To turbo or not to turbo 6.2 Diesel?

Hey all! I have been extensively reading on about all the experiences people have had with a BANKS turbo kit on their 6.2's. Sounds like generally I have read that the kit will indeed give your truck a bit of a boost (pun intended) and it more or less does a pretty good job at it too. I am considering the upgrade since my M1009 will see a lot of high elevation and hilly terrain (and it is a dog uphill). I am considering the turbo kit as many other have, but this is something I have not seen much information on... How will this affect the longevity of the engine? I know it was actually offered by GM as an option to some of their trucks, but generally speaking, should I expect compression problems sooner than expected? My Blazer just surpassed 90,000 miles and I am hoping to keep it around as long as I can. I have considered engine swaps and whatnot, but cannot justify the expenses and time sinks if a BANKS kit will do a good job. Thanks for your input/experiences.

Shouldn't affect it but good luck finding a kit. Banks discontinued support for the 6.2L some time ago, I don't know if they will still put a kit together.

Have one in my 1028A1 and love it.

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Banks still has it on their website.

I'm looking at the same kit.

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I'm curious what you consider " high elevation and hilly terrain" in NJ.

The Banks kit or a 6.5 manifold and turbo set will do fine on the truck.

doghead said:

I'm curious what you consider " high elevation and hilly terrain" in NJ.

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Was wondering the same thing, on trails I've been as high as 12,000 ft here and I can assure you even with boost it's certainly still a dog. Trying to climb i70 up to 11,000ft and keep any speed is also pretty much impossible.

doghead said:

I'm curious what you consider " high elevation and hilly terrain" in NJ.

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Ilikemtb999 said:

Was wondering the same thing, on trails I've been as high as 12,000 ft here

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Yeah, having lived in Colorado and Utah, I was laughing a bit at "high elevations" in New Jersey.

Ilikemtb999 said:

and I can assure you even with boost it's certainly still a dog. Trying to climb i70 up to 11,000ft and keep any speed is also pretty much impossible.

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Heh. That run up I70 will dog most vehicles.


Question for all: Does a turbo setup maintain boost relative to outside air pressure, or do they maintain an absolute boost? That is, do they maintain manifold pressure at say, 5 psi above outside air pressure, or do they maintain 5 psi above sea level?

It seems to vary so much depending on throttle input and load. I can still hit 10psi at higher elevation.


My 5.3 truck does pretty good up i70 which makes me want an ls engine in my cucv

The Banks kit is awesome! However you will not want to abuse your engine after you install the kit. The 6.2 bottom end and crank is not the strongest thing and I have see a few turbo engines that blew the bottom end out. The m1009 would be really nice with a banks as long as you are not hot rodding around. or towing. But with the stock rear end I wouldn't tow anything anyways. 90,000 miles is nothing on a 6.2! They are good engines as long as you know their limitations.

You will need to adjust your injector pump also. It would be best to have a pump rebuilder rebuild your pump and tell them you have a turbo on it. Make sure they have the proper test bench.

OD green K5 said:

Banks still has it on their website.

I'm looking at the same kit.

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Awesome. When I called in last year it wasn't listed and the salesman told me they had dropped it from their line. Which I of course replied "How can you drop the product that made your company what it is today?"

Glad to hear they're still supporting us old oil burners.

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Is there a injector pump with a reference port for boost? Or a kit to add boost reference?

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I use my truck for all sorts of expeditions. I travel to Colorado a couple times a year and head to black bear pass as I have old friends from the state. The truck is used in more places than just NJ.

As for turning the injector pump up, was that specified in the installation manual?

They need to measure the amount of fuel being delivers to the injector. The test bench has a meter on each output. You can adjust the pump yourself but that's not the best way. Too much fuel and you are just blowing back smoke out the tail pipes. Too little and you don't get the benefit of the turbo in power. Remember that black smoke out the tail pipe is putting soot in your oil. That's not a good thing for your engine. Plus it makes you look like one of those bubba who crank up the fuel on the newer Dodge and Ford trucks and leave a trail of black smoke.

Plus if you have your pump rebult that will put in new seals they works with today's Ultra low sulfur fuels

OD green K5 said:

Is there a injector pump with a reference port for boost? Or a kit to add boost reference?

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Did anyone have to adjust the timing of the engine with the kit installed?

If memory serves me right... the Banks kit said something to the tune of truing the fuel screw "x" amount of times. But that was assuming a newer insulation and newer pump. Not one that is 30 is years old. There an access plate on the side of the pump.

Here's a tip... the HMMWV injector pump will fit. It has a higher fuel setting. It will fit but you have to change/swap to top for the 12 volt solenoid.

One thing I will say is do NOT change the timing. Line the marks up and leave it.

RickTheEngineer said:

As for turning the injector pump up, was that specified in the installation manual?

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Yea when you go from n/a to forced induction there's a bit to consider... you may need to adjust several things including your timing. Your fuel delivery for one. More air means more fuel otherwise you'll be running lean which is basically diesel death. I also noticed someone else mention it... the bottom end. You'll need to do something about that. At the least get a fluidampr and convert the front v belt to serp. Its a stronger more robust system particularly the crank pulley and the low end area. It will help reduce vibrations. Along with the low end you'll need to do something about your coolant temps.

And with all of that in mind... why banks? Why not just snag some 6.5 headers and use a Borg warner gmx or a holset hx.x? Youll save some $$$ and have a better turbo...

RickTheEngineer said:

How will this affect the longevity of the engine?

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I asked the same question when we installed a Banks turbo on a then-new '85 Suburban. According to Gale, one can expect a 3% loss in longevity. He said that the 6.2 is good for about 200,000 miles, so with his turbo that'd take it down to around 194,000 miles. Well worth it, I think.

Banks dropped that setup in early 2001, or so, right after installing one on my M1009. That doesn't mean that at least some of the parts and pieces are still collecting dust on one of their shelves. Or in some dealer's back room.
But as mentioned, good luck finding one.

jnlperformance said:

Yea when you go from n/a to forced induction there's a bit to consider... you may need to adjust several things including your timing. Your fuel delivery for one. More air means more fuel otherwise you'll be running lean which is basically diesel death. I also noticed someone else mention it... the bottom end. You'll need to do something about that. At the least get a fluidampr and convert the front v belt to serp. Its a stronger more robust system particularly the crank pulley and the low end area. It will help reduce vibrations. Along with the low end you'll need to do something about your coolant temps.
And with all of that in mind... why banks? Why not just snag some 6.5 headers and use a Borg warner gmx or a holset hx.x? Youll save some $$$ and have a better turbo...

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Hate to call ya out but diesels always run lean. There's no throttle plate like a gas motor to control airflow in a diesel engine, basically unless you under acceleration the AFR is in a lean condition as only the fuel is monitored. If you don't run enough fuel....the engine just shuts off. You're thinking gas (Otto cycle) engines in which the timing is crucial in turbocharged application and running lean will usually result in burnt valves and other engine damage. In diesel motors (Diesel Cycle) running rich is actually the one you want to avoid, esp in turbocharged applications. The excess fuel doesn't always get completely combusted in the chamber and may continue to burn on it's way out (and into the turbo). This is why on diesel engines it is so important to install an EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) gauge so you can monitor the amount of heat that is travelling down your tailpipe. The Banks kit comes with one of these as well as instructions on how to tune your IP using the readings from the EGT gauge (doesn't do as good as a bench test but better than "turn it up and see").

Check out Gale Banks Racing and their diesel dragsters. IIRC they're AFR is around 28:1 at WOT and they're running in the mid 6s in the quarter mile with a hopped up Duramax, much much leaner than stock.

First off you do not want to play with the timing on a 6.2. Align the marks and leave it alone. You can time them with the proper tool but again that's just to make a mark on the cover. You really can't run a diesel "lean" like a gas engine. running it "lean" just means little to no power. Will not hurt the engine. Now running it "rich" or too much fuel is a whole other game and will lead to problems.

jnlperformance said:

Yea when you go from n/a to forced induction there's a bit to consider... you may need to adjust several things including your timing. Your fuel delivery for one. More air means more fuel otherwise you'll be running lean which is basically diesel death. I also noticed someone else mention it... the bottom end. You'll need to do something about that. At the least get a fluidampr and convert the front v belt to serp. Its a stronger more robust system particularly the crank pulley and the low end area. It will help reduce vibrations. Along with the low end you'll need to do something about your coolant temps.

And with all of that in mind... why banks? Why not just snag some 6.5 headers and use a Borg warner gmx or a holset hx.x? Youll save some $$$ and have a better turbo...

Click to expand...