It started smoking pretty good out of the blue not to long ago. I thought the maybe dirty air filter so put new one in to no avail. I do have an edge tuner and one size up modified turbo that I leave in 1 or 2 setting out of 5 settings. 2 for towing trailer. I have BD diesel injectors also ( 75 hp increase I think, I forget ) Boost pressure seems ok. I’m going to swap my original ( factory ) injectors back into it to see if I have a bad one or not. Am I on the right track here or am I missing something. Thanks
No codes? did you lose any oil? check the turbo outlet for a bad seal on the cold side. I'd look around for a while before swapping injectors.
I don’t have a scanner or code reader. Oils good. Turbo is pretty new. I couldn’t wait…. Just got the last 2 back ones to swap out and put everything back together.
Check the turbo.. Last time I saw that grey smoke it was a seized up wheel in the turbo..
coming on all of a sudden that was my first thought, not siezed because it still makes good boost but dumping oil down the intake.
How much blow-by?
If it has an intercooler pull the flexible boot off prior to the cooler and see if it is oily. If so probably a bad turbo seal.
I don't know there folks-- but it's not looking real oily in this port. *
And so it's known not all turbos have seals--some just have a reverse screw like the rear main on old stuff like a 39 Packard.
Hi all. Opened up intake side of turbo and checked the compressor wheel and feels tight and dry. As Truck Shop pointed out the port on intake side where grid heater is, is dry. I did finish putting in original injectors in and there is way less smoke, but its still there. I don't seem to be able to get as much boost pressure as before. When I took it out on highway and gave it some throttle boost would stop at around 20 psi. I had put a boost elbow on the turbo 6 months ago and it would spool up quicker and go up to 25-30 psi under full load. EGT's came down quite a bit after installing it. Is it possible the smaller injectors is the reason for less boost? All my clamps on intercooler hoses seem ok but I should probably upgrade all those hoses. Blow by seems good to me. Not a lot of miles on the engine since it was fully rebuilt by my friend the heavy duty mechanic who sold me truck. Of course I'm the one that got the turbo upgraded and put in the bigger injectors and edge tuner. I also put in a Fass filter system. Is there any chance the tuner can cause issues or is it something else? I'll have to start monitoring the engine oil level to see if it starts using excessive oil. Thanks everyone. I'm hoping to get this figured out before I get back into my D7E engine that needs attending to.
Fuel makes boost.
I wish I had a pop tester that would work with this style injector. I built one out of a small jack that I could test the 12 valve style but easier just to buy one.
If your pump is turned up and injectors were flowed to match, there will be a loss with stock injectors. Actually injectors are the key. The difference between a NTC pump that has been turned up and used with stock injectors was/is a waste of time. The difference is night and day.
Ok, thanks. I haven't done anything to the pump. Whats left to check?
Were the injectors you removed flowed for more cc's?
They are bigger injectors. 75 over stock if memory serves. I can get numbers of them to confirm.
I would contact the fuel injection shop that built them if you have that info.
Correction. I guess they are 50 HP over injectors. I bought them August 2022. I got them from Canadian Diesel Online.
I was lazy when I checked the turbo the first time just reaching around the rubber boot. I pulled it apart for a good look and can get side to side movement. Lesson learned.
Yeah-she kind of tired.
Is the wheel scraping the housing or is that a reflection.? If it’s scraping, u better not run it..
Yes , it’s starting to scrape. I’m going to ship it back to the guys who built it in Calgary. I’m without my truck for a bit.
Same place that built the injectors?
No. Outfit out of Calgary that only does turbo’s. A little over two years ago when I got it so we will see on warranty? A reasonable repair would make me happy.
Update. Both wheels were scraping housings so that turbo was shot. Ordered me a new one but screwed up, not allowing for the fact the old turbo was modified by them with a bigger wheel in it. The new one is just stock. I need the truck now so I installed it and took for test run and it seems ok. Ill hook up trailer tomorrow and see how she pulls. Manager there apologized and offered to bring in bigger wheel and do the upgrade for no charge on machining housings and labor to make it right. Its a bit of a pain to have to pull the turbo again and ship it back up to Calgary though so I will just run it for now as long as I don't have any issues with it.
Smaller wheel = faster spin = somewhat higher boost= somewhat higher compression.
A different story with the trailer hooked up. EGT's peaked at 1350 F pulling up a hill. The modified turbo ran way cooler around 200 degrees less. I installed a boost elbow two three months ago which increased boost up to 25 - 30 psi and helped with the egt's. The shop said they would put the boost elbow on the new turbo but it tops out at 20 psi so I'll have to find out what they did with my original one.
I have a question. Is there a chance the boost elbow caused the turbo to fail? I can't see it but not sure, thanks all.
Am I reading this correctly, you changed nothing but the boost elbow and you got more boost out of it? I would think you got more boost from restriction than anything else
cfherrman. When I installed the boost elbow to the modified turbo the boost pressure increased 5-10 psi before waste gate opened up. Stock turbo opens up at 20 psi.