wyleyrabbit
Well-known member
Hi everyone,
This summer while towing through the mountains (Stevens Pass, WA) we blew a pipe off of our engine. We went up the long steep incline, then down the long steep decline, then were on our way up a shorter-but-steeper incline again and I stepped on the accelerator and "*BANG*" it sounded as though a cannon went off under the hood. The dashboard lit up, check engine light on, computer displayed "reduced engine power" and...we had almost no power. Unfortunately, we were on a one-lane-each-direction road with zero shoulder so we continued driving for a bit. Our speed was greatly reduced, down to about half of highway speed on the flats, and about a third on the inclines. I knew that the engine computer would stop altogether if there was imminent damage. Our toddler learned a new word that day, and used it with regularity for the next several days...I guess that's what happens when Daddy shouts out a new word.
I towed another 20-30 mins until I was able to safely get off the highway, and coincidentally got us to our campground. Popped the hood and let things cool off, and then started poking around. The big steel pipe that comes off the top of the engine on the driver's side blew off and was just hanging there. With some Gorilla tape (like duct tape, only stronger) and zap straps, I was able to get the pipe back on get to the nearest city where I purchased some hose clamps to help the duct tape stay put. It took the dealership there 4 days to order in the replacement pipe assembly shipped to them and about 90 minutes to do the repair.
Talking with others in the campground, I learned that this is a fairly common failure, across brands of trucks. The guy across from me has a Ford F350 and he had experiences the same failure a couple of times. Coincidentally, a friend of mine was towing with his 2010 Silverado (Duramax) his travel trailer in Montana during the same time and blew his pipe off as well.
At the end of our vacation, we towed home over Stevens Pass without any issues.
I took the truck to my usual dealership here, and they have seen this part fail countless times. The shop foreman told me that apparently it helps if they run a bead of silicone along the seam between the rubber and steel pipes to prevent atomized droplets of oil from lubricating the connection. I asked nicely, and they took the new pipe assembly off and performed the "silicone job" (at no charge, I might add).
I'm neither a mechanic nor an engineer. It just seems to me that if this part is failing similarly across brands and regularly that there ought to be some way of helping prevent this from happening. Couldn't some well-placed aircraft cable offer additional support to this pipe to keep it in place when the turbo puts out hurricane force wind? Maybe someone here could chime in and say, "Yeah, that's a good idea" or "Forget about it"?
Chris
This summer while towing through the mountains (Stevens Pass, WA) we blew a pipe off of our engine. We went up the long steep incline, then down the long steep decline, then were on our way up a shorter-but-steeper incline again and I stepped on the accelerator and "*BANG*" it sounded as though a cannon went off under the hood. The dashboard lit up, check engine light on, computer displayed "reduced engine power" and...we had almost no power. Unfortunately, we were on a one-lane-each-direction road with zero shoulder so we continued driving for a bit. Our speed was greatly reduced, down to about half of highway speed on the flats, and about a third on the inclines. I knew that the engine computer would stop altogether if there was imminent damage. Our toddler learned a new word that day, and used it with regularity for the next several days...I guess that's what happens when Daddy shouts out a new word.
I towed another 20-30 mins until I was able to safely get off the highway, and coincidentally got us to our campground. Popped the hood and let things cool off, and then started poking around. The big steel pipe that comes off the top of the engine on the driver's side blew off and was just hanging there. With some Gorilla tape (like duct tape, only stronger) and zap straps, I was able to get the pipe back on get to the nearest city where I purchased some hose clamps to help the duct tape stay put. It took the dealership there 4 days to order in the replacement pipe assembly shipped to them and about 90 minutes to do the repair.
Talking with others in the campground, I learned that this is a fairly common failure, across brands of trucks. The guy across from me has a Ford F350 and he had experiences the same failure a couple of times. Coincidentally, a friend of mine was towing with his 2010 Silverado (Duramax) his travel trailer in Montana during the same time and blew his pipe off as well.
At the end of our vacation, we towed home over Stevens Pass without any issues.
I took the truck to my usual dealership here, and they have seen this part fail countless times. The shop foreman told me that apparently it helps if they run a bead of silicone along the seam between the rubber and steel pipes to prevent atomized droplets of oil from lubricating the connection. I asked nicely, and they took the new pipe assembly off and performed the "silicone job" (at no charge, I might add).
I'm neither a mechanic nor an engineer. It just seems to me that if this part is failing similarly across brands and regularly that there ought to be some way of helping prevent this from happening. Couldn't some well-placed aircraft cable offer additional support to this pipe to keep it in place when the turbo puts out hurricane force wind? Maybe someone here could chime in and say, "Yeah, that's a good idea" or "Forget about it"?
Chris