I was getting my engine serial number the other day and admiring my new CTD when I noticed that the rubber boot on the "cool side" of the intercooler looks like it has moved away from the stop about 3/16". I tried to move the boot by hand but it seems tight, won't move. I know Ford had a terrible problem with these tubes blowing off while at max boost. Has anyone had this problem with their Dodge? Should I be concerned?

 

under stock conditions I only rarely hear of boot problems, and mostly it was from the boot not being installed properly at the factory or a defective boot. only when the boost goes to 45+ do these things start blowing off, but by then youve upgraded the turbo, studded the head, and a few other things.

 

I haven't taken the hose off of my dodge yet, but I imagine it is assembled simular to my old Powerstroke. There should be a bead or shoulder on the intercooler outlet, and as long as the clamp is past this bead it shouldn't come off. There should also be a external bead on the tube and a internal bead on the hose so when they are assembled properly they connect together and then clamped. We make and assemble these charge air tubes for GM, Ford, and Dodge were I work and we have never heard of the Dodge or GM tubes blowing off. The Ford on the other hand has had some problems but from my knowlege was with the beginning of the '99 model year, and the first '03 6-litres. The first '99s had aluminum tubes (of which I had one) and being that the hose had to be torqued to 70-75lbs, sometimes the tube crushed and could blow off. After Jan. '99 Ford had us switch to aluminized steel tubing with the "hot tube" being wrapped in aluminum foil for heat and noise issues. For "03 the 6-litre in testing would blow off the tubes on a regular basis. With much discussion with ford, (we were blamed for this problem), it was found that if the air filter system became dirty, or plugged, it would change the charge air pressure enough to suck off or pop the tube off. When it went into production the air problem was fixed and we also switched to a hose that would adhere or stick to the tube. The clamps are torqued to 90-95lbs but by the time they get to the assembly line they "relax" to about 70-75lbs. Also, Ford uses a plastic tube on the cold side and they have had many problems with this. In fact, Ford odered over 100,000 aluminized replacement tubes for warrenty replacement of the plastic tube. The '07 will have two aluminized tubes. GM still uses aluminum for there hot tube, but will be switching to aluminized tubing for the 2007 model. They use a plastic tube for there cold air side. By far, the Cummins tubes are the simplist and best flowing of the three.

KenZ

 

Thanks for the insider insight. It hasn't "moved" any further. During my first service I asked the tech about it. He said the paint pen marks were made at the factory, and that more than likely whoever prepped the vehicle adjusted the location slightly.

On a side note, my '04 powerstroke had the plastic tube on the cold side replaced with aluminum or aluminzed and never did blow off, but it sure did seep oil at every connection. Gotta love that PVC system.