try double clamping the coupler?