How NOT to Rebuild Powerstroke 6.4 Turbos

Rebuilding 2009 Ford F250 Super Duty turbos. Powerstroke 6.4 low pressure turbo rebuild. High pressure turbo teardown and rebuild. I reveal several mistakes I made along the way and lessons learned. Spoiler: I broke the high pressure casting and had to buy a rebuildable core.
Thanks to Bensound for the royalty-free soundtrack.

[@hreindustries]

You're a determined dude with a lot of patience.

[@roofermarc1]

When we had my truck apart at 197,000 on the ticker, back in 16' the shop man said I would need new turbos. He was shocked when he inspected them to see how clean they were and no slop in the wheel. The turbos both still run smoothly after putting 70,000 more miles on them. I was told to buy new ones as several mechanics said they never seen a rebuilt turbo hold up! I just re used what I had and am lucky I guess

[@barntech2291]

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

[@screamingeagle9553]

Love your t-shirt. I have to do injectors on mine. So I’m probably going to do my rocker arms and rebuild the turbos while I have it all apart. Definitely will be using your video just in case I forget and I have a complete turbos together with a ton of left over parts 😂 great video!

[@barntech2291]

Thanks for the encouragement, and good luck on your project!

[@christiansandoval8139]

I was gonna comment the exact same thing love the shirt

[@keithd4905]

Great video. Looking at doing this as one of my next projects. Thanks for posting!

[@barntech2291]

After pulling the cab off my truck to repair the engine twice, and rebuilding the turbos once without removing the cab, I think it would have been easier to remove the cab before removing the turbos. Of course, part of that is because I have 37” tires and 8” lift so I had to use a ladder to reach anything. Curious to hear which route you go. Good luck!

[@keithd4905]

@@barntech2291 I’m completely stock at the moment. I’d like to not pull the cab, but I’d also like to change the rockers out which I’m told tend to go bad. So the cab might have to come off we’ll see. Which kit did you get for your turbo rebuild?

[@barntech2291]

www.ebay.com/itm/294041096558?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=7MML5uqqTDu&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=HYY48typSMe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[@barntech2291]

I think my rockers were all bad, and the cylinder heads were cracked, but the big problem with my 6.4 was the piston failure. The DPF regen is really hard on these.

[@keithd4905]

@@barntech2291 That was actually the other thing I was thinking about doing. I’d heard the original oem rocker tips wear out. Mine was a old service truck so it’s probably never been changed and over due.

[@davidclark3152]

Thank you for making this video!

[@travissk5036]

Great Content! Thanks Brotha!

[@91B-Evans]

The segways into the Bible are perfect

[@johnnygonzalez7874]

Do you balance your turbos after a rebuild ?

[@barntech2291]

I don’t have the tools to balance turbos. If I were buying a new impeller I would make sure it is balanced by the manufacturer. Since this was a stock impeller it should have been balanced at the factory, so I cleaned it really well and it should still be balanced.

[@kevinoneill41]

Looks like this is not your first attempt at re-building these turbos. Good job. Think I'll just send mine out to someone like yourself. Thanks for letting me watch. I did find it quite informative. However, I sure would like someone like yourself looking over my shoulder for the first couple of dozen + your # number. Thanks.

[@barntech2291]

Yeah I messed my first one up and had to buy a rebuildable core. I tried to use muscle to get it apart but I should have used heat. Lesson learned…

[@jamesdale8246]

Do you happen to know the torque specs for both turbos compressor wheel nuts and housings?

[@barntech2291]

The chart I used says 168 lbf-in for the shafts. My torque wrench doesn’t work for reverse threads though, so I did them by wrist and added a little blue loctite. The chart also said 44 lbf-in for the clamps but I also tightened them by wrist. I like to grab the ratchet near the head and twist hard.

[@hikerJohn]

These turbos get SUPER HOT which melts the locktite so I think it's not needed. As I understand it, it just makes it harder to take apart *on purpose* when it's cold.

[@barntech2291]

You may have a point, but the nut is on the cold air side. I have rebuilt one that had loctite on it already. I had to use an impact wrench to get the nut off without damaging the blades, so I know it was still holding.

[@hikerJohn]

@@barntech2291 Cold side, OK. Thanks

[@hikerJohn]

Is diesel a better cleaning solution than WD-40? How do you find the time to do all this work. I'm retired and now have the time but I sometimes lack the GUTS to try this and Ive heard from other shops that it's getting to hard to find parts to keep working on the 6.4 so I'm debating selling mine while it's still running great with only 70K mile on it and no heavy towing. I'm almost afraid of this engine after reading about all the issues so I want to trade it for a 3/4 ton with a gasoline engine.

[@barntech2291]

I use diesel to clean stuff first because it is cheaper than brake cleaner. If the part needs to be super clean I follow the diesel bath with brake cleaner.

[@barntech2291]

I would love to have a 6.4 with only 70k miles! It’s one of the strongest engines out there. They do tend to go horribly bad around 150k though.

[@kyleszymanski8349]

this comment is separate from this video but I just bought a 6.4 knowing the infamous issues that it has. should I just drive it until it gives out and rebuild or are there certain things I can do like put in different pistons that hold up better or anything like that?

[@barntech2291]

That’s hard to say. If it is running good you can change fluids and filters and just keep an eye on it. I think most of the reliability issues were caused by the DPF regen, but your DPF is probably deleted by now. If it is smoking or missing you may be in trouble. Good luck!

[@beautifulvibedynamic6155]

Enjoy your truck ☺️

[@HYDROSPEC2001]

Where did you buy the rebuild kits from?

[@barntech2291]

www.ebay.com/itm/Turbo-Rebuild-Kit-Ford-Powerstroke-6-4L-High-Low-Pressure-08-10-/294041096558?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

[@mattchickenwing4439]

How are the turbos holding up sense you said about not rebalancing. I’ve read that people say they need to be rebalanced if you take them apart

[@barntech2291]

Well it was building 30+ lbs of boost without any weird sounds or vibrations. I blew the motor after 3-4 days though (not the turbos fault). I finally have all the parts, so I should be able to get the truck back together this week. I will let you know if there are any issues.

[@6door6four96]

@@barntech2291 recently insured my 6.4 after a fee years of being parked did my fluid changes and took her for a drive blew the seals on 1 of the turbos lol

[@johnnygonzalez7874]

Where do you buy snap rings for these turbos ?

[@barntech2291]

I believe they came in the rebuild kit.

[@johnnygonzalez7874]

@@barntech2291 yes they do. I broke one from the kit. Do you know who the manufacture is and what models they are ? I called Ford and they know. Thanks in advance.

[@wolfman._7396]

My f250 6.4 ,, has a problem,🤔🤔🤔 turbo gauges do not move on my dashboard , truck still runs from slow but it runs goes up to 60 😬😬 hardly,, without turbos,, mmmm did oil change, 2 days later I drove my truck to work cuz is the only ride i have , and noticed lots of white smoke coming out whenever hit the gas a bit ,, note CAT+DPF do not have the filters on it is kind of straight,,, for now,, for emergency, to much to buy new ones anyways.. what would the problem be ,, about white smoke oohh and a oil symbol appeared of dashboard 🤔🤔🤔🤔😬😬😬😬??.?

[@barntech2291]

Based on this comment and a comment you posted on another video, I suspect you have serious problems. If you are lucky you broke a turbo impeller. If you are unlucky your #7 or #8 piston is cracked. Do you have much blowby if you remove the oil cap? Is it blowing out of the degas bottle?

[@wolfman._7396]

@@barntech2291 right after I turned off the engine, I’ve opened the oil cap and i see smoke , but not a lot of smkoe , i🫣🫣🫡🫡it looks a bit like bapower coming out,. Turbos do not give boost at all, hoo and on the low pressure turbo , right where the ring tightens and conect the two pieces ?🤔🤔 i saw a bit of oil coming out from there,.. but not rattling when truck’s idling

[@wolfman._7396]

@@barntech2291 thank you so much for the reply sir 🫡🫡🫡

[@barntech2291]

@wolfman_7 I would start by looking for something simple, like a leaking charge pipe or exhaust up pipe. My next step would be to remove the air filter hose from the low pressure turbo and make sure it spins freely without flopping around. If I recall, you will have to remove the fuel cooler and U pipe to check the high pressure impeller. From your description of low power and white smoke I am afraid it won’t be that simple though. Good luck!

[@wolfman._7396]

@@barntech2291 thanks you for the advice… sit

[@gavinj.8330]

Time for upgraded cab mounts lol

[@barntech2291]

Sorry, I snuck new cab mounts in without shooting video. The ones in the background of this video just hadn’t made it to the trash can yet :-)

[@gavinj.8330]

@@barntech2291 oh no need to apologize. Hope your channel grows. I can see you are very particular in your work and I am a big fan of those that care about the end result.

[@CRAZY_VIDS07]

Kind of far to see what you are talking about.

[@barntech2291]

Sorry about that. It’s hard to get it just right with one camera. Since I broke 100 subs I am thinking about upgrading from my cell phone camera to a GoPro. I’ve got a lot of respect for guys who make a career out of this.

[@matthewgraham7419]

Air hammers work miracles on frozen housings. Just give them a couple braups and your good to go