6.9 Grenaded! New 6.9 Build Underway

Hey y’all! Haven’t been on for quite some time, but I’m making my comeback. A couple years ago some engine internals decided to exit through the oil pan while I was cruising on the freeway. I don’t know how many cylinders were taken out, but she still started right up and ran, still had great oil pressure, but shook so bad it damn near rattled my fillings out. Prognosis pending, and I will certainly be sharing what I find once I pull that engine out and do a tear down. Truck was towed home and has been sitting since.
I’ve finally gotten around to building the new engine for my truck over the last few weeks. Went to the junkyard and pulled a 6.9 out of a truck that appeared to have had a tree fall on it, so I figured it wasn’t in there for a dead engine. Came with an ATS 088 setup (for sale soon, T19 trans), same one that the blown motor has on it (also will be for sale, pending inspection for condition/damage, T19 Trans).


The last engine was routinely being fed over 10 psi and peaking at 14 from an unmodified ATS 088 Turbo and N/A calibration IP... with stock head bolts. I’m kind of surprised it held up for as long as it did. So, ARP Studs were the First thing I ordered. Being the type of person I am, that means I definitely need to put a bigger and better turbo on it, and also something that hasn’t been done on an IDI yet. I ended up winning a low mileage takeoff Holset HE341 on eBay for cheap. So this turbo is basically an updated and better flowing HY35W, which from what I’ve gathered from reading about other people’s experiences is that it’s great on the cold side, and will spool up instantly with its 9CM exhaust housing and 12 blade turbine wheel, which is what I want/need since I have a manual trans. However, I know that it wasn’t going to flow enough for a 6.9 and would create unacceptably high EGTs with that small turbine wheel and housing, but I did some looking around before I decided on which turbo I wanted to try out. I chose the HE341 because they’re cheap and Cummins guys toss em for the HE351CWs due to the bigger compressor wheel, but they share the same hot side of which there is an upgrade available to remedy the flow issue. So now I have an HE341/HX40 Hybrid, and I have faith that it’s going to perform well on my 6.9...


Im going to make it fit in the same place any other aftermarket turbo would be and run a 3” downpipe. Going to Initially try a spring on the wastegate since the wastegate actuator that comes on these turbos is set to 38 psi.

Back to the new engine: I cleaned and degreased and pressure washed and Jack hammered all that filth off and started to tear it down. This is where it gets weird....

The block casting number has been ground off and a number that apparently refers to nothing has been stamped in. I’ve searched and searched and cannot find anything on the number 1809219C1. I also haven’t seen a block with a number stamped at the edge of the deck. And finally to top it off, there is no serial number stamped on it. Anywhere. I even tried acid etching the area that it should be to see if they’d show through, and nothing. Rebuild? Remanufactured? The only thing I know is that there was a ‘Sierra Diesel Injection’ sticker on the core support of the donor truck. It also has a brand new looking Turbo spec IP with a tag from the same company.
Anyways, I removed the heads and they needed the usual Valve guides and exhaust valves done, along with a resurfacing. They were mag checked and a set of Comp 906 springs installed, and $625 later they are looking very nice and spec out perfectly.

And this is where I’m at now, hung up, because FedEx is Apparently having some serious issues getting the last of a four package rock auto order to me. Got the first three no problem, the forth has been to 1/5 of the country according to the tracking.
Either way, I’m excited to get my beast back on the road!

This is why I don't use Fed Ex if I can help it. They're miserable. Once, I was watching tracking and it took 24 hours for my package to move 20 miles. The only one that's worse is DHL. The extra numbers are probably from Sierra Diesel.and they probably rebuilt this engine. It really makes my grind my teeth and say some four letter words when a rebuilder grinds off the factory numbers. I may be wrong, but your 1809291C1 number sounds like a head casting number, but I may be wrong.

Haven’t had much for spare time lately, but once I find the chance I will post a full update. Til then, here are a couple photos of the current state of the engine bay. Hood stack is temporary, I was just anxious to drive it.

And here is what led to the demise of the old engine. All lifter rollers had flat spots, one spilled its guts into the rotating assembly.

I can see one doing that, but all of them is strange. Those are probably the early lifters that used bushings instead of roller bearings. There must have been a lot of sludge or something like that in order to cause all 16 rollers to lock up.

IDIBRONCO said:

I can see one doing that, but all of them is strange. Those are probably the early lifters that used bushings instead of roller bearings. There must have been a lot of sludge or something like that in order to cause all 16 rollers to lock up.

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My thoughts also & poor lubrication maintenance

riphip said:

My thoughts also & poor lubrication maintenance

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A REAL good possibility.

How's the turbo working? I've always thought those he341/351 turbos would work, I just didn't know how to use the 90 on the compressor outlet. Yours looks slick.

Booyah45828 said:

How's the turbo working? I've always thought those he341/351 turbos would work, I just didn't know how to use the 90 on the compressor outlet. Yours looks slick.

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Honestly almost everything about the turbo setup was a complete shot in the dark. I’m still in disbelief that it worked out so perfectly. It’s mounted on an unmodified ATS 088 pedestal. Clears the firewall. Straight from turbo to intercooler and just one 90° elbow off the intercooler to the intake manifold concludes the intake system. Better yet, a $25 yard sale AEM intake tube for a triton powered motorhome fit as if it were made for my setup.
I used the 088 cast y-pipe and crossover pipe, and had to cut the y pipe down a bit and fabricate the rest of the up pipe to the turbo. I did that while the engine was still on the stand and I Should’ve waited til it was in the truck because I didn’t consider the trajectory of the downpipe. I didn’t want to redo the up pipe again so instead I cut away at the firewall damn near into the floor pan and made way for the downpipe. Once I had it ran I formed up a sheetmetal panel and patched it up. Cant even tell unless you pull the flooring back. Plus I layed down some sound deadening inside and out so everything looks like aluminum foil now anyways.

As far as the turbo:
The turbo performs beyond what I hoped for. I wanted a turbo that wouldn’t leave me hanging after an up shift like the non wastegated 088 did. My buddy has an 85 f250 with a sidewinder on it and I liked how it spools up quickly, but in the name of our game I just had to one up him.
I have a spring wastegate setup I fabbed up on it with a random spring that I figured would be my starting point, but it also works perfectly. Ive pushed it hard and got it to 18 psi but it usually hangs around 15. It’ll hit 12 psi by 1500 rpm no problem. This is with a maxed out turbo spec pump, and I haven’t been able to get the EGTs to get past 1050°F while towing and maintaining the speed limit up a very steep and windy mountain highway.

Oh, and the turbo sings like my truck has a 6.0 Powerstroke in it. Or a jet turbine engine...

That's really amazing how it all came together! Sounds like you've got a really peppy setup, i have to say I'm jealous. I'm so tired of the lack of low end torque on my Factory Ford turbo setup. It really doesn't have any get up and go until about 2k rpm.

I love the results you got, nice work!
How does your new setup fare against the buddy with the sidewinder?

Off topic, what are those half-dome things in the background of your avatar picture?

Black grill looks good, blacked out light sockets

Nice rig brother

The_Josh_Bear said:

That's really amazing how it all came together! Sounds like you've got a really peppy setup, i have to say I'm jealous. I'm so tired of the lack of low end torque on my Factory Ford turbo setup. It really doesn't have any get up and go until about 2k rpm.

I love the results you got, nice work!
How does your new setup fare against the buddy with the sidewinder?

Off topic, what are those half-dome things in the background of your avatar picture?

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Those are the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns off Hwy 395 in the Sierra Nevadas. Look them up. Pretty interesting history.


With my setup, turbo lag is virtually non existent. Right off the line it’s already getting up and going, and after every up shift the boost is right there where you left off in an instant and that’s exactly what I was wanting. I was over the powerband the ATS 088 gave, which is comparable to a two stroke dirtbike. Now It feels more like driving a modern diesel with having the power available right there when you want/need it, and the powerband is noticeably smoother and more linear through the rpm range.
Being that my buddies truck has a C6 and mine a ZF5, it’s not much of a fair comparison as far as the way they pull through the gears. However, he recently got himself a ZF5 to swap too so eventually I’ll have a solid answer to that.

Ky85 said:

Black grill looks good, blacked out light sockets

Nice rig brother

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Thanks man. It looks even better now with the new wheels and tires I just put on it. I also have a Lund visor that needs to go on. Once I get that done I’ll post a couple pictures.