When rumors began circulating last year on the Internet that Ford was replacing its 6.0L Power Stroke with a new 6.4L engine, the buzz wasn't over the new piezo injectors or the common-rail injection-it was the dual turbos.

While it's not technically accurate to call them twin turbos, the new 6.4L Power Stroke uses a series-sequential turbo system built by BorgWarner in North Carolina. These two turbochargers are packaged together as one air-management system to feed the 350hp Power Stroke and help International meet the new '07 diesel emissions standards. This exotic turbo arrangement is by far the most impressive induction system available on a light-truck diesel engine.



BorgWarner's Asheville, North Carolina, facility houses a fully automated assembly line to build the new 6.4L Power Stroke's dual-turbo system. Mechanized systems like this compressor-housing dispenser, dozens of robots, and three shifts of workers make it possible for this plant to produce a complete 6.4L turbo package, every minute, 24 hours a day.



BorgWarner draws from its global parts supply chain to bring the new 6.4L turbo pieces together. Here, a shipment of turbine wheels for the 6.4L's low-pressure turbo arrives in crates.



The turbine wheels are then joined to shafts by a friction-welding process. Then the shafts are precision machined for the journal bearings and compressor wheels.



From there, racks of the new turbine wheel and shaft assemblies are loaded into computerized machines that clean, deburr, and balance the assemblies to ensure they can withstand the high speeds they'll see in real-world use.



Not only does the 6.4L feature two stages of BorgWarner turbocharging, but one of those stages (the high-pressure side) also features a variable-turbine geometry (VTG) housing. Depending on the application, BorgWarner's VTG turbos are assembled by hand or robot.



For the high-volume 6.4L turbo system, an automated robot constructs each VTG vane assembly on this multiple-process turret. Machines like this one combine the manufacturing and quality-control duties into a single stage and reject faulty subassemblies before they make it into the finished product.

Cont..

 

BorgWarner Turbo Systems took us inside its North American commercial vehicle turbochargers development center. We met with the engineers, signed a confidentiality agreement (so we can't tell you about all the cool stuff we saw until BorgWarner gives us the OK), and we got to tour the entire facility. Rest assured, these guys know turbos. Every corner of the facility was packed with exotic technology and enthusiastic people who help make the world-class chargers many of us are running in our own diesel-powered vehicles. This month, we wanted to give you a peek behind the curtain to see how the 6.4L's turbos are built. In the coming months, we'll show you some of BorgWarner's other technology and how the company's OEM expertise is making its way into your diesel-powered projects.



The high-pressure VTG turbine wheel and shaft assembly are fit with a pair of journal bearings and assembled into the bearing housing by a robot. A BorgWarner engineer mocked up this display for us so you can see the precise arrangement.



If the turbine shaft, journal bearings, and compressor-wheel assembly don't pass BorgWarner's quality-control tests where the assembly is spun to its rated rpm, the bearing housing is disassembled by a line worker to find out why.



While the bearing housings are being assembled, the VTG components are set into individual fixtures and installed into the turbine housings on another assembly line.



The high-pressure VTG turbo-bearing cartridges are then married with their turbine housings.



The low-pressure, fixed-geometry turbo is then joined with the high-pressure VTG side, and the assembly finally becomes recognizable as what's installed on the new '08 Super Duty.



Ten feet down the assembly line, the BorgWarner dual-turbo system is complete. This specially built hoist lifts the completed unit at each end so it can be placed on a pallet for shipping.



Four complete turbo systems are placed on each layer and sealed with special plugs to prevent debris from entering them during shipping. From here, the turbos are shipped to International engine plants in Huntsville, Alabama, or Indianapolis so they can be bolted on to 6.4L engines.

Source

 

Just To Correct Popular Belief..

It's Incorrect To Call The 6.4L A TWIN Turbo

 

Having as many problems with the 6.4 as Cummins is with the 6.7? Or is it a hit or miss?

 

The Only Woh's I Have Had So Far (5K Miles) Is The Trans Keeps Fallin' Out, Literally Jumps Outta Gear During Normal Driving - I Switch It To Extreme Race Shifting On The SCT And The Issue Goes Away.

I Really Can't Judge This Early Into It.

 

NO issues on my truck with the exception to having the radiator replaced under warranty for leaking...

 

They dont have the Garrrets anymore?

 

No I believe those were dropped in the early stages of development of the new motor. I will see if I can find the articles..

 

Any Luck On The Articles?

 

Their turbo looks silly.