Turbo Failure

[Cliffman]

My son is a mechanic. He's seeing a lot of late model Rams coming in with turbo failures and he says its very expensive to fix (5k). I'm at 26k on the counter on my 2018 and this has me a little spooked. Are these turbo's pron to failure? If so what can we do to prevent it? TIA...

 

[cerberusiam]

They are the WORST turbo for failures in Holset's turbo line. Best thing you can do is the EB on all the time so it cycles the collar on the turbine and work the truck hard frequently. The older models added a cleaning port to help with that but not sure on the newer.

Too much DD and it soots the turbo from the EGR and stoich rich programming, the EB helps but it takes one little piece of carbon the size of a very short piece of pencil lead to jam the actuator. If you are lucky it doesn't bend the vane it jams and it can be cleaned. If one can get the parts most of the failures can be fixed by cleaning and\or replacing the actuator if that is what failed.

 

[Cliffman]

They are the WORST turbo for failures in Holset's turbo line. Best thing you can do is the EB on all the time so it cycles the collar on the turbine and work the truck hard frequently. The older models added a cleaning port to help with that but not sure on the newer.

Too much DD and it soots the turbo from the EGR and stoich rich programming, the EB helps but it takes one little piece of carbon the size of a very short piece of pencil lead to jam the actuator. If you are lucky it doesn't bend the vane it jams and it can be cleaned. If one can get the parts most of the failures can be fixed by cleaning and\or replacing the actuator if that is what failed.

Maybe I should look into aftermarket turbos to eliminate this issue or and extended warranty. I work for home (much before the pandemic) so it doesn't get driven much except for when we go on a trip and take the RV which does give the truck a good workout. What a about a EGR delete kit? would that help?

 

[EZeis]

Max care warranty it. But you're pretty late, so it will cost more than if you bought it when the truck was new or newer.


Earl

 

[JR]

The turbo is fine, actuator not so much. Good news is you can buy a certified Cummins reman for $300. If you can turn basic wrenches it can easily be done in a few hours.

Your drive cycle will be helpful as the turbo needs to be run hard and cycled often. I certainly wouldn't lose sleep over it and personally would not even consider an aftermarket alternative because you will lose your factory exhaust brake.

 

[Wiredawg]

Maybe I should look into aftermarket turbos to eliminate this issue or and extended warranty. I work for home (much before the pandemic) so it doesn't get driven much except for when we go on a trip and take the RV which does give the truck a good workout. What a about a EGR delete kit? would that help?

Cliff,

Since being down almost all year last year from surgery and COVID killing our camping plans this year, I have to plan putting miles on my 2017 Ram 5500. I try to drive it weekly, but sometimes it's up to three weeks sitting. I'm a couple miles from I-10, so I take it out and either run about 45 miles to Buc-ee's for a samich or to best catfish restaurant ever about 25 miles away just to put miles on it and keep all the seals good and am able to run 75MPH.

I believe Cerberusiam about problems with the turbo... had one fail on my 2009 Ram 4500 at around 40K miles due to sticking VGT slide AND I ran EB all the time. Because the truck was purchased only to haul big RV, I decided to keep OEM turbo. The turbo the dealer installed on it failed upon startup, never knew if it was new or reman. The replacement ended up working well and preformed great until I traded it.

Anyhoo, just a thought about working into your schedule driving it to try to keep everything working, but sometimes stuff fails no matter what.

Cheers, Ron

 

[Jim W]

Cliff, I am still using the original turbo in my truck which is a 2008 6.7L Cummins with a 135K miles on the OD. The exhaust brake is turned on about 98% of the time that the truck is operated. Why not 100% sometimes I get busy and do not turn the EB on right away but it will be on by the first stop light I reach. When towing my trailer the Tow/Haul mode will be set on also. Some of the users on this forum like to run the T/H mode and EB all of the time regardless if towing or not. They claim this helps also.

I would just drive the truck day to day with the EB on and if you like also use the T/H mode. This will help the turbo in the long run.

There may have been some duty cycles or some other electronic changes for the 2013 and up trucks but the turbo itself I believe is the same. I honest believe that the mechanical portion of the turbo usually will not fail most of the time, it is the actuator that is the problem component. Now this is not saying you can't fail the mechanical portion but under normal day to day driving of our trucks it is highly unlikely that the mechanical side will fail. As JR pointed out the actuator is available for any model year up to and including a 2018 tuck. Geno's garage (site sponsor) is selling new actuators that are plug and play, no calibration is required with these models. Just follow the installation instructing for the model year required for actuator of your truck.

Also please fill in your signature as to what model and year of truck that you have. this will help in answering your questions in the future.

 

[Cliffman]

Also please fill in your signature as to what model and year of truck that you have. this will help in answering your questions in the future.

Jim, I've been a member since 2000. I have no idea what happened to my sig. It was extensive! LOL. But for some reason it's completely blank now. I'll redo it. My current truck is 2018 DRW 6.7 4WD Mega Cab, Laramie. Hood is welded shut! LOL

 

[lpennock]

My current truck is 2018 DRW 6.7 4WD Mega Cab, Laramie. Hood is welded shut! LOL

My wife threatened to have that done to mine if I even considered any mods to it.

She at least allowed me to do led lighting upgrades.

 

[cerberusiam]

On a 2018 with DEF it isn't using much EGR, a 1/4 or less than what was used in non DEF trucks. Anything to keep the EGR out of the intake tract helps, you could try and in-place EGR delete but if the hood is welded shut that is tough to do.

2013+ trucks use the HE300VE turbo which is bit different than pre 2013 trucks, read that more expensive in some cases. A Holeset reman turbo is about $2300 for reference, dealer is making bank on them for sure but that can be a huge pain to change. If you watch Ebay you cna find some pretty good deals on reman or just used to have parts around for your son to fix it if it goes bad.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dodge-Ram-...356534?hash=item342888d936:g:9lAAAOSwOJVeq3Wu

 

[Cliffman]

On a 2018 with DEF it isn't using much EGR, a 1/4 or less than what was used in non DEF trucks. Anything to keep the EGR out of the intake tract helps, you could try and in-place EGR delete but if the hood is welded shut that is tough to do.

Hmmm, might have to break out the grinder.

 

[SnoKing]

Best change the oil and filters while it is open for a while!!!

 

[Larry Willard]

My actuator failed last year at 80000 miles. Always run tow haul and exhaust brake. The first 60000 miles were about 80% towing heavy (28000 GCW). I was at a Winnnebago rally last year and talked to Cummins about the actuator on my 6.7 in the motorhome and he said they had changed the turbo actuator swing a slight amount in 2016 models to remedy (reduce?) the failure rate on them.

 

[cerberusiam]

Actuators are really another crappy electronic part on these turbos. The bigger ones, HE451VE and HE551VE, rarely have problems. The actuator is bigger and better and its cooling is better. The baby HE VE's got shorted in some areas. The only dash indication of a failure will be an actuator failure, it doesn't matter if it is mechanical or electronic the code says the actuator has failed. If one knows what they are doing they pull the actuator and manually move the collar controller looking for sticky movement or a jam. If that is found it is internal to the turbo and the actuator may still be good. Sometimes just pulling the actuator and manually moving the collar control will clear the issue, calibrate the controller and you are on your way. Of course, a normal shop is not going to that. They will sell you the controller and if that doesn't work because they do not know how check and clean the turbo it is a reman turbo and a big bill.

The VG turbos are great with the built in EB but they can be an expensive pain the backside if one does not know the little tricks to deal with them and have to rely on shops that know very little more than you.

 

[Cliffman]

So just to be clear running the EB does or does not help with a 2018 that uses DEF?

 

[Wiredawg]

So just to be clear running the EB does or does not help with a 2018 that uses DEF?

Cliffman,

Always run with it on (except icy, slippery) to keep from building up carbon and reduce wear on brakes.

Cheers, Ron

 

[Wiredawg]

Just a followup,

I don't understand why FCA programs Cab and Chassis trucks to allow selected EB to automatically be on at startup and not the pickups. It shows its doable and that it is purposely disabled on the pickups. I have ALFA OBD, but not sure if selected EB staying on at startup is a programmable option.

Just an extra thought.

Cheers, Ron

 

[Jim W]

Ron, they are designing for the masses who might buy the Cummins equipped truck because it is cool!

 

[TFucili]

Not nearly as cool as a C&C though

 

[JR]

It's probably another safety nanny, afraid someone will jump in, forget their EB is on and play slip n slide the first time they let off the go pedal. Forcing someone to engage it Everytime takes the liability off of Ram.