diesel site waste gate upgrade

hey guys im looking at doing the diesel site wastegate upgrade for my 38r, i know it wont add more boost, just will alow it to optimize better. i have seen my truck hit 38lbs but it wont maintain any where near and i have a feeling that its due to the stock wastegate opening even though its unplugged. im also going to do their boost fooler to keep the cel off and to keep it from defueling. what are the thoughts on this???

also looking for a valve body and notice that they carry one, any input?

I have one I don't use anymore. I sent you a Pm. But honestly, you can just tighten your existing wastegate to keep it closed longer. The benefit of the Dieselsite controller is the ease of adjustability. I'm also running the boost fooler and haven't had any problems with it, but your tuner can also tune out the overboost defuelling and CEL.

i think that dieselsite actuator is a bandaid solution. you'd be better off with a regular actuator and then some kind of actual controller. I run a turbosmart actuator and an AEM tru-boost* electronic controller so can I easily switch between different boost levels depending on whether i'm running street or race tunes.

you don't have to go with a fancy electronic controller though. if you want to just set and forget it you can go with a cheaper manual controller like a turbosmart boost-tee or even one of the cheaper ones off amazon or whatever.

I really have NO IDEA why boost controllers aren't more prevalent in diesel land. using one of these your wastagate will stay closed for best response until you reach your target boost level, then the wastegate will completely open for best exhaust flow and it will make a substantial difference in EGT's and perhaps pick up a couple of peak HP.

the only downside here is that it can take a bit of trial and error, or at least knowing your truck well to get it setup just right. my "hot street" tune tops out the boost about 28psi, so i set the low setting on my controller for 28psi. I have my high setting at 38psi to hopefully keep the heads and valves happy until a do some studs and springs. the electronic controllers are easy to setup from the cab, if you go with a manual controller you'll have to go the strip/dyno/country road and make multiple full throttle passes to get it set right where you want it.


*I used to run an HKS controller, but switched to the AEM as it fits in a gauge pod. you can score used HKS controllers for pretty cheap on ebay.

When I had a 38r with my 180/80's, I just adjusted the WG actuator arm so that the flap could not open. Never was a problem on "smallish" injectors.

PSD POWER007 said:

When I had a 38r with my 180/80's, I just adjusted the WG actuator arm so that the flap could not open. Never was a problem on "smallish" injectors.

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i think its sort of a progression, when your relatively stock, clamping down the wastegate helps it spool up and reach higher boost levels, then after further upgrades you start worrying about backpressure and EGT's again and then having a working wastegate becomes an "upgrade" again. I ran mine that way for a long time until i upgraded injectors, and then started monitoring backpressures.

the only way to have the best of both worlds is to actually control that wastegate again and have it closed when you need it closed and open when it should be open. to do this, it needs some kind of controller, this isn't something thats going to be solved by an upgraded actuator or dieselsites spring loaded doohicky.

euroford said:

i think its sort of a progression, when your relatively stock, clamping down the wastegate helps it spool up and reach higher boost levels, then after further upgrades you start worrying about backpressure and EGT's again and then having a working wastegate becomes an "upgrade" again. I ran mine that way for a long time until i upgraded injectors, and then started monitoring backpressures.

the only way to have the best of both worlds is to actually control that wastegate again and have it closed when you need it closed and open when it should be open. to do this, it needs some kind of controller, this isn't something thats going to be solved by an upgraded actuator or dieselsites spring loaded doohicky.

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All I'm saying is any injector 180cc or smaller, and there is no need to worry with an upgraded WG actuator on a 38r. My boost to back pressure ratio was never more than about 1:1 to 1:1.5 on mine. But to each their own.