Oliver Diesel - Engines & Outdoors

With about 20,000 miles on our newly rebuilt 6.2L, we had enjoyed about as many low-power naturally aspirated miles as we wanted. The engine had been through a number of oil changes with every sample showing normal wear particles and soot. With an Art-Carr 30 spline TH700R4 400 hp "towing special" transmission installed, we were ready for forced induction.

We wanted more power than a regular Banks kit would provide, so we acquired a used MHI TE06H turbo. Originally intended for use in Banks turbo kits for the Ford 6.9L/7.3L IDI diesels, this wastegated unit will flow more air at lower engine speeds for off-the-line performance than the standard issue non-wastegated Garrett T04B that comes in the 6.2L kits. The TE06H has a high enough choke point that we also don't sacrifice power in the top end. It takes a little bit of work to make the turbo fit, and all those details can be found in our technical article: TE06H wastegated turbo.

The Banks kit comes with detailed instructions, and anyone with a working knowledge of the engine can complete the installation by themselves. This writeup will focus on parts that stood out or things we needed to modify or improve in the process of installation.

We chose to start the process at the injection pump. Changing the fuel metering is easily the most delicate and critical part of the power adding game, so go into it with some patience. Before tearing into the injection pump, make sure you've got clean hands and the area around the pump is clean as well; something as small as a piece of lint can clog an injector. With the cap of the pump removed and the diesel fuel drained from the bowl, look down through the sight window for the adjustment screw. We've found that it's not necessary to remove any of the pump linkage to access the sight. Using a 5/32" Allen wrench, turn the adjusting screw to alter the fuel rate. To increase, turn clockwise; to decrease, turn counter-clockwise. We chose to use a brand new t-handle wrench since the adjustment screw turns tight, and if stripped, then it's a bad day. Banks recommended a 1/4 turn increase, so that's where we chose to start. Depending on your DB2's plunger size and RPM, different adjustments may work better.

Now it's time to get to the rest of the kit, and there are quite a few parts, so make some space and get it all laid out.


We didn't have a syringe on hand to pull out the diesel, so an old fashioned siphon was employed. Diesel has a distinct flavor.	Be sure to make good notes of all the fuel adjustments you make.	Get organized and lay everything out on a table.

After cutting off the old exhaust and pulling the passenger side manifold, we were able to start installing some of the new parts. In order to get the most out a turbo, it's best to retain as much energy (heat) within the exhaust up to and including the impeller housing. This can be accomplished through ceramic coatings and/or insulating wraps. We chose to go with the latter on the crossover pipe. Design Engineering Incorporated offers a number of products that will get the job done, and we went with a roll of 2" wide wrap and sealed it with their silicone paint. Maggie the wonder dog was on hand to supervise.


The new passenger side manifold places the turbo towards the front of the engine right next to the alternator.	DEI wrap is an inexpensive upgrade, and will help to reduce turbo lag.	After carefully applying the wrap, it's necessary to seal it with a high temp silicone paint like this one. Maggie approved.	The two piece pipe is ready for installation.

With the new passenger manifold installed and the crossover pipe fitted and bolted on, it's time to get around to fitting the turbo and the supporting systems associated. The TE06H turbo provides only a few problems upon installation. The turbo oil drain needs to be tweaked a little so that if will fit properly into the fuel plate supplied by Banks. Since there isn't much adjustment to be done, we chose to use the vice and a socket as a bender.


The oil drain doesn't line up perfectly due to the TE06H's size difference with the T04B.	Precision bending at its best. There's only a slight modification needed, so don't over do it.	All hooked up and ready for the turbo.	Taking a step back and looking at the newly crowded corner. Changing future lift pumps should be fun. Go ahead and install a new one while you've got this all apart.

We run air conditioning on the blue suburban, and needed to insulate the low pressure side of the system from the heat of the turbo and downpipe. The Banks instructions advise that you bend the lines out of the way. Our AC lines didn't match either of the examples in the instructions, but there was still some room for tweaking. Even after moving the lines, they were still just a little too cozy with the turbo, so we again went with some insulating material from DEI.


We got the standard reflective shielding as well as the fire sleeve to insulate.	We went ahead and insulated the turbo as well with the hope of getting better turbo response. The heat shield that comes with the TE06H is probably enough though.	Don't be afraid of zipties!

Up next was actually fitting the turbo. We chose to install it in two parts: first the impeller housing, then the compressor side. This allowed for the final indexing of the compressor portion of the turbo. This process is detailed in the MHI turbo tech article. The downpipe is a tight fit, and we chose to insulate it from the injectors and glowplugs with more than the single panel Banks provides. The TE06H fits well despite the fender needed a little bit of finessing [read: pounding] to get the wastegate to clear. After the oil supply and drain are hooked up and the compressor is indexed, it's time to put together the airbox assembly. The diameter of the turbo output and the boost tube are different, so a boost coupler reducer should be used.


We chose to wrap the turbo, but the factory heat shield would probably work just as well.	There was some vibration, so the fender was beaten for more clearance.	Now that's a beautiful sight.	Assembling the airbox to the battery tray is straightforward and works well though clearance with side mounted battery terminals is a bit tight.

After installing the parts under the hood, and enjoying the detailed design and construction of the whole kit, I found myself disappointed with the exhaust and its instructions. While the construction was good, the overall fit of the pipes left much to be desired especially when considering the low hanging muffler. But that aside, the 3" mandrel system works well. It flows well enough for good power and EGTs are kept under control. The suburban has been wheeled with the new exhaust and the Dynaflow muffler, while low and annoying to look at, never got hung up or caused any problems. This writer's complaint stems from the fact that Banks obviously put a lot of though and time into designing the rest of the system, and that was evident when reading the instructions and examining the kit that the same level of effort was spared on the exhaust system.

The kit came with a single hanger for the tailpipe. That left the system being secured by one hanger and the c-clamp at the turbo; we decided that another hanger was needed. Thankfully, Banks provided more c-clamps than needed, and we had some flat stock lying around, so another hanger was fabbed to go right in front of the muffler.


Getting things laid out.	New hanger fabbed to use factory rubber isolator.	Finished and installed.

Part of the pipe goes near some transmission lines that we had running to an external filter outside the frame rail, so once again insulation was used. In order to get maximum ground clearance, it was necessary to rotate the muffler upward so much that the angle of the tailpipe was also upward. There is no adjustment for the tailpipe angle, so I went over St. John Motorsports and he cut and TIG welded the pipe to the angle of my choosing. That polished tip sure looks nice, but it will be black in no time.


The rubber lines go up and over the pipe to avoid contact with the front driveshaft, then directly out to the filter.	This is where I wish the Banks would have a slip joint for an adjustable tailpipe angle, but this works well.	Tailpipe angle from a distance; Maggie helping.	Polished stainless steel sure is pretty.

The last steps were getting the gauges installed and plumbed. The kit provides a two gauge template for the EGT and boost, but we chose to use 2" Autometer pods on the dash to match out tach. It made things a little more difficult, but in the end we got the look we were going for. When routing wires under the hood, be sure the wrap them in a protective sheath like flex conduit or a braided material like we used.


We chose to follow the regular wiring loom.	We chose to place the gauges side by side angled in toward the driver.

Power is way up, and after tracing down a few boost leaks we were up and running well. The rubber caps the Banks provides to seal off the CDR ports on the dual plane J intake don't take too kindly to being pressurized, and so they burst. We have since replaced them with a 3/4" ID radiator hose that wraps around the back of the engine. Since radiators are pressurized sometimes to 20 psi, we figured this would work well. Eventually the plan is to switch to a 6.5TD intake, thus eliminating the CDR ports, but this temporary fix has proved quite strong and has withstood 15 psi peaks. The other leak came from the gasket that seals the plenum to the intake. We were leaking oil out the back of the plenum, so we disassembled it to see the problem, and noticed that the gasket is oversized for the intake and won't seal properly all the way around. I went to my local gasket and hose distributor, and ordered a 5" ID 5.5" OD (AS568A Dash No. 429) square cut o-ring made from regular Nitrile Buna. The fit is tight, but the square cut o-ring fits perfectly into the groove on the intake, and no oil or boost has been leaked since.


I was only able to get 4.5 psi boost peaks in 3rd gear, so check these out if you're experiencing similar problems.	The heater hose wraps around the engine and connects with the other CDR port.

Now, we see boost peaks as high as 15 psi 3rd at WOT, and as high as 11 psi in 4th with the torque converter unlocked. We have recently acquired a new tool for the shop, so up next will be timing the engine for maximum power and minimum smoke using the Snap-On MT480 diesel timing meter.

Update: The Diesel timing article is now available, here.