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DT466 turbo on LDT-465??"

fleetmech

Well-known member
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As long as the exhaust housing is close in size and flow to the stock turbo, then there is probably little harm in trying. Over the years I have found that sometimes, engines just like certain mods, and sometimes they dont. The only way to know for sure is try, preferably with some instrumentation to keep tabs on the things you cant see. Basically, the parameters you will want to keep tabs on will be the exhaust gas temp (egt), exhaust manifold pressure (drive pressure), boost pressure, and intake restriction.

EGT and DP will be a function of the exhaust housing size and flow. A tight housing tolerance will spool the turbo quickly, but result in back pressure which will raise egt and dp. A housing thats too loose will cause a lazy, slow spooling turbo. Slow spool will hurt power, and probably increase egt and smoke. I believe that low boost will cause increase and egt and smoke in the 465, since Im not aware that it has any boost reference for fueling rate. (pump guys correct me if Im wrong on that one!) Since the 466 is a similarly sized but generally higher output sort of engine, I doubt the housing will be too small, and a little extra flow over stock is almost never a bad thing, especially if you plan to turn your fuel up.

Excessive boost pressure is your next concern. The 465 is not an engine designed for high boost in general, and is known to be a bit lacking in head gasket strength. I have no idea what boost pressures the 466 ran in what years, but I would plan on dropping the wastegate adjustments down to the 6-10psi levels that the 465 can generally be happy with, at least for starters. Someone else might be able to tell you what the accepted upper limits of boost are for the 465; I'm not sure.

Lastly, watch out for intake restriction. There are those who have found the intake, especially the air filter itself, to be only adequate in terms of flow rate for the stock setup. Even a mild increase in cfm might not be within the capability of the stock filter, again, this is not something Ive experienced. If you're picking parts off a donor truck, grab the air filter and housing too.

Keep us posted if you decide to try the swap! Its always good to know what parts work and what don't.
 

gimpyrobb

dumpsterlandingfromorbit!
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After making a mount/adapter, would a stock DT466 turbo be an upgrade? Since finding a turbo "good one" off the 5 ton LDS is like a unicorn?
I wouldn't say that, I've got most of the turbos out there except for the Whistlers, never cared much for them.
 

V8srfun

Well-known member
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Altoona pa
I just did some reading on the dt466 turbo and it seems to be a t4 hot side so it should bolt right up. But it seems like most of the guys with those engines swap to a better turbo to make more power. Some of the guys were swapping th hx40 off the 8.3 Cummins but they are also targeting 450+ hp. I think that the hx40 may be a little big for our engines and cause it to be laggy. Please let us know what you decide.

Here is a thread I started talking about alternative turbos. There has not been much response but still some useful information there.

 

cattlerepairman

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With a stock LDT you just need "a turbo" that can boost a little, as was mentioned above. Paining over which turbo to use and whether one is so much better than the other is almost pointless because while the turbo contributes something, it is not a whole lot.
With a stock LDT, all you need is a whirly thingy that can make 7-9 psi and you are good. Practically any turbo that bolts on can do that. You can watch the EGT and turn up the fuel and maybe get 15 psi (my D-turbo delivers that) but I would not want to do it sustained.

The LDT is already a high compression engine. The head studs are taxed as it is (read about the military's quest to get a head gasket and torque setting that would get the engine into the vicinity of "durable") and the engine simply cannot take the 30 psi of boost you would want to make it a powerful engine, let alone a monster - without making some modifications first.

- your block is a TD block (check the casting)? If not...weaker head setup due to narrower deck.
- you use ARB head studs and nuts to increase tensile strength and clamping force
- block decked, heads resurfaced, new headgasket
- you use the pistons out of an Oliver/White 155 tractor rebuild kit (diesel only; lower compression)

NOW you are ready to talk boost!

There are some highly modified multies in machines for tractor pull competitions that make insane power. However, I am not sure this application translates into your driving needs. You probably need power for more then 25 seconds.
 
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