Turbo noise

[gweedo295]

Ok Jerry Powell your post Raised my Concerns, So since I was a little apprehensive after leaving the mechanic n Jerry’s post I decide to investigate further myself. I’m Dealing with vertigo so it makes it difficult getting down the hatch. I am pretty mechanically inclined and I do all the servicing myself

I researched several years back on irv2 and found several posts indicating the exhaust manifold was the issue on cylinder #3. I used a mirror and could not find any cracked turbo line. I used my stethoscope and listened to the turbo and did not hear any odd noise. I checked each exhaust port and found the noise was coming from #3 and I could see a small gap in the gasket area.

So I am pretty confident that is the problem. I am not afraid to drive it like it is until I get home. But for safe measures I will have a different mechanic look at it. While down there I found a loose coolant hose clamp that the first mechanic didn’t mention and the coolant was pretty obvious.

Crossing my fingers, I’ll keep you updated. Thnx Jerry, sometimes it just takes a kick in the pants. Lol.

[JCM]

I had the same problem and it turned out to be a turbo gasket. Look down on your exhaust manifold and look for black rings around the unit . You should also get a strong exhaust smell. Cummings warrantees RV motors for 5 years or 500,000 miles. Check with your local Freightliner shop.

[ThePowells]

Pat, unfortunately due to the nature of the failure prior detection is next to impossible.

What I will tell you is that it is a rare failure on a turbo that has proper maintenance (oil changes) and less than 100K miles. If the noise that you are hearing was a turbo bearing, then it would have ran away a long time ago. The only way to properly inspect the turbo is to disassemble it and at that point the bill would have only been slightly more to replace it and have a 100K mile guarantee.

I hope I didn't frighten you too much, but that mechanic doesn't know the back side of what he said. I will again tell you that it is a rare failure.

[gweedo295]

I’m certain the turbo is good, after hearing the leak and my visual inspection there is little doubt. No signs of leakage anywhere else.

I have only owned the coach for two years now and 8K miles. I have changed the oil and filters twice, I’m pretty annal about maintenance.


Regarding warranty, its an 07 so it’s beyond cummins warranty, however i do have Goodsam and it is covered.


Goodsam by the way was very easy to deal with last year when the chassis AC system was replaced ($1300] It’s about $1500 ish a year, but I can’t stress enough what a comfortable feeling it is driving down the road knowing major repairs are covered. (Get the optional seals and gasket package)


I will update when the repair is made. Thnx again

[Larnie]

Agree with JCM. Had the same thing happen 2 years ago. Metal turbo gasket crack. Sounded like a fire truck siren. Had repairs done a Cummins NW.

[Lloyd in S.C.]

I have a 400ISL, your description sounds exactly like the problem I had,,,,,,, blown exhaust manifold gasket. Not very expensive to fix (in comparison) but should be addressed. You can spot this by looking for gray exhaust residue around the manifold surface where it bolts to the head.

Mine occured at about 50,000 miles.

L.

[gweedo295]

Hello all, well we made it back to Idaho. I was going to have the issue repaired in Calif. but I contacted my local shop in N. Idaho (Kootenai truck and auto repair, in Couer d'alene) they were confident I could drive it home to have it repaired. I preferred that in case something went wrong with the repair it would be local. The noise got a little louder during the trip which is what they said would happen.

Anyhow the #2 cylinder exhaust manifold gasket was blown. The manifold itself was warped and needed to be resurfaced. $860 total, Goodsam covered everything over our deductible.

Thanks again for all the help!! Safe and happy travels.

[Lloyd in S.C.]

Excellent! Glad it worked out for you. I can't remember for sure, but I think it was #2 on mine as well.

L.

[Darrel]

Must be an epidemic. Mine was #2 also and had snapped the manifold bolts. Manifold was also warped but on the plus side, found a great mechanic!! He is my new best friend.


Have a nice day - DArrel