Surging exhaust brake

[karen.connie68]

After having my turbo replaced (second replacement) by the dodge dealer at 118,000 mi, the exhaust brake surges most of the time. The truck is a 2008 turbo diesel 2500, 2 WD. We are full time RV'ers pulling a 12,500 lb 5th wheel, traveling the US, moving about every 2 weeks to a new location. Brief stops does not allow for involved service at a dealer, so when home in NY for a few months we get as much service done at the dealer we purchased the truck from. The only service I do myself is I regularly change the fuel filter at less than 15,000 mi. I use the exhaust brake all the time not just when towing. The problem is : it will come on normal strength but then lets off and comes back on, and continues to surge like that. Before we left NY last sumer the Dodge dealer checked exhaust pressures and sensor voltage ( "voltage jumps randomly"). He removed and cleaned exhaust pressure sensor and feed tube. "Reassembled and road tested - OK". I felt it surging within 2 miles down the road. Several dealers across the country we talked to had no idea what the problem was.

I have considered replacing the sensor myself, but at about $250 I thought I would get a second opinion.

C. Stoll
Lockport, NY

 

[DonFitzwater]

I don't think exhaust pressure sensors will be your issue. Hopefully Bob or Sag2 will chime in. You may very well have a malfunctioning turbo.

 

[RAM1964]

Hey k c 68 did you find out problem on brake surge.

 

[seafish]

Your problem is most likely caused by soot build up on the vanes and housing of the EB, not on the sensor and feed tube. Essentially, the vanes that constitute the EB are not traveling smoothly in the turbo housing, causing it to "surge" as the vanes stick and then come unstuck as the ECM tries to control it with the turbo actuator motor attached to the turbo. There are ways to clean the turbo while on the truck, though the most effective way is to remove the turbo and take it part and clean it while it is off the truck. Not sure that a dealership service center will be up for the task, but a reputable diesel shop should be.

 

[karen.connie68]

Hey k c 68 did you find out problem on brake surge.

Yes and no - afer many tries the diesel mechanic at the dealer finally was able to experience the surging during one of many road tests - While working with Dodge and testing further with instrumentation and much back and forth discussion it was determined this turbo was deective from the initial installation - however we were never told what the exact problem was - but being the 3rd turbo and just over 1 yr old it was covered under its own 2 yr warranty and was replaced with no cost to us - it is working excellent now and we are happy to have it resolved just really disgusted with dealers not accepting and following through on our complaint about it

 

[jkern]

I started a similar thread a while back as well. https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/251839-Exhaust-brake-sound-changing It sounds like we experienced the same problem. My truck has 86K miles on it and the surging started about 5K miles ago. Unfortunately i am my own warranty station at this point in the trucks life. Did you ever find out what was specifically defective about the turbo?

 

[karen.connie68]

jkern --- no we did not get a reason but will see if we can discuss further with our mechanic and if he can give us any other further info wil be sure to pass it on

 

[karen.connie68]

I started a similar thread a while back as well. https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/251839-Exhaust-brake-sound-changing It sounds like we experienced the same problem. My truck has 86K miles on it and the surging started about 5K miles ago. Unfortunately i am my own warranty station at this point in the trucks life. Did you ever find out what was specifically defective about the turbo?

nothing specific - our tech established that the sleeve controlling the veins was not moving all the way - but since the warranty company did have him tear it apart he does not know specifically what was causing it

 

[andrewkoperdak]

I too have a 2008 that had been surging pretty regularly up and until I took a 16 hour highway trip. Since that trip I have not had one problem with surging. The higher temps and long boost intervals climbing hills must have burned/blown the gunk out of the turbo. Anyway- its been several weeks since I took the road trip and I have not had one problem. I had done quite a bit a research on this and one "fix' was to have the dealer clean the fins on the turbo. That sounded like a bandaid and not a long term solution.

 

[jkern]

I did some reading on some other sites and a little bit of research. I don't know that the tube is called, but there is a tube from the middle of the exhaust manifold to the front of the engine and connects to the area where the top radiator hose sits, just above the thermostat. But anyhow, I guess this tube can become occluded with soot causing exhaust manifold pressures to be read incorrectly...not sure. But anyhow, I took that tube off, cleaned it out with brake cleaner and compressed air. then I also cleaned the MAP sensor, and I think it help the surging a lot. I haven't had a big load on since I cleaned it out, but running around empty with the window down, it doesn't sound like it is surging now.