Josh_Linse

I want to turbo my truck, but don't want to spend the factory turbo price. I was wondering if anybody knows if it's possible to take a turbo off of a wrecked EcoBoost and modify it to work on my 4.6 Triton. If anyone knows, or has any ideas I'm all ears. Thanks.

Manuellabour247

You're talking about doing very specific piping for the hot and cold side, plus electronics. It won't be simple at all. It can be done, but you're going to have to have an exhaust manifold made to mount to the turbo. Ford and their wonderful engineers decided to make a custom mount for the turbos instead of the standard square mounts.

If you have a donor truck to look at everything it would be easier. That way you could get all of the electronics that do with the system. You'll also need a custom tune for the difference in performance. There's just a lot more to it than slapping some turbos on there.

A supercharger would be simpler.....but they're expensive too. Plus side is that you can find them for the 4.6 a lot easier than a turbo set up.

redknight1

where to begin...The turbo doesn't matter if it is from a ford truck or a japanese sedan. You will need to modify the fuel system, add custom intercoolers and piping, add an oil and water line for the turbo. You'll need to tune the engine and I'm not sure what kind of tuning option are available for that motor. And no, a hypertech hand tuner isn't what I mean. I mean something with a laptop. You'll need to fabricate an exhaust manifold so that both banks run together into the turbo, unless you do twin turbos which is even more welding and fabricating. Most shops run $100 for tig welding unless you have the resources to do that yourself. The transmission may or may not hold up even if you make it this far. I have no idea what the torque rating is. The internals of the engine are also going to have extra stress. The rods, pistons, etc. You'll also be running 93+ octane fuel from now on.

Josh_Linse

Wow, there is much more too it than I thought. By the sounds of it, it sounds possible, but way too complicated for a teenager like myself to do. Thanks for the input.

Manuellabour247

I wouldn't say too complicated, but it's definitely not something you want to go into blind. There's lots of individual builds that have done things like this. Your biggest problem will be finding a reputable tuner that can account for all of the new additions and keep your engine safe while adding power. Everybody starts somewhere with wrenching. Might as well start with something that you want to do.

It will be lots of downtime for your truck and probably a lot more money than it's worth trying to work out the bugs.......unless you can find another vehicle with the same setup. Mustang would work, but you would have to modify somethings for your truck application.

dyeguy1212

iTrader: (1)

Many of these types of questions can be answered with:


If you have to ask online, you aren't qualified to do it.

Mod (Ret.)

No reason why someone cannot ask online...and does not mean they are incapable in doing the work themselves; how else do they find that out?

some folks have already come across an issue, and can share it when asked. It's the only way to find out in many cases.

Many times I've asked here or on other sites for information leading to a repair or mod I want to do; doesn't mean I'm incapable to do the work myself... good case in point was a replacement motor for my Mark VIII fan; I found by searching and asking if there was a replacement two speed motor (the siemens Ford part is no longer available); found a good replacement two speed for under 80 bucks.

At the very least, we can appreciate the cost of kits (when they are available) for upgrades such as this. When a turbo kit was made available to the 2011 and up 3.7 Mustangs (another forum I'm on), folks got all in a tizzy over the kits complete price; I guess they figured that designers and developers do this for free.

WarSurfer

1) pull that garbage 4.6 and trans out and roll it into a ditch.
2) buy a takeout LS variant (LQ4, etc...) with trans and harness for about 2k
3) pay the $500 for one of the harness gurus to make an adapter that will tie the gm harness to the ford harness so all the gauges work
4) google 'sloppy guide to build turbo lsx engines'
5) follow his very explicit directions and parts list
6) download his tune file
7) find someone with hp tuners that will upload sloppy's tune into your ECM
8) lengthen / shorten your driveshaft as the case may be
9) enjoy 600rwhp and 20mpg

screamineagle

I disagree. I have been turning wrenches for over 30 yrs and frequently ask questions on these forums.

dyeguy1212

iTrader: (1)

Apples and oranges (a repair is different than a retrofitted turbo...). I don't doubt the validity of using this forum.