The Banshee Is Gone!!

[JanAndBill]

Sunday on our way back from the store I noticed that under mild throttle we had a faint "whistle" from under the hood. Got back to the trailer popped the hood, checked all the turbo boots and fittings - nothing amiss. Monday we left out on a 70 mile short hop over the mountains, at first it whistled slightly but as it warmed up it quit. I assumed at that point that it was still a boot. However as we got about 10 miles from our destination, the "whistle" became steadily louder as in "Banshee". All the gauges were showing normal, so I eased it on in. Once set up, popped the hood, and still nothing amiss, but any boost pressure would set off a whole pack of screaming "banshees". My biggest fear was a turbo bearing gone bad, so rather than risk having it come apart under load, I scheduled an appointment at a local Ford dealer. We lucked out on this one, as it turned out to be the exhaust up-pipe from the heads to the turbo. Seems it had a crack in it (right in front of the firewall), that was screeching loud enough to wake the dead! Couple hours labor, a replacement pipe, and the "Banshee" sings no more.

 

[Jv75353]

Thanks for posting this interesting problem. Was the failed pipe cracked at a seam? Or did the pipe just wear out from heating and cooling cycles? Was the replacement pipe made differently? Sorry for all the questions but I have some friends with similar trucks.

 

[JanAndBill]

Thanks for posting this interesting problem. Was the failed pipe cracked at a seam? Or did the pipe just wear out from heating and cooling cycles? Was the replacement pipe made differently? Sorry for all the questions but I have some friends with similar trucks.

Not sure about other powerstroke models, but on the 6.0 they have a y shaped pipe coming from the heads. Mine cracked right in the y. I'm assuming from heat stress. There are aftermarket upgrades, but the stock will last for as long as I need it to.

 

[Sniper]

Not sure about other powerstroke models, but on the 6.0 they have a y shaped pipe coming from the heads. Mine cracked right in the y. I'm assuming from heat stress. There are aftermarket upgrades, but the stock will last for as long as I need it to.

I will be replacing the up-pipes on mine this spring. I see soot around the doughnut gaskets so I'm going to replace them with the IH ones that eliminate the doughnuts. Appears to be a very "fun" job. LOL

 

[JanAndBill]

Indeed it is. You have to pull the turbo to gain access and even then long arms are an advantage. I might have done it had I been at home where I have the tools and shop to do it, but for the $400 labor charge it was worth it not to.

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[Sniper]

Indeed it is. You have to pull the turbo to gain access and even then long arms are an advantage. I might have done it had I been at home where I have the tools and shop to do it, but for the $400 labor charge it was worth it not to.

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Already spraying nuts and bolts with PB Blaster in preparation. LOL I hear ya on the not doing it while out on the road. Figured since I have to pull the turbo I may as well rebuild it as well, install a wicked wheel, mechanical waste gate, and change out all the boots while I'm in there. Probably take my old broken down arse a week to do it.

 

[JanAndBill]

I pulled and serviced my turbo little over a year ago. I laid on a blanket on top, won't do that again. I'll fabricate a harness/support of some kind to hang from my hoist. I had bruises for weeks after


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[Sniper]

I pulled and serviced my turbo little over a year ago. I laid on a blanket on top, won't do that again. I'll fabricate a harness/support of some kind to hang from my hoist. I had bruises for weeks after


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HaHa! I know EXACTLY what you mean. LOL

 

[Shortest Straw]

I did mine the beginning of summer. The IH beveled up pipes are really nice and fit well. I ended up doing most of the work from underneath. Word to the wise, once you get the turbo out use an air chisel on the sides of the up pipes. That will vibrate the heck out of them and they should fall right out. It took me about a day to do them but I was upgrading a few other things as well. Also, I used a dremel tool on the manifold bolts and just cut the old ones off. Saved a bunch of time. The dieselsite has a nice waste gate actuator if you are interested. Also from experience I would ditch the wicked wheel idea and go with something like the ATS compressor housing. I tried the wicked wheel and threw it out in the first month. BTW, changing out the waste gate is an amazing mod. I have mine set at 24 psi of boost but it stays there without any bleed off. I also replaced all of my boots with the silicon ones from the dieselsite. they are so sticky inside they are kinda tough to get on. I know now that they are clamped they arent going to blow off.

 

[Sniper]

I did mine the beginning of summer. The IH beveled up pipes are really nice and fit well. I ended up doing most of the work from underneath. Word to the wise, once you get the turbo out use an air chisel on the sides of the up pipes. That will vibrate the heck out of them and they should fall right out. It took me about a day to do them but I was upgrading a few other things as well. Also, I used a dremel tool on the manifold bolts and just cut the old ones off. Saved a bunch of time. The dieselsite has a nice waste gate actuator if you are interested. Also from experience I would ditch the wicked wheel idea and go with something like the ATS compressor housing. I tried the wicked wheel and threw it out in the first month. BTW, changing out the waste gate is an amazing mod. I have mine set at 24 psi of boost but it stays there without any bleed off. I also replaced all of my boots with the silicon ones from the dieselsite. they are so sticky inside they are kinda tough to get on. I know now that they are clamped they arent going to blow off.

Thanks for your insight. My understanding is the Wicked Wheel II solved the WW I surge problem, but I'll check into the ATS housing. Do you simple swap in your catridge to the new housing? I am planning on using the DieselSite boots and waste gate control. I have many of their parts on my truck now, and they are all well made, and work as advertised (so far anyway), and are very helpful in answering questions and giving suggestions. Thanks again.

 

[Shortest Straw]

Yes the ATS housing is a direct replacement and made to get rid of the surge experienced with the stock housing. You will not be disappointed.

 

[JanAndBill]

Mike, never had a problem with stock boots, coming off since I learned a simple trick years ago. Works on old boots also. I clean the metal and the inside of the boot with a fast evaporating cleaner, then spray the metal and the inside of the boot with hairspray. Put your boot on, tighten your clamp to spec. It will stay, but won't be impossible to get off later.

 

[Shortest Straw]

I know of that trick but never used it. I mostly replaced the stock boots because of their inability to hold up due to break down from oils on the inside and out. The boots I have now are designed against that. I pressured up the IC system trying to find out why my egt's were so high and found 3 stock boots had small cracks/holes in them.

 

[JanAndBill]

Programmed for performance, I can hit between 30 & 40# of boost, never blew a boot off. I've seen failures on other trucks due age, heat and wear, but if you're seeing that much oil in the boots you've got other problems that need to be addressed

 

[Shortest Straw]

Well ok then. 13 years on stock boots, I replace them and you think I have other issues?? As I only commented on this thread to help a fellow 7.3 owner out if I could, I would like to get back to that if possible.

 

[Sniper]

Yes the ATS housing is a direct replacement and made to get rid of the surge experienced with the stock housing. You will not be disappointed.

Thanks Mike. Been researching it and can't find many reviews, but the few reviews out there are all good (including yours). Just wondering did you keep the WW as well or just put the stock wheel back on, and change the housing? Thanks again. Didn't mean to hi-jack the thread Bill.

 

[JanAndBill]

Well ok then. 13 years on stock boots, I replace them and you think I have other issues?? As I only commented on this thread to help a fellow 7.3 owner out if I could, I would like to get back to that if possible.

Didn't mean to offend you. My comments were specifically made on my 6.0, which has a light film inside the ducting, it wouldn't be enough to cause degradation. If I were to find more than a film I would start searching for the source. I've had a couple of 7.3's but they were work trucks and as long as they, ran we didn't mess with them. The 6.0 now is somewhat a toy, so I can fully understand the desire to upgrade, as I currently have several $$$$ in performance upgrades on it. Over the years had boots with pinholes usually from dry rot, and I've had some up pipes fail, but this the first one that's made the racket this one did.

 

[Shortest Straw]

Thanks Mike. Been researching it and can't find many reviews, but the few reviews out there are all good (including yours). Just wondering did you keep the WW as well or just put the stock wheel back on, and change the housing? Thanks again. Didn't mean to hi-jack the thread Bill.

I put the stock wheel back in. According to ATS, where I bought the housing, I did not need both and they did not
recommend both either. I have a buddy of mine that had an 01 who tried one as well. His fix was to get rid of the WW and go with a bigger turbo. Deeper pockets I guess!

"Didn't mean to offend you."

I was not offended, I just was not asking for help. I apologize as I thought I was helping the OP which as it turns out was not you. Seems we hijacked this thread. Sorry about that. Oil in the IC tubes and boots is normal for a 7.3 because the CCV tube is routed into the intake and it circulates all the way through. The only way to prevent this is to vent to the atmosphere and I do not want to do that. Not sure what they did with the 6.0 but if it is the same way it would be normal on your rig as well.

 

[JanAndBill]

Footnote to the up pipe repair. After the repair, coming back across the mountains, the fuel mileage went up by almost 1 mpg, while the temperatures, coolant and oil, were consistently lower by 5 to 10 degrees. I had been concerned about increasing temperatures over the last month, but didn't attribute it to the turbo/exhaust. Should have, as we saw this happen from time to time in our big trucks, either by a restriction in the intake, or exhaust leak in front of the turbo.