Ok so... let me give you all a description and you guys can give me your opinions on what you think is the problem. So I was pulling out of a gas station parking lot towing a light trailer (14' full of speakers, amps and other sound equipment) and as i stepped on the gas i suddenly heard the turbo spooling really loud inside the cab (sounded like it was coming out of my dash vents on the right side). I got on the freeway and noticed that my gauges were reading differently then normal. The EGT was significantly higher then normal (at WOT would climb to 1200+ degrees with the chip off) and the boost would only get up to 22-23 lbs at WOT (normally climbs to 35lbs). My 1st thought was that i had blown a boost tube so I pulled over and visually checked all the plumbing from the turbo, to the intercooler, and from the intercooler to the intake manifold and everything looked like it was securely attached (although this doesnt rule out the possibility of a small hole in the rubber hose part). My only other guess was that the wastegate mignt be stuck open (i do think that the 05 dodge turbos have an electronically controlled wastegate so it could be like a solenoid or something...) Anyways, I am taking it to the dealer tomorrow but I just wanted to have some opinions from you all so I can tell the dealer what to fix. High EGTs, low boost and lots of noise; what the heck
Just picked the truck up from the dealer. They found that there was in fact a boost leak in the intercooler. The part where the tube expands out and connects to the actual cooling part split away from the intercooler somehow so there is a big crack 1/2 of the length of the intercooler. I felt around a bit in the back with the truck running and there it was, a big leak on the backside of the intercooler... felt like an air compresser blowing on my hand. So, the dealer said they want $1000 for a new intercooler installed. I decided that instead of spending that much on the same cheap stock crap I'm gonna spend a bit more ($1700) for the banks intercooler setup which includes the intercooler, all plumbing and hardware, and the high ram intake manifold. I will repost tomorrow to let ya'll know if I feel a difference from the new intercooler.
by the way... here is the link to a picture of the broken intercooler i uploaded to the member gallery. https://towrig.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=1027&cat=500
Let us know how you like the Banks setup, I'm in the same thinking that if something breaks, it's upgrade time.
I think I'd be looking at a BD intercooler first. I don't really like Banks, and DieselNut seems to like BD intercoolers and I trust his likes and dislikes.
Thanks RJF! I have posted this before but though I would put it back up... Intercoolers are much more complex than most realize, while watching the day to day development of the BD Intercooler I found it to be very educational, it made me realize exactly how much is involved in a good performing intercooler and how intelligent those engineers here at BD really are! With out sounding to technical I will try pointing out some of the key advantages the BD Intercooler has over the Banks. The first difference is we are 1” larger in overall size of the cooling surface; the biggest difference is going to come from the fins and tube design. The Banks Intercooler uses a stuffed-tube design which is more prone to heat and pressure distortion. There fins are stuffed into there tubes and when heated the fins separate from the cooling tubes. The BD Intercooler uses a newer technology, extruded-tube, which is a higher quality; much stronger design allowing it to withstand higher pressures and higher heat. The second major difference is the amount of cooling tubes used; with the BD intercooler we use 49 cooling tubes vs. Banks that uses 31 cooling tubes. We can achieve this because we are approximately 1” taller and use a slightly smaller tube. Think of it as a heat sink with say 5 large cooling fins vs. a heat sink with say 10 smaller cooling fin, the one with ten smaller cooling fins will cool much more effectively because of more actual cooling surface.
Yeah so I had the guys at banks install the intercooler system and I am actually very impressed. My first impressions (1st day of driving with it) are that... 1) Turbo lag GREATLY reduced... feels more like a built small block with the immediate power available not having to wait nearly as long for the turbo to spool. 2) Higher boost level... with the stock system, the highest I ever saw my boost gauge read was 35lbs. When i stomped on it to pass a guy on the freeway today, it spiked at 42lbs! 3) Lower intake temps... the attitude monitor said that the intake temp stayed below 80 degrees every time I looked at it throughout the day (before would be more like 90-100 degrees) All that to say that, in my mind, it was definitely worth the money just from a performance standpoint... Not to mention the high quality components and cool looksimp: . From my 1st impressions anyways I would for sure reccomend the system to anyone who is thinking about it.
Had the same problem with my '05 plastic intercooler, the crimp came loose. Dealer replaced it at no cost. I replaced it with a Banks Technicooler system, which is pretty nice for the discounted price I got it at on e-bay. I think it was about $1100 for the whole system, larger tubes, boots, clamps, intercooler, high-ram, and gaskets.
yeah i am really happy with my banks purchase... if anyone is considering banks intercooler or gauges gets the thumb up from mewaytogo
