When looking for increased power, look no further than Gale Banks Engineering, one of the industry's leaders and innovators. Banks opened his shop in 1958, specializing in race engines, and then in 1960, he expanded into the marine performance world. Since those early days, Banks has established himself as an icon, both in the shop and on the track, capturing many land speed records. Known as the master of turbochargers, Banks' technology has contributed to the progression of power enhancement products for the past four decades.
To produce more horsepower from a diesel engine, it's all about volumes of compressed air. More compressed air means more fuel, which creates a greater explosion in the combustion chamber and cylinder. Installing a Banks Power Stinger TLC System on an '00-'04 Chevrolet Duramax 6.6L will increase the airflow to balance the fuel flow. Increasing airflow and fuel flow creates more torque and horsepower.
The talented team, headed up by owner Mario Romero, at Top Line Performance in Huntington Beach, California, has been installing suspension and engine performance products and fabricating custom components for its customers for the past eight years. Mario and his talented team installed a Banks Power Stinger TLC System on an '03 Chevrolet 6.6L Duramax turbodiesel pickup. With a fist full of film and the camera already loaded, we followed along as the Banks Stinger TLC System was being installed.
ABCs of a Turbodiesel
A diesel engine, just as a gasoline engine, is considered a mechanical air pump. The amount of air and its velocity inhaled and exhaled affects its performance. The easier the air flows through an engine during its intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust cycles, the greater it will perform. Increasing more air volume and its velocity will create greater torque and increased horsepower. A normal diesel engine's compression ratio is 14:1 to 25:1, which is much higher than a gasoline engine's 8.5:1 to 13:1. A diesel engine takes in air, compresses it, then injects fuel into the compressed air. By compressing the air molecules, it creates heat, and the more they are compressed, the greater the heat. The hot compressed air spontaneously ignites itself.
Installing a turbocharger allows the engine to burn more fuel and air, and by increasing the air compression, it creates hotter temperatures, producing a greater explosion inside the combustion chamber and cylinder, therefore making more torque and horsepower. A turbocharger uses the velocity of the exhaust flow from the engine to spin the turbine located inside the turbocharger housing. The turbine spins an air pump as high as 150,000 rpm, and the hot temperatures of the exhaust flow create very high temperatures inside the turbine due to the intensified compression of hot exhaust gases. Because the turbine is located in the exhaust flow, it restricts the flow.
The effects of the exhaust stroke of the engine makes it push against the higher backpressure of the exhaust (like having to swim upstream), which draws some amount of power. The turbocharger's wastegate helps reduce turbo lag, while at the same time preventing the turbocharger from spinning too quickly at high engine speeds. The wastegate is actually a purge valve that allows the exhaust to bypass the turbine blades by sensing the boost pressure. When the boost pressure gets too high, it is indicating the turbine is spinning too fast, activating the wastegate, bypassing some of the exhaust around the turbine blades, which in turn allows the blades to slow down.
The exhaust is just as important as the intake side of the system. If the exhaust flow is restricted or has too much free-flow, it will affect the engine's performance. The engine's intake and exhaust must be balanced. Factory mufflers are restrictive to help eliminate emissions. The larger diameter aftermarket exhaust systems are designed to eliminate emissions without restricting the exhaust flow and velocity, creating more torque and horsepower.
A 7/16-inch drill was used to drill the hole in the exhaust manifold. | 
The hole was tapped using a 1/4-inch NPT pipe tap. | 
The thermocouple probe was test-fitted to make sure the threads were not defective. |
The exhaust manifold was reinstalled onto the engine cylinder head. | 
Prior to reinstalling the exhaust manifold bolts, they were given a good coat of antiseize. After that, they were torqued in sequence to 28 lb-ft. | 
The gasket was inspected and showed no signs of wear, so it was carefully slipped between the exhaust manifold flange and turbine inlet exhaust. |
Prior to installing the thermocouple probe, a healthy amount of antiseize was coated onto the threads to ensure the thermocouple probe could be easily removed later. Hot and cold cycling can make metallic materials fuse together. | 
Moving to the top side of the Duramax 6.6L turbodiesel, the engine cover was removed to gain access to the turbo and wastegate. | 
Three bolts were removed to extract the turbine heat shield. |
After removing the E-clip from the pin through the wastegate arm, the top turbocharger coolant inlet hose was removed using a #55 Torx wrench. The actuator air hose at the compressor outlet was then removed. Air was blown into the inlet air hose to relieve tension on the actuator pin. The wastegate arm was then removed. Using a 12mm socket, the two actuators were removed. The factory actuator (wastegate) was then removed. | 
Here is a simple comparison of the factory wastegate and the Banks Power Big Head, which has twice the diaphragm area of a stock wastegate. We used twice the spring pressure to keep the valve seated longer, which in turn raised the boost produced. All of this improved the acceleration and towing power. | 
Since it bolted right up to the factory holes, the Banks Power Big Head Actuator was a simple swap. The E-clip was reinstalled to secure the rod endlink to the wastegate arm. The Big Head actuator required no linkage replacement nor adjustment. |
The factory actuator air hose at the compressor outlet was reinstalled. Then, the factory engine cover was replaced. | 
The Banks Power OttoMind Diesel Tuner module was located out of sight by installing it on the inside of the underdash panel. The module calibrated the engine's electronic pulse width, timing, and fuel pressure. It maximized the engine's performance and mileage while securing its durability. | 
AutoRate is a powertrain calculation system that automatically adjusts the Duramax power output, while still maintaining safe parameters, protecting the torque converter clutch lockup, which affects the transmission slip sensor, and exhaust gas temperature range to keep the engine's turbo in safe limits. It also protects the engine during warm-up. The OttoMind Tuner self-monitors and diagnoses itself, ensuring proper operation that provides an automatic bypass. |
After searching around the engine compartment, the 3-inch rubber grommet was found located on the driver-side high on the firewall. An X incision was made in the grommet to allow the OttoMind wire harness to be slipped through the grommet on the firewall and into the cab. | 
The OttoMind wire harness was simply matched up to the factory wire loom male 24-pin and male 38-pin connectors, then mated to the factory connectors. | 
As simple as matching and snapping, the Banks Power OttoMind wire harness was correctly connected into the factory wire loom. |