We have been getting a lot of questions lately about 6.0 Powerstrokes related to turbos and EBP sensors. There is a lot of misinformation we want to clear up and help those trying to push their trucks harder with larger vgt turbos or even compound vgt setups.
We will also touch on the 6.4 EBP sensor mod.
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I also want to start off by saying KC Turbos does not do any tuning. We are sharing theories and information for those interested in better understanding. Not to teach anyone how to tune. There also may be outliers for how certain people tune, but this is what we have seen with everyone we work with.
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6.0 Powerstrokes REQUIRE the EBP sensor for the VGT turbo to work properly. Some strategies from Ford would run an inferred EBP sensor, but I don’t know any tuners that use those because they don’t work well. The PCM uses the EBP sensor to control the turbo. There is no “boost desired” table and there is no VGT position sensor. The PCM controls the vanes strictly via “desired EBP” and feedforward VGT tables. Without an ebp sensor your turbo will not run properly and can have catastrophic failure. What does that mean?
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NO YOU CANT DELETE YOUR EBP SENSOR !
A bad EBP sensor can blow up a turbo in one WOT pull, I don’t care whose turbo or how few miles it has on it. Bigger turbos are more likely to have issues because they overspeed at a much lower shaft speed.
So why do we sometimes recommend the 6.4 EBP sensor mod. Well, the EBP is what basically controls the turbo. And the sensor maxes out at 39psi of EBP (54 absolute). So anytime you are above that level you lose all control over the turbo. With no vgt position sensor the PCM has no way of knowing what to do with the vanes and must guess. Sometimes it guesses right and sometimes it guess wrong. This can lead to lower hp and even catastrophic failures when pushing turbos hard.
Tuners have found work arounds and if you don’t spend much time above 39psi of EBP then it runs fine. But if you run elevated levels of boost/ebp with larger injectors, larger turbos, and compounds. Then we HIGHLY RECOMMEND the 6.4 EBP sensor mod.
Just to give you an idea of what levels these trucks see. With bigger injectors 64mm vgt turbo will see about 35-40psi of boost and 50-75psi of EBP near redline and likely won’t dip back down below 50psi of EBP even on the shifts. That means once you hit those boost levels you are no longer controlling the turbo with any sort of data input. You can lock the vanes in a certain position and hope for the best… which has worked good for years. But we have seen issues. Especially if you start running with compounds and 68mm vgts.
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The 6.4 EBP sensor mod simply extends the range of the EBP sensor which allows for more control at elevated boost/ebp levels. NO YOU CANT JUST SWAP a 6.4 EBP sensor in your truck or you will blow up your turbo. It needs to be calibrated correctly. In reverse if you were running a 6.4 ebp sensor tune and installed a 6.0 ebp sensor it could blow up your turbo also.
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We get asked “who” will benefit from this mod. It is a matter of opinion on where to draw the line, and the bigger the setup the more you will benefit. But if you are running 175/30 and any s2 turbo then its not necessary. 190/30 and s2 might see some benefits. 205/75 and s3 can see big benefits, in fact we might start requiring it with all our s3 turbos. VGT Compounds is a MUST. 100% required IMO
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*****Expect to be charged to change over your tunes if you decide you want to try them. This is not a free service and tuners need to be compensated for their time developing these options. This is also a fairly new option that has been in development for years testing and making sure it works right so don’t feel cheated if you didn’t hear about it before.
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