I recently bought a ctd 96 auto. it is bone stock except for the straight pipe. I am looking to make a little more hp at a cheap price. i have been teaching myself different techniques on doing this by asking questionas and reading in the forums. I am not going to do anything untill my gauges should arrive, which is about monday or tuesday of this week. i was told to drill a hole into the wall separainting cylinders 1,2,3 from 4,5,6... this was to prevent from blowing a head gasket but im not sure weather or not to do this... if you have any suggestions at all please feel free to drop one in her please

 

It's not to prevent blowing a headgasket but to help keep the turbo from overspeeding (pushing to much boost) and to help EGT's. Until you start pushing a good amount of fuel (350+hp) I wouldn't worry about it.

 

ok, thanmkyou,
i know about moveing the stock plate forward, and the starwheel, just to get a little bit of smoke and extra ummmph behind my truck. Is there any other cheap mods... talking free to like 25 dollars or so... hahaha, im 16 getting my liscence soon... so i dont make quite enough money at Nissam to buy all kinds of expensive stuff. I do how ever have the knowlege to do the mods... if you can help me out with a couple more free mods id appreciate it alot

 

do us and yourself a favor and fill out your signature. Use the other members for an example as to what to put in it. It will help us act on your questions accurately, and prevent the need for you to say over and over again what's under the hood


Welcome aboard, make a pot of coffee, and keep reading. Don't be afraid of the search function, lots of info can be had by all the members' years of experience.

Good move on the gauges first....obviously you're inplementing what your reading!! No one here will send you astray, and if they do everyoine else will be quick to set you straight.

With that out of the way, by your post, I'll assume 12 valve. $25 and under mods are there for you to take advantage of.....moving around the stock plate, manipulating the wastegate actuator, eliminating the cat and muff, keeping a clean air filter etc. Depending on the year and trans, too much massaging will get into trans trouble and quickly send you way out of the $25 range fast!! Get the gauges in, move your plate a little and put a boost elbow or hardware store boost controller on there, move around the AFC housing and starwheel and you'll be all smiles for a few weeks. From there only your checkbook will limit your power goals. There is no cure for the road you about to embark...many dieselholics suffer sleep depravation, marital strife, and bankruptcy to support their habit. The only 12 step program available is just a bombing recipe......just a warning. Serioulsy though, have fun and keep us posted!!

Chris

 

Even better than moving the stock plate ahead , is to grind it down to a #10 profile , and put it back in the stock location, you could also plug the wastegate line right off for now, your turbo is safe up to 35 lbs of boost , and your wastegate is going to open around 20 i beleive. Either adjust it up , or plug it for now and watch your gauge.

btw- all stock except for the star wheel adjustment , with the WG line plugged , i can get about 26-27 lbs of boost under full load.

 

does more boost equal more turbo whistle ?? ( yes the silencer ring is gone but want more )

 

This has been tried by at least 1 TDR member. I believe it was Strick-9. He said the turbine housing cracked near where the holes were drilled. It was junk after a few thousand miles. I will see if I can dig up his old post.

 

thanks for all of your help, tuesday at school im gonna go nuts

 

I found Strick-9's post:

"I just want to throw a word of caution out there for everyone who just read the post about drilling a hole in the divider wall of the turbo to balance drive pressure.

I did this about a year ago and it worked for a while, but after several months of temperature cycles, cracks actually started forming near the hole that I drilled. I caught it early, but reinstalled the turbine housing later in a pinch.

A piece of the divider wall actually broke out (from the cracks) and went into the turbine wheel. Not good!

My digital camera is out on loan right now or I'd snap some pictures and show you what actually broke out.

Be careful. If you guys are going to do this, I'd would strongly recommend that you remove the turbo and check for crack growth every month or two."

-Chris
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grind the wall back and radius all edges

 

Forrest:

Would you recommend doing this mod? To clarify... drill the web at what diameter then grind it and radius both edges?

Dusty