C-7 left me on side of road today

[sandcar361]

Driving in Utah today and just lost all power and lots of white smoke from exhaust. Towed to diesel repair shop and looks like we lost a turbo and not sure what else at this point. No warning signs at all just wham no power and white smoke. I personally thought we lost the heui pump but guess I was wrong.

[anotherone]

thats a very depressing sight. Its one thing I dread while on vacation. Keep us informed on the cause and repair.

[SNAPPY]

Quick easy fix. Unfortunately not cheap. :(

[Chow5656]

MAKE SURE THEY CLEAN OUT THE AIR CHARGER!!! If the turbo came apart ( and I'm sure it did) pieces of the turbo fan will be in the air charger and will be sucked into the engine when they start it!!!!

[sandcar361]

Looks like the bill is $3400 to get us back up and running. Yes the intercooler was a mess and needed to be cleaned out.

[anotherone]

do you think this could have been averted in any way? Or is it that stuff happens. Different oil , different maintenance , or additives!

[SNAPPY]

Originally Posted by Chow5656

MAKE SURE THEY CLEAN OUT THE AIR CHARGER!!! If the turbo came apart ( and I'm sure it did) pieces of the turbo fan will be in the air charger and will be sucked into the engine when they start it!!!!

I wouldn't be as concerned with debris as much as oil. I've seen the seal between the pump(exhaust) side and the compressor(intake) side of a compressor go out and it emptied the entire oil pan into the CAC via the oil supply line to the turbo.

[SNAPPY]

Originally Posted by anotherone

do you think this could have been averted in any way? Or is it that stuff happens. Different oil , different maintenance , or additives!

Probably not. Turbos are under enormous amounts of stress ALL the time. I wouldn't say their failure rate is high but I wouldn't say it's uncommon either.

[Cat]

Clean, good oil.Clean air filters.Cool down time before shut down. All help turbo life.
Turbochargers spin 90,000 to 120,000 RPMs on most engines if you have a plugged air filter it can cause a turbo to overspeed, a boost leak will also cause this. This usually splits the turbo compressor wheel apart, With exhaust temperature up to 1300 degrees it important to use a good clean oil. Dirty oil will eat the bearings up fast at 90,000 rpm. If the oil cannot with stand the high temperatures it starts to break down, this causes coking (oil turns to carbon) of the oil around the turbo bearings plugs the oil passages off or the oil looses lubricity. The oil not only lubricates it has to cool surfaces.
There is a difference between a oil that meets a specification and one that exceeds it.

The people that removed the turbo should be able to tell you;
1.It was a bearing failure-- oil problems or oil broke down.
2.Compressor wheel failure=== air filter problem or boost leak.
Not knowing can lead to another failure. I would ask them what caused it.

[sandcar361]

They told me the shaft broke in half in the turbo. Sure wish I new what to do to prevent this from happening again.

[Cat]

Not much to go on, but an imbalance can cause the shaft to break. If you had anything get by the air cleaner either because of any air cleaner failure or debris got in to the turb when the filter was changed this will damage the compressor wheel and cause an imbalance and failure. If the bearings wear get due, hot shut downs,long oil changes, cheap oil, this will cause the turo to orbit--wobble - at 90,000 rpm or better ---this can cause the shaft flex eventually the flexing breaks the shaft.
If debris caused it you will see damage to the leading edge of the compressor wheel. The leading edges should be smooth the outer edges will get beat up contacting the housing because of the shaft failure. If it was bearings you should see some scoring or wear on the shaft or on the out side of the bearings.

Clean air filters and keeping the dirt out of the filter or piping when you change the filter. 1/8 rock hitting the compressor wheel when its at 90000 will do serious damage.
Clean good oil and no excessively long change intervals. Start let idle for a minute enforce putting a load on it after heavy loads let it cool or 2 minutes before shutting down. Remember MH sit for a long time when you first start the turbo maybe dry so let it idle.
There's more but those are the most common problems.

[Mr_D]

Modern turbo diesels don't need long cool down periods, just driving down an off ramp or idling into a campground is enough.
However, if you stop halfway up the Grapevine a couple minutes sure wouldn't hurt!

[Genset]

Many years of diesel engines and turbo's . Never saw a broken shaft, many bad bearings tore up housings, impellers etc, just no broke shafts. Must be a Cat thing ?

Dave M

[jdoc]

Genset, REALLY????? It's mechanical. It's probably not made by Cat anyway.

Jerry