Wheezing VGT turbo.

[Ragain]

Is anyone else noticing their turbo "wheezing" during exhaust braking, or while accelerating under a load? This noise started on my maiden voyage to Seattle (at under 1000 mi) and seems to have slowly worsened as time progressed. I have low idle percentage time and now have over 35,000 mi on the odometer in 3 mo's driving. Soot on Variable Geometry Turbo vanes? Hmmm... 95% of the mileage is on highway so I hope this isnt going to be an ongoing issue. I also wonder how this effects economy, load efficiency, and any effects on the Aisin shift signal.

 

[HBarlow]

Ragain,



I seriously doubt you have a problem. The way you are using/working your truck, probably 98% highway driving under load, I would bet you will experience no soot issues. The cab and chassis engines seem not to be vulnerable to sooting issues even with a mix of highway and city driving.



My hearing is not good and with sound system volume turned up so I can hear it and road-wind noise I don't hear anything abnormal but I think I do hear a vague turbo sound occasionally.



If you are not seeing a CEL or codes I'd "keep on trucking. "



I'd like to see photos of the rear of your truck. The tanks, fenders, hitch mount, etc.

 

[Ragain]

HBarlow... . This noise is loud enough for people walking on the sidewalk to hear. Gets kinda embarrassing. Dropped off at dealer this morning, I will respond with their diagnosis when they call me to advise. It's been raining, so photo quality is lack-luster.

 

[WDimig]

i bet by looking at the aux. fuel tanks that you have, you only have to fuel up at every oil change!:-laf beautiful truck.



wes

 

[HBarlow]

That's a nice looking "tractor". Did you do the work yourself? Very high quality workmanship. Looks like a professional tin bender did the aluminum deck plate, fender mounts, and the box bracket for the factory fuel filler neck.



When you described the way people on the sidewalk look at your truck I was reminded I've seen the same thing a couple of times with mine and I've heard my turbo spinning down when stopping for a traffic light with other vehicles in lanes beside me, reflecting the sound back at me.



Don't be upset if your dealer says he can't find anything wrong. I don't think they will. I think my truck sounds the same way. I have just not heard it often and have ignored it when I did.

 

[Ragain]

WDimig... Thank you!

HBarlow... Technician found a loose EGR valve and the gasket was causing the whistle. They didn't have a Aisin trans. filter for my transmission service. Said they will order one @ $250. I went to Sterling dealer and puchased the filter for $99. Now the Dodge dealer will not use my filter. Same part number, same box, shipped from same Mopar whse. I told them I will just have the Sterling dealer service the transmission then. THEN... Dodge dealer calls to say they had a jack fall over and damaged my passenger side door, so its in their body shop now. Bad day for my lil' 5500, I guess.

Oh... I did all the fab work on the rear of the truck. The deck plate, and fuel tanks I bought from 4-State Truck Parts in Joplin, MO. (Chrome Shop Mafia guys)

 

[HBarlow]

WDimig... Thank you!

HBarlow... Technician found a loose EGR valve and the gasket was causing the whistle. They didn't have a Aisin trans. filter for my transmission service. Said they will order one @ $250. I went to Sterling dealer and puchased the filter for $99. Now the Dodge dealer will not use my filter. Same part number, same box, shipped from same Mopar whse. I told them I will just have the Sterling dealer service the transmission then. THEN... Dodge dealer calls to say they had a jack fall over and damaged my passenger side door, so its in their body shop now. Bad day for my lil' 5500, I guess.

Oh... I did all the fab work on the rear of the truck. The deck plate, and fuel tanks I bought from 4-State Truck Parts in Joplin, MO. (Chrome Shop Mafia guys)

I'm glad your tech found the problem and thanks for sharing it. I learned something.



I wonder if it worked itself loose for some reason or simply wasn't installed and torqued properly when the engine was assembled. If mine gets noisy I'll have an idea what to look for.



Sorry to hear they dented your door. That would make me unhappy but not much you can do about it but accept it if they repair it properly.



I would not have guessed that someone made deckplates fitted for the Dodge Ram cab and chassis frame. There are probably lots of owners setting their trucks up like you did who would like to know that. It makes a clean installation quick and easy. I guess I'll have to stop in @ 4 State sometime and browse their products. I think I've passed by and noticed their place.

 

[RVTRKN]

Change of subject, do you use the QC as a sleeper and does DOT care? BTW that is an impressive rig. Sorry to hear that the Dealer damaged it.





Here is mine, although not as nice as yours and only a 3500 C&C.

 

[Ragain]

RVTRKN,

My back seat is only that... a back seat. I imagine if I replaced the seat with a mattress the DOT boys may raise an stink. I dont travel with my sleeping bags and pillows laid out as if I had been spending any time back there. When they do ask if I spent my off duty time sleeping in the truck, I only reply no. NEVER volunteer any more info than that. They can only request a motel receipt if you state that you stayed in a motel.

Last week I went through a random level 1 insp at San Jon, NM. No violations! They spent a lot of time doing some head scratching trying to find ways that I may be bending the rules. Initially, they said I was over length at 71' stating rules for a "truck/ trailer combination". I brought up the fact that I have a "tractor/ trailer" which is allowed 75'. A truck by definition was a vehicle which has a bed allowing for cargo carrying capabilities. My 5500 has no such means, placing it in the tractor category. I believe they were not trained to inspect the brake system, trailer coupling, cab invasion safety components for this class of vehicle... But they sure had a lot of questions! Believe it or not, they said that they liked the set up and thought it looked "heavy duty".

I have retired my '02 3500 to lighter duties now. I sure miss that sleeper!!!

 

[HBarlow]

It sounds like you've been hauling commercial for a while. You know the DOT rules, probably better than the DOT inspectors.



I like the looks of your old one also. I don't remember ever seeing a photo of it posted on TDR.



Did you have a reason for buying a quad cab 5500 instead of a regular cab so you could move your sleeper?



Having spent almost three years and 400k miles on the highways as an RV transporter I would have sure appreciated a sleeper. Actually priced them and considered it a few times.



How many miles did you put on the '02 before you retired it?

 

[Ragain]

HBarlow,

I bought the QC instead of the reg cab solely for resale reasons. My '02 may be hard to sell since it will have to be targeted to such a small vocational segment.

The 3500 has 360,000 mi over a 2 1/2 year period and is still a great truck, but I needed a heavier drive-train and longer wheelbase for my work.

By the way... . The sleeper on my '02 is a early style Kenworth sleeper that is all aluminum and very light weight (only 125 lbs). I modified it to sit down over the truck frame keeping the top of sleeper as low as possible. I primarily installed the sleeper for the old DOT sleeper/berth rules, (5-on/ 4-off , etc. ), that no longer apply and there just doesn't seem to be any advantage having a sleeper with the new rules.

 

[HBarlow]

Ragain,



The recycled Kenworth sleeper sounds like a great idea. Light weight and a fraction of the cost of a new sleeper built up in Shipshewanna, IN.



I was spending $5000+/yr. on Motel 6 bills when I was transporting. I wanted a sleeper very badly then but didn't want to cut and extend the truck frame and end up with a $10k bill for a new sleeper and a very hard to sell truck in a few short years.

 

[THoltz]

What are the rules regarding a sleeper on your truck or tractor?

 

[Ragain]

THoltz,

The previous rules allowed a driver to break up the sleeper/berth time in a minimum of 2 hour increments. Example; drive for 5 hours and go to sleeper duty for 2 or more hours for rest. Then go to driving duty for another 5 hours, pull over and go back to sleeper duty to finish a total of 8 hours sleeper/berth before you can drive again. No more than 10 hours driving in a 15 hour period from when you first went on duty, (driving or on duty not driving). This rule was only applicable for sleeper/berth duty and not applicable for "off duty", (non-sleeper equipped trucks).

The new rules state off duty before you can drive again must be a total of 10 hours CONSECUTIVE with a minimum of 8 hours which must be sleeper/berth or just a straight 10 hours "off duty".

So in other words, without being able to break up rest periods with the sleeper provision it doesn't benefit me to have a sleeper any more. I just go "Off Duty" for my 10 consecutive hours. (And I do not volunteer what I did or where I stayed during my off duty time as long as I had no responsibilies of the truck during that time. )

That is the best way I can describe the rule of duty status in my own words. Hope you can make sense of it!