Pulled the intercooler today and found that the turbo had sucked in a blue shop rag. The entire shop rag was shredded and bunched up in the inlet side of the intercooler. I washed it out with water several times, flushed it, and let water flow through it for about half an hour after I saw the last piece of rag come out. I don't think anything made it through the intercooler...no rag pieces came out on the outlet side.

I also pulled the intake neck off and checked down in there, didn't notice any debris. It seems as nothing made it past the rag in the intercooler. I found alot of the aluminum compressor wheel pieces mixed with the rag particles in the intercooler.

I put the intercooler pipes back on, checked all fittings, and made sure everything was secure & snug.

I smoked a cigarette and prayed to the diesel gods that she'd run great.

I fired her up, and she idled great, let it warm up for a little bit, and then gave it some revs...It smokes white-ish smoke a little bit. I drove out on the back part of my land in 1st gear and barely cruising, and it was huffing a little bit of white smoke
It wasn't fully warmed up, and hasn't been ran in 1.5 weeks, so I figured it was no big deal.

I pulled out on the street and drove it like normal...it smoked a bit, and kinda ran a bit rough.

I turned around and put the hammer down, and it took forever to make any power, and smoked like a train when it came into boost. It took alot longer to come into boost, but I let off the throttle right when I hit boost, cause the black smoke cloud was too intense for the traffic. It runs decent, but not enough to driven daily. I don't know what the problem can be now?

I didn't have any "umph" to it, like it used to. The turbo doesn't spool nearly as fast, and it runs rough and sluggish (not as rough and nasty as when the rag was blocking the intercooler ) but still not like it should and the no boost/smoke is a concern...

The turbo is a fresh HX35W off a 24-valve motor, and the turbine housing is a 16cm2 Wastegated housing, with the actuator removed.... Did I hurt something else when the rag got sucked through?

I just thought of something while writing this...

I left the wastegate flapper on the turbine housing loose...must have slipped my mind...would that cause the low power & sluggishness? I guess it might be the no boost/mass smoke/sluggy problem since it can't build boost.

As most of you know, my head isn't working right since the turbo popped...I've got too many things going on right now and my truck is the biggest concern, so please forgive me for being a temporary idiot.

Any comments/suggestions/cut-downs are welcomed...

 

That's where I'd start first - no/low boost would cause lots of smoke and little power, and if the wastegate is stuck open you're just dumping the boost.

It doesn't sound like anything got into the engine, so I'd check everything between the air filter and intake horn thoroughly. Maybe pressure test the system once you check the wastegate and make sure ingesting the rag and turbo bits didn't cause a leak somewhere.

I'm certainly not a diesel expert - this is my first - but those are the places I'd start.

 

Well, I wrapped a piece of bailing wire around the flapper arm and to a bolt, keeping it shut. Went out for a test drive and it builds boost...but not like it did before. It seems really laggy.

You can hear the turbo spool up now, but it only makes about 30psi. It's still not pulling as hard as it was before all this happened with the stock H1C & 18.5cm2 housing. I can understand a drop in boost, by going with a larger turbo (HX35), but the lag is strange, since I've gone to a smaller housing (16cm2).

I don't know if it's just me or what, but something just doesn't feel "right".

 

double/tripple check for boost leaks

Forrest

 

Mabye the shop towel was pluggin a leak.

 

Im surprised ya'll havent caught this:

"I found alot of the aluminum compressor wheel pieces"

Sounds alot like your turbo is shot.

Be amazed it didnt snap the shaft when the rag hit it... Im amazed it still working as good as you say it is!

Take a pic of the wheel.. chances are therse some good visible damage from taking in a rag.

Something that spins in excess of 100,000 RPM must be balanced perfectly.. even a tiny chunk off the turbo blade will cause it to be off balance.

Then you get smoking due to oil leaking past the seals as it "wobbles", youll get poor lubrication.. Even more fuel smoking when it wont make the PSI your engine wants because its wheels are no longer perfect or spinning properly..

 

he replaced the turbo with a fresh HX35W off a 24-valve motor

brett

 

Timmay, I'm surprised you didn't realize this thread is over 4 years old!

 

So what was it that made the truck sluggish?

4 years ago

Michael

 

OK, where is the delete button............

 

Some of the rag particles made it through the intercooler and got caught up at the grid heater. A quick removal of the intake plenum and clean out the debris and everything was back up to par.