Bad News Turbo

[SOLER]

At least I think it's the turbo. Here's what happened. And BTW, this all just happened today, on this one 100 mile trip



I left today to deliver a trailer--a 14' enclosed cargo trailer that I sold. It weighs about 2700-2800 lbs. I was varying my speed between 65-75 (I was checking mileage, and wanted to see what the overhead comp. said when I went over 65 with this trailer)



Anyway, I had the cruise set at about 70 and started up a very small incline, enough to make the boost go above 15 pounds. There was this gosh-aweful rattle that sounded like a loose exhaust clamp. I stopped to check it out (I thought it might be a clamp, too, because I had messed with the muffler and tailpipe last week --I have the HOG stainless system with the reversible muffler). Nothing was loose that I could see.



I got back on the road and it was still there. I went through a toll booth and stopped to look again. The sound had been getting louder, and seemed to be coming from under the hood, and I could now hear turbo whine--not the whistle-whoosh that I always hear since removing the silencer ring long ago, but a whine which was more pronounced at around 2-8 pounds of boost. It sounded like a distant siren. I looked at the intake hose--tight. I looked at and wiggled the exhaust clamp a little (I didn't keep my hand down there too much, it was hot, even with gloves!!). Everything was kosh. I looked at the exhaust clamps again. Fine.



Off I went again. Now the whine is defintely there, and the rattle is still there. I babied it another 15 miles to my destination, and let it cool down before shutting down. I let it cool for 15 minutes, and started it, unhooked the trailer, and then noticed SMOKE! Crap! Blue smoke, and it only got worse as I drove it home. It would only smoke when there was boost, but by the time I got home, it was smoking at idle. And when I shut it down, I heard the turbo as it came to a stop--a little rattle and squeak as the shaft wound down.



What's up? Is my turbo toast? I'm going to pull the intake boot off and check the play of the shaft. In a few minutes.



I have my EGT thermalcouple on the manifold, I always let it cool before shutting down, and I avoid more than 5-10 psi boost shen it isn't warmed up yet. And I have to go out of town tomorrow. I'll have to take it in after I get back.

 

[SOLER]

It's definitely bad

I can wiggle the turbo shaft abut 1/2", and the blades are all messed up. So, the question is, what happened to it? The EZ has been on for only a week or two, and my boost has never been above 32 or so. And today, I never really did much to get the boost over 26--it did that before the EZ. I guess I'm wondering if I'm going to be buying my turbo or DC?



This stinks. I'm not ready to buy a bigger turbo, but if DC won't warrenty it, then that's what I'm going to do I guess



SOLER

 

[mike r]

Call Paul at Hi Tech Turbo, you'll be glad you did.

 

[SOLER]

Call Paul at Hi Tech Turbo, you'll be glad you did.

Does he have a number or website?

Thanks

SOLER

 

[mike r]

www.htturbo.com forget the warranty and call, you'll be ahead of the game. Oo.

 

[SOLER]

Thanks. I'll email 'em and call them when I get back in town.



SOLER

 

[mike r]

No problem.

 

[hasselbach]

what is the max that the stock 325 hp -600 04. 5 turbos can take anyway? I've had mine to 36 psi.

 

[rashwor]

Another concern is where all the parts on the intake side of the Turbo went. Did they stop with the intercooler or did they go further???



If DC says not warranty, it is definitely time to open up the complete air intake system including the head and find out where everything is. You don't want to have to do more 200 miles down the road on your dime. Do it right the first time. No warranty = Bigger, Better Turbo.



All of this is JMO... worth less than $0. 02 due to inflation. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[DLeno]

I can wiggle the turbo shaft abut 1/2", and the blades are all messed up. So, the question is, what happened to it? The EZ has been on for only a week or two, and my boost has never been above 32 or so. And today, I never really did much to get the boost over 26--it did that before the EZ. I guess I'm wondering if I'm going to be buying my turbo or DC?



This stinks. I'm not ready to buy a bigger turbo, but if DC won't warrenty it, then that's what I'm going to do I guess



SOLER

Am I correct that your purchase date of Feb 2004 indicates that you have an early 04, 305HP engine and not the 04. 5 600? Assuming thats correct, 32 psi with the stock turbo is, in my opinion, too much. I get a 500 degree pre versus post temperature at just 25 psi, and thats with the stock wastegate. you must certainly have installed the Edge boost elbow even to obtain such a boost pressure. the elbow installed on a 305 would certainly make that boost and stress the charger.



But if you have one of the early 600s, scratch that. the variable wastegate allows that sort of boost pressure stock and I'm not aqainted with the turbo or the EZ behavior on this truck.



ditto on the disintegrated turbo parts that may have ended up in the intercooler or beyond...

 

[hasselbach]

Am I correct that your purchase date of Feb 2004 indicates that you have an early 04, 305HP engine and not the 04. 5 600? Assuming thats correct, 32 psi with the stock turbo is, in my opinion, too much. I get a 500 degree pre versus post temperature at just 25 psi, and thats with the stock wastegate. you must certainly have installed the Edge boost elbow even to obtain such a boost pressure. the elbow installed on a 305 would certainly make that boost and stress the charger.



But if you have one of the early 600s, scratch that. the variable wastegate allows that sort of boost pressure stock and I'm not aqainted with the turbo or the EZ behavior on this truck.



ditto on the disintegrated turbo parts that may have ended up in the intercooler or beyond...

what is the boost elbow? i am beta testing the attitude edge and didn't get anything like this. what is the max boost that the 04. 5's can live with? so far i have seen 36-37 psi. . too high?

 

[DLeno]

The boost elbow is a brass fitting that is inserted into the wastegate acutator line. Its purpose is to raise the stock wastegate set point from the low 20s to the low 30s. This is for the 03-04 trucks. In my opinion, the use of this elbow pushes the stock turbo beyond its efficiency map and puts it at risk.



but none of that applies to the 04. 5. those high boost pressures are allowed by the stock ECM and you don't need any after market modification to reach those boost pressures. I don't kow what the max boost is, but I do know that the stock turbo on the 600 has been beefed up a bit from the 03-04.

 

[rbattelle]

To get higher boost you're overspeeding the turbo. What are the chances soler had some minor defect in the turbo that came into play when he began overspeeding it (even though he was not above 26 psi during this particular trip)?

 

[Jengle]

My turbo will peak at 26, then settle in to a steady 24 psi. This is stock, before I added anything to it. Still holds those pressures at 25k with the intake and exhaust mods.

 

[SOLER]

I am out of town. I tried calling the service dept Friday, but the guys had already left. I'll be able to call them first thing in the morning and see what's going on. I am wondering the same thing some of you have said about where all the shavings from the blades went. I didn't have time to investigate before I had to show for my trip. I wanted to take the tube off the outlet side of the intercooler and see if there was evidence, but didn't have time. I'll find out tomorrow



SOLER

 

[SOLER]

I finally called the service dept. today. They say that there were over-boost codes. Hmm, I thought there would be no codes. Are you listening, Edge? And they saw the clamp on the boost elbow that wasn't the crimp type they use.



The powers that be are going to look at it, and decide. I'm not going to fight it. If they warranty it, good. If not, I'm putting on a new one. But, I'll be rebuilding the engine real soon I'm afraid. I'm just picturing all the internal engine damage and it's not a pretty picture. I won't know anything until I get home later this week. This sucks.



I'm going to cancel my membership in this board because y'all are a bad influence on me. (just kidding) I wish I hadn't ever got the bug to BOMB, though! :{ I can't afford a new engine or to rebuild it. Lesson learned!!



SOLER

 

[Big MAK]

I have one (HY35) I'll sell you el-cheapo that I just pulled off mine when I put the twins on. Nothing wrong with it; working good when I took it off. They're easy to put on a stock truck too.

 

[DLeno]

It looks like this is further evidence that the boost elbow is just not a good idea. Diesel Dynamics may be right in their recommendation not using the Edge boost elbow. I know they want to sell you a jammer, but that aside, the "no boost elbow" is just good sense. the stock huffers are just not reliable when pushed over the stock wastegate value. In my experiments, I found that the differential temperature gets really large when you go over 25 psi. pre minus post readings went to 500 degrees at 27 psi.



The overboost codes are very interesting! Did you notice the MIL come on? did you do the three power cycle test and see the code? are you certain the overboost code was not there from a previous mis-install? This is all very interesting, since the way I understand the EZ, the overboost code could only come if the EZ itself failed or there was a glitch, such as if you removed it or adjusted connectors while the key was on. just the act of the turbocharger itself going down would not set an overbost code I don't believe. But in the interest of science we need to get to the bottom of this!

 

[Guest]

Should have disconnected the batteries for a while and unaltered the boost elbow before the dealer ever got their hands on it, LESSON LEARNED!

 

[SOLER]

Should have disconnected the batteries for a while and unaltered the boost elbow before the dealer ever got their hands on it, LESSON LEARNED!

Didn't have time to disconnect batteries and wait. I was doing all that when the phone rang and I had to go on this trip. And I put the original elbow back in. They just saw the clamps weren't the OEM ones. I know, I learned my lesson. No need to remind me!!