American Coach: Turbo whistle

[steveschlott]

I recently removed and reinstalled the Charge Air Cooler to clean out the radiator assembly on my 99 Eagle. I'm glad I did because there was a lot of debris in there! On our test drive I asked my wife to check if everything sounds normal in the rear and she says she hears a whistle in the back bedroom when the motor is under load that she doesn't think she heard before.
I have inspected the air hose connections to the CAC at high idle and do not see any obvious air leaks and engine performance seems good. Its possible that since there is more air passing through the radiator it sounds a little different, but I'm concerned about air leaks in the CAC.

Does anyone know of a good way to test the CAC system for leaks?

[R.Wold]

I don’t think anything you did could have increased the noise level of the turbo but it’s possible you have less fan noise now that air is passing through the radiator more freely making the turbo more audible. And of course your co-pilot may just be more tuned in, listening more closely for any abnormalities, since you did the work. It’s always more subjective when you are relying on the perceptions of someone else.

[mackwrench]

If you've no power issue, then I'd say all's good.....if you had a boost leak, it'll have low power.....

Do you have any type of scan tool that will hook up to the J1708 under dash connector? I have a inexpensive one off Amazon that will provide live data, it shows boost psi, along with accurate temp reading etc...

I liked to think I kept my CAC/Radiator washed out but only after I removed the CAC and washed it and radiatior on my 99 eagle did i see a real difference in cooling.


But to answer you question, the only way to check the CAC for leaks is to remove the hoses and pressure test it.....and in this chassis, it'd have to be removed to test. Again, if boost is good, then rock on!

[steveschlott]

Mackwrench, Thanks for mentioning the scan tool, I just ordered a BlueFire this week for other reasons and with any luck the boost pressure will be available.
I finally took your advice from a few years ago to remove the CAC and really get the radiator clean. OMG, there was so much crap in there it's a wonder there was any cooling going on! See the photo, I'm guessing at least 1/4 of the vents were completely blocked.