Blew the turbo
- Thread starter Grdsman
- Start date
traveler44
Well-known member
I don't have a EGT gauge on the old 2000 so I was wondering if you have to let them idle if the last 10 mins. of towing is an easy tow- like into the camp ground or somewhere that isn't as steep as to use the turbo? I guess what I mean is how long after using the turbo is it safe to shut down from just normal towing? Tom M.
skyguy
Well-known member
According to my gauges, the turbo is used more often than you would think. The only time I don't show any turbo boost is going downhill! (Or if my foot is OFF the accelerator)
However, coming off the highway to a campground, I let it idle for about 5 minutes, or half the time I'm in the office checking in. Then, just from parking the trailer, it's about 100 degrees above the shut down temp, so it needs to idle for maybe 2-3 minutes.
Al
However, coming off the highway to a campground, I let it idle for about 5 minutes, or half the time I'm in the office checking in. Then, just from parking the trailer, it's about 100 degrees above the shut down temp, so it needs to idle for maybe 2-3 minutes.
Al
Grdsman
Member
I was going up Wilkerson Pass in Colorado, pulling a loaded Cyclone 3210....about 13,500 lbs. The pull up Wilkerson is long and steep. 50 mph was about all I could do. The turbo psi was at about 21 and the engine was running at about 26-2700 RPM. I didn't feel like I was pushing it very hard. The camper is still in the mountains right now. I had a bit of an ordeal today because the warranty company didn't want to cover it unless I showed proof of regular oil changes. Unfortunately I didn't have anything to prove because I did my own oil changes and didn't think about saving the receipts. I change my oil every 3k miles, though. I explained this to them and they decided to cover it. Whew! That was a close one...Anyways, the truck will be ready tomorrow by lunch says Phil Long Ford. All-in-all, I'm not unhappy with the service.
Grdsman
Member
I hear ya! It is a long climb. I actually stopped in Woodland Park and let the turbo cool for about 10 minutes before shutting it off. Then it was the pull up Wilkerson. I kept an eye on the temps and it all seemed ok right up until it went.
Grdsman
Member
Not sure what you are seeing...I see your post at 7.
TXBobcat
Fulltime
Thanks for the info. We are at the Mountaindale Campground just south of Colorado Springs, CO. We will be leaving on Friday to Cheyenne Wyo and stay at the Wyo Campgound for the weekend. If you happen to be in te Mountaindale CG area send me an email maybe we can say hello.BTW We had new rear brakes, Caliper and pads installed on the rear of our F250 at Phil Long Ford in Raton NM. The left rear caliper came apart on me the day before we were going to leave the campground on Raton Pass to Mountaindale CG in Colorado Springs.BC
Grdsman
Member
I got the truck out of the shop on Wednesday and was able to pull the camper back home! I asked the tech if there was anything that I could have done to prevent it and he said it was just ready to go. Nothing else caused the problem except for a bad turbo. He said there were chunks of metal in the turbo but it didn't appear that any got into the engine. He changed the oil anyways, though. It might have been in my head, but the truck seemed to be pulling stronger with the new turbo than previously...
codycarver
Founding Wyoming Chapter Leader-retired
Wouldn't surprise me at all that a new tight turbo would make more power. Good luck with it and if you ever make it to north west Wyoming drop us a line.
The turbos on our 3rd gen CTDs can handle up to 1500 F
but don't let it stay there over 30 seconds. Try to keep it 1300 or under for longer life . Another issue when running high EGTs above 1300 for long periods is the increase in cylinder temps. Not good for longevity of pistons. As previously mentioned, when towing an EGT gauge is a must, stock truck or otherwise. Let the EGTs drop to 325 at least prior to shutting down.
but don't let it stay there over 30 seconds. Try to keep it 1300 or under for longer life . Another issue when running high EGTs above 1300 for long periods is the increase in cylinder temps. Not good for longevity of pistons. As previously mentioned, when towing an EGT gauge is a must, stock truck or otherwise. Let the EGTs drop to 325 at least prior to shutting down.
mmomega
AnyTimer
If I pull in to fuel up I keep the engine idling until I'm done fueling then I may shut it down to go inside if I'm going to be real quick then i just leave it running. When I get to a campsite I pull into my spot and leave the truck running until the trailer is plugged into power, water and unhooked from the truck. I keep these schedules and I won't have to worry about shutting the engine down too early.
Even when I had my turbo car I had a turbo timer set to 2 minutes and it would kill the engine so I didn't have to worry about it. Just pull out the key and it'll keep the engine running either for a specified amount of time or by a temp reading if you have a probe for it.
Sorry to hear about your troubles though but at least it got covered and you ended up with new parts and oil change for a little inconvenience. It definitely could have been worse, glad to see every things ok.
Even when I had my turbo car I had a turbo timer set to 2 minutes and it would kill the engine so I didn't have to worry about it. Just pull out the key and it'll keep the engine running either for a specified amount of time or by a temp reading if you have a probe for it.
Sorry to hear about your troubles though but at least it got covered and you ended up with new parts and oil change for a little inconvenience. It definitely could have been worse, glad to see every things ok.
Crumgater
Well-known member
We just got back from a 2000 mile trip of the NW, and had an issue with the turbo, thought this crowd could shed some light on it.
We were climbing a pretty good grade in Oregon, up Butler Canyon on Hwy 197 (10 miles to go from 1200ft to 2600ft) with the set cruise at 60 mph - and everything was holding fine. Then near the top, the cruise popped off and we lost 50% of our turbo capabilites. We limped the rest of the way to the top at about 30mph... and still had 30 miles of hilly terrain to go to get to civilazation at The Dalles. We limped all the way - downhill up to 55mph (no problem) and up hill only about 30mph - at about 3000 RPM with turbo pressure showing straight up (20 psi/50%).
This is our first diesel, so we're sweating it at this point. We don't have any extra guages on the engine, so we're relying on the Ford engine to save itself from too-hot temps. Oil and Tranny temps looked fine - right in the middle of the guages. I had read this post before our trip, so we'd been careful to let the engine and turbo cool off after towing before shutting down.
Once we made it into The Dalles, we idled the engine for a good 5 minutes, then shut it off and opened the hood. I read what I could in the manual, but didn't find anything. The only thing that was mentioned at all was a blue 'reset' button on the air filter. We pushed it - and it 'popped' loose. We let things cool for a good 20 minutes, then started 'er up again and headed on down the road. At this point we're on I-84 heading down river. And all was good in the world again. Turbo was back 100% and cruise was enabled again. Made it the next 200 miles home with no issues.
Any thoughts on what happened? My guess was that the turbo exceeded safe temperatures and disabled itself - the air filter 'reset' button might have had something to do with it, but I don't know what that restricter button does. Once we were cooled off and 'reset', we were back in business.
Guess it's time for a fancy set of temperature guages. Any recommendations?
Thanks!
-Tina
We were climbing a pretty good grade in Oregon, up Butler Canyon on Hwy 197 (10 miles to go from 1200ft to 2600ft) with the set cruise at 60 mph - and everything was holding fine. Then near the top, the cruise popped off and we lost 50% of our turbo capabilites. We limped the rest of the way to the top at about 30mph... and still had 30 miles of hilly terrain to go to get to civilazation at The Dalles. We limped all the way - downhill up to 55mph (no problem) and up hill only about 30mph - at about 3000 RPM with turbo pressure showing straight up (20 psi/50%).
This is our first diesel, so we're sweating it at this point. We don't have any extra guages on the engine, so we're relying on the Ford engine to save itself from too-hot temps. Oil and Tranny temps looked fine - right in the middle of the guages. I had read this post before our trip, so we'd been careful to let the engine and turbo cool off after towing before shutting down.
Once we made it into The Dalles, we idled the engine for a good 5 minutes, then shut it off and opened the hood. I read what I could in the manual, but didn't find anything. The only thing that was mentioned at all was a blue 'reset' button on the air filter. We pushed it - and it 'popped' loose. We let things cool for a good 20 minutes, then started 'er up again and headed on down the road. At this point we're on I-84 heading down river. And all was good in the world again. Turbo was back 100% and cruise was enabled again. Made it the next 200 miles home with no issues.
Any thoughts on what happened? My guess was that the turbo exceeded safe temperatures and disabled itself - the air filter 'reset' button might have had something to do with it, but I don't know what that restricter button does. Once we were cooled off and 'reset', we were back in business.
Guess it's time for a fancy set of temperature guages. Any recommendations?
Thanks!
-Tina
jpajax
Well-known member
Diesel need a great volume of air, sounds like to me the filter needs changing or something block the air intake. If you have a chip or computer up grade you might need to upgrade air intake. The thing to remember more fuel more air, more air bigger exhaust to let it out. Don't know that much about Ford power suckers lol but it could be that something could have overr heated and the computer cut the fuel back to save engine.
Hastey
Oklahoma Chapter Leaders
If your Exhaust Gas Temp (EGT) gets to hot the computer will de-fuel the engine in a "self-preservation" type mode. Kinda like the Terminator can't self terminate LOL!
Pulling in the hills will keep the turbo manifold pressure up real high. I have a edge computer and monitor on my D/A and you can watch the EGT go from 700 to 1250 almost instantly when you run the turbo up. If your engine can't get rid of the heat it will damage it. I have the Edge package, 4" exhaust and AFE high flow intake.
May not be your problem but I'll bet it's a good place to start.
Pulling in the hills will keep the turbo manifold pressure up real high. I have a edge computer and monitor on my D/A and you can watch the EGT go from 700 to 1250 almost instantly when you run the turbo up. If your engine can't get rid of the heat it will damage it. I have the Edge package, 4" exhaust and AFE high flow intake.
May not be your problem but I'll bet it's a good place to start.
mmomega
AnyTimer
^^ What he said... I agree, EGT got too high, computer started de-fueling to keep the temp from rising anymore and melting pistons.
When this happened did the truck downshift any or was it still pulling in the highest gear?
TXBobcat
Fulltime
Tina
I am not an expert, but I have driven in mountains all my life. I was raised in Wyoming and the Rocky Mountains were my home ground.
One thing in my opinion is you should not be climbing with cruise control on unless you have one hunk of a powerful truck. The cruise tries to maintain the set speed. It will shift down and excelerate to meet the set speed and you will never keep 60mph going up big grades. I went up the 8% grade on I-90 north of Butte Montana. I got down to 39mph and kept as close to 2500 RPM's as I could. I do have a set of Edge Electronic gages which helped me see my Temps and I let off the excelerator to keep the temps down. If necessary I worked my transmission to a lower gear and maintained RPM's between 2500 & 3000.
You're cruise control only knows one thing. Max excelerator to meet set speed. Don't worry about speed, worry about gear and RPM's and you should have no problems.
That's what I do.....
FWIW
BC
skyguy
Well-known member
Ditto what Bob just said! I installed gauges before I installed my DP Tuner, so I would have some base numbers before I installed the computer. I immediately found out I couldn't travel even in the hills of Colorado with the cruise control on - the EGT goes nuclear uphill!
I learned right away to drive by the gauges, even if it means backing off on the accelerator some. Get to see more of Colorado that way...
Al
I learned right away to drive by the gauges, even if it means backing off on the accelerator some. Get to see more of Colorado that way...
Al
Hastey
Oklahoma Chapter Leaders
Roger that, cruise control is not your friend past the sign that says steep grade ahead. It will over work your eng/drive train and spike temp up to catastrophic levels.
Crumgater
Well-known member
Thanks for all the info - we'll have to look into some guages and I'll have to figure out a way to convince Dave to give up cruise control during the climbs...
When we lost cruise and turbo over 20psi the engine did downshift as well. We were running around 3000-3200 rpm going 30-35 mph up the hill.
I read one comment about a diesel with a similar issue which turned out to be a leaky hose... but that was a VW Jetta, so not sure that would translate.
The truck was also just serviced at the dealer (oil change & checkup), so the air filter should have been in good shape when we started our 2000 mile journey. We may have to take another look. We went through a lot of long dusty roads across Idaho, Utah and Oregon.
When we lost cruise and turbo over 20psi the engine did downshift as well. We were running around 3000-3200 rpm going 30-35 mph up the hill.
I read one comment about a diesel with a similar issue which turned out to be a leaky hose... but that was a VW Jetta, so not sure that would translate.
The truck was also just serviced at the dealer (oil change & checkup), so the air filter should have been in good shape when we started our 2000 mile journey. We may have to take another look. We went through a lot of long dusty roads across Idaho, Utah and Oregon.
TXBobcat
Fulltime
The important other part of the above is what gear you were in. Probably if you were in a lower gear and with the Cruise control off you would not have had a problem. I have never slowed below 39 mph and was going up the 8% grade on I-90 west of Butte Mt.
BC
