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Since ATS designed the turbo system for the IDI, I would bet that a "factory" turbo replacement would bolt right on. The turbo that ATS used on the factory unit is a Garrett.

Now if the wastegate is an upgrade or not is subject to debate. Since Hypermax still makes a non wastegated system, you have to decide what performance your looking for. If I remember right the wastegated will spool up faster and achieve max boost earlier in the RPM curve.

 

chuckster57

Thank you for your reply.
So if i understand you correctly, the Stock Ford IDI unit might be an upgrade, in so far as it will boost sooner. I tow a 8,000 lb boat. If I don't get a good start before a hill, I can't get into the power. I need more low end grunt. I was hoping that the waste gated unit might do that. Now I read your truck description and yuou state that you did the ATS upgrade to yours. What is that and what did it do for you?
Thanks for your time.

 

The factory units that ATS designed were "detuned" by order of Ford since the first PowerStroke was due out in Mid '94. To achieve this, ATS took the 2 1/2" downpipe and smashed it "to fit" under the firewall and used a smaller turbine housing. If you go to my upgrade photos (sig) I have pictures of "stock" vs. "upgraded" parts.

The "upgrade" package I bought included a bigger turbine housing, different outlet housing with a 3" outlet and a 3" downpipe. I can get boost as soon as I am off idle and I get 6-8 Lbs. of boost "right now".

Are you running an auto tranny? I pull the trailer in my avatar ( 9000 lbs dry) and I have to take it out of O/D way before hills and even have to downshift to second sometimes. These IDI's make their power at the top end of the RPM curve. I have pulled hills plenty of times at 2800 RPM. Your turbo should be producing max boost at that RPM just like mine.

 

I find the ATS 088 makes power pretty low, I wouldn't mind making it even lower, but who can complain? The ATS turbo kit makes power before you hit the other side of an intersection, that's good enough for me. At least, in a non-drag-racing application

 

the ats kits are low
the .088was a not stock supplied system
the the 93 era trubo came out that wasnt as good as the 94
the the 94 era .093 turbo came out
i think the 93 era was a .093 wiithout the wastegate iirc
but the wastegated versions dont use the wastegate in normal driving sbut hills towing hard will see it

yes all three have t4 flange and all direct the intake charge the same way so itll bolt up
just make sure you have the 90 cast elbow for the wg version cause if not youre n wg elbow wont fit

 

the ats kits are low
the .088was a not stock supplied system

Too true. I'd love to see a real-world dyno chart of a 7.3+088

If I were to try to add power to my 088-equipped truck I'd start with water injection, which is cheap. There's lots of room for a tank right behind the cab up under the bed The ATS upgrade costs too much.

 

Turbo questions.

Gentlemen,
I want to thank you all for your answers. My Truck is a 90 F350 Dually. It has 88,256 mi. on the clock. It is on its 4th engine. The original, and 2 Warranty replacements were courtesy of FORD. The 4th is a 1994 that was purchased as a rebuilt. I was told that the 94's had heat treated pistons and thus would hold up to the ATS after market Turbo. ( the 088 ) The Turbo has seen approx 202,000 miles as it came off my fathers previous truck. It too was a 1990. Both trucks were my parents and they towed various large 5th wheels trailers from Florida to New England every year. The truck is in Awesome shape. I now use it to tow my boat and thought the turbo was getting weak.
It'll pull pretty good when you hammer on it, but you need a hell of a run to get it spooling. I believe that the exhaust is 2 1/2 inches. Maybe I need a bigger exhaust. What do you all run?
I saw a 1994 ish Turbo, on Ebay. It had a wastegate, and i thought it might have more low end boost. From what you all have written, it may not help much over what I have. I just recently purchased a 1995 Power Stroke Crew Cab 4X4. It has robbed an enormous amount of time and resource, so I am trying to gain info before just jumping in.
I again want to thank you all for time to respond. This is the only forum that i have received responses from.
Thanks again...

 

I was told that the 94's had heat treated pistons and thus would hold up to the ATS after market Turbo. ( the 088 )

My 1992 has had the kit on it since 1992 (as indicated by the CARB E.O. sticker - and the kit was apparently installed by a shop, there is/was a sticker on the core support) and is on the original engine with over 350,000 miles. It had a fifth wheel on it in the past (mounting holes are obvious) and was obviously well-used. All of these motors have oil-cooled pistons and sodium-treated valves and are ideal for turbocharging. International also used them in a turbocharged context in other years; for instance you find them in buses with a turbo.

I again want to thank you all for time to respond. This is the only forum that i have received responses from.
Thanks again...

Yeah, I feel blessed to have found this place, you get the best responses here by far, especially for Fords.

 

the wastegated one will help in low end the high end is where it gets weak cause it well blows through when the gate opens
i got a stock wg .093 sitting 5 feet away so just measure youres and ill measure mine to tell you if itll work

 

the wastegated one will help in low end the high end is where it gets weak cause it well blows through when the gate opens

No it doesn't, it maintains the same boost throughout the wider power range right up to governed RPM as Chuckster posted above.

 

So if i understand you correctly, the Stock Ford IDI unit might be an upgrade, in so far as it will boost sooner. I tow a 8,000 lb boat.

Not just earlier and max boost over a wider RPM range, the waste gated turbo kit was also more of an efficient overall design over the non-wastegated it replaced. It was designed with a "built in" scavanging effect, etc. When they were selling like crazy before the Powerstrokes came out there was tons of info on the ATS kits which I still have, including an installation, writeup, and review in Trailer Life Mag. The ATS system that Ford used in '94, like Chuckster posted, came with a smaller exhaust system and slightly less boost so it's not a significant upgrade unless you also get the complete 3" downpipe, bigger turbo outlet housing, and 3" exhaust that came with all the non Ford factory ATS kits. The IP also needs to be turned up as per ATS's instructions.

I was told that the 94's had heat treated pistons and thus would hold up to the ATS after market Turbo.

The '94's (that came from Ford with an ATS kit) came with about 11-12 minor internal engine changes, Keystone rings, slightly bigger wrist pins, etc. The changes don't seem to be that big of a deal, there's some of us with pre-94 engines with turbos and they hold up fine. I put my kit on at 30,000 in 1993 and now have 242,000 and never have done any internal engine work.

 

Get rid of the stock exhaust it is too restrictive. When I first put my 088 turbo on I couldn't break 3 lbs and it took forever to get there. The stock muffler was clogged with soot . I put a 4" system with a straight through big truck muffler on , then added a hypermax cowl induction cold air intake and now I can get 5lbs going down the street unloaded, towing heavy it builds boost instantly

 

Get rid of the stock exhaust it is too restrictive. When I first put my 088 turbo on I couldn't break 3 lbs and it took forever to get there. The stock muffler was clogged with soot . I put a 4" system with a straight through big truck muffler on , then added a hypermax cowl induction cold air intake and now I can get 5lbs going down the street unloaded, towing heavy it builds boost instantly

I also have the Hypermax cowl induction and love it. I cruise the city @ 30 MPH and have about 3 lbs. I can get 6-7 getting on the freeway empty and If I have the "house" hooked on I can get 8-10 pulling out onto the road.

 

Well, either my gauge is hosed and my turbo is also hosed and I never make much boost, which I reject categorically because my truck pulls much harder than non-turbos I've been in, or there's something magical about my setup, because I'll hit up to 10 psi just going uphill unladen if I get my foot into it and get the RPMs up towards the top of the usable range. To be clear, I have to be accelerating for this to happen. Maybe my turbo has been upgraded, I will take some pics soon. My EGT gauge is bad, but my boost gauge seems to be adequate. All appears to have been professionally installed, though the rings around the gauges have gone missing over time so they flop around a bit. EGT reads 300 degrees permanently. Typical cruising boost appears to be ~1.5 PSIG. I do have a super short intake which subjectively improved performance, meaning that it sounds a lot cooler and makes me feel like I'm going faster but I didn't do any testing of any kind so who knows how it compares to the ATS coffin.

 

ATS Turbo vs Stock Turbo

WOW!!!!
I want to thank you all again. Great information. I took some pics of my current turbo, the exhaust, ( best i could) and one of the truck.
I think that the exhaust is 3 inches, not the 2.5 in. I stated earlier.
The engine currently has 3,800 miles on it. Runs Great, starts great.
It just doesn't make much power on the low end. I have not turned up the fuel pump yet, but plan to. I do believe that an ATS waste gated turbo might be more helpful. What do you guys think?
Thank you all for the feedback.
Woops... Pictures don't seem to have loaded. I'll use a link to send them.

 

Turbo Questions

Here are the pictures of the Turbo. I hope this works.
1990-f350-turbo :: turbo001.jpg picture by quikdecision - Photobucket

 

last few Pics

Here is a pic of the truck...

 

Man, how many different air boxes did ATS make, and why?

 

Here are the pictures of the Turbo. I hope this works.

By your pics, you're right, you've got the old non-wastgated system. Like Chuckster and I already posted, the newer wastegated system was a significant improvement but whether it would suit your needs would be your decision to make. I'm happy with mine, generally the heaviest I pull is some 10,000 lb. loads of hay and I have respectable pulling power especially with a 5 speed.

 

My old old ATS system vs the Ford 1994 Turbo

Okay guys.
I have a chance to buy a new rebuilt 1994 Stock FORD ( I assume ATS Low performance) Turbo for $300. It is waste gated, would that be an upgrade to the old system I have? What would it take to upgrade it? Is it all worth it?
Thanks for your time to reply.

 

ATS turbo

Anyone have a wastgated ATS for sale.

 

Personally, I think it would be way too much work for a minimal gain. Looks like you already have the 3inch exhaust, so as long as your timing is on 8.5 +/- 2 (sweet spot is 9.5 to 10) that's about all you can do for these trucks unless you intercool or go with propane. If you need more than that, I'd throw a chip on the 95 you picked up and start pulling with that.

 

The WG turbo makes the same boost as the non-WG turbo (if I'm wrong let me know) and without an intercooler you shouldn't turn it up. The only functional difference is in how fast boost comes on. Hopefully one is making relatively few stops and starts while towing heavy loads.

With the turbo at the back of the motor an intercooler must also introduce wicked turbo lag. That's a lot of piping etc. If you could relo the oil cooler somehow (I have some plans but I need the ends off a cooler to try them) then you could perhaps turn the exhaust manifolds over, add a flange, and mount small turbos up front, and get the piping length down to something sane.

If you just need pulling power then water injection is probably the smartest thing to add first, it keeps temps down and provides power under high load conditions... and it's cheap to refill. In fact I suspect there's room for a nice steam distiller in the engine valley