I passed someone on the road tonight and then when I let the truck get below 2000rpms the engine was driving very rough and felt like it was shuddering and making an odd sound. The engine drove rougher/shuddered the more I lugged it. I made it to my house(about 5 miles) and the engine idled very rough in drive and not as bad but still rough in neutral/park.

First thing I noticed when this happened was that when I would lugged the engine where it drove very rough, I could here a fluttering sound that was loudest at lowest driving rpms and I could also he it more prominently when I put my wastegate regulator up to my ear.

Second, when I put it in neutral/park to idle and cool down before shut off EGTs wouldn't get below 500 degrees no matter how long I let it idle.

Third, with the truck idling I checked to see if the exhaust sounded any different and it did. It sounded almost like a train, the way they make that pumping sound. The trucks straight piped but it definitely didn't sound like this before and wasn't as loud.

Fourth, I checked under the hood while the engine was running and I could here the pumping sound again, just not as loud, coming from the air filter or intercooler hose or something in that area around the twins.

Last, the truck was harder to start.

Water temp and oil pressure didn't act any different during this and I checked for codes and came up with nothing. I feel like it might be something clogged up or possibly turbo damage. Anybody have any ideas what this sounds like could be going on? Any responses will be greatly appreciated.

Brandon

 

Have read about a lot of failed injectors on the 600 engines. The HO has different injectors though. Fuel pump maybe. Just guessing - no CTD experiance. Sorry to hear - looks like you got a decked/moded out truck.

 

The first thing I would do is pull the boxes off and see if it changes anything. When one of these fueling boxes goes bad you get some strange symptoms.

 

Sounds like an injector. Any signs of diesel in the oil?
I'm with Dodgezilla, remove all the boxes and see how it runs.

MikeyB

 

Something else I noticed is when I start the truck and its idling, EGTs will climb to about 500 degrees and stay around there. Also at idle its puffing smoke with no color, I can smell it but not see it.

Is there a sure way to tell if its an injector? The truck doesn't run as rough above 2000rpm when the turbos are spooled good. If its a bad injector wouldn't it be rough through the whole rpm range?

I checked the oil and it looked the same to me. What would it look like if it had diesel in it?

Would I have to unhook the boxes or could I just turned them off?

Thanks for the replies.

Brandon

 

Maybe some contaminated/bad fuel? Try a fuel filter change if the box removal doesn't cure anything.

Trying to look on the brighter side of possibilities. Hope its not an injector.

Mike

 

Just started the truck again and the smoke at idle is blue and there is a lot of smoke. What does the blue smoke mean, unburned fuel?

Brandon

 

Have you pulled the radiator cap and checked for bubbles. Sounds to me like it could be a blown head gasket. With blue smoke I would also be looking at the turbos if the problem persists with the boxes off. Let us know what you find out and I truly hope it's something simple.

Richard

 

I haven't checked the radiator cap yet, but if it was a blown head gasket wouldn't the water temp get hot really fast? Could I just turn the boxes off or would I need to unhook them completely? Thanks for your support.

Brandon

 

I'm thinking the high egts at idle could come from a failing turbo that can't spin freely and is causing an exhaust restriction. This I have seen before in my work place. The bearings were just bad enough to stop rotation at idle but would spin up somewhat under a load and it had partially taken out the seal. If that is the case that would explain the blue smoke. Turbo failing but not dead yet could drag at idle or not rotate at all causing an exhaust restriction and rough idling. If it is a turbo dying it could also be leaking oil into the exhaust stream causing the blue smoke.

Just my past observations. Yes, I would start by removing the boxes and eliminate as many variables as possible. This still seems like a turbo or headgasket problem to me.

jmho

Richard

 

Something else I forgot to add was that I clapped off my blow-off valves. I talked to a guy tonight that goes to diesel school and he said it sounds like it could be a busted ring. He also said that it could be a blown head gasket or possibly a bad piston since the truck is idling so rough. He said since I closed the blow-off valves off and held all the pressure in the engine then it could have caused these problems. I appreciate all the opinions, it makes me feel better knowing that I'm getting closer to the core of the problem.

Brandon

 

Out of curiosity, since you already have twins what prompted you to close the BOV's ?

 

I'm not sure if it goes bad on these trucks, but it sounds a lot like when my mass airflow sensor went bad in both my mb and vw diesels. It may be a long shot, but it's probably worth checking your codes.. Good luck!

 

First, remove all boxes to eliminate that potential problem.

Second, open the radiator cap with the engine cooled down enough to avoid spraying yourself with coolant to look for oil in the radiator.

Third, check the oil level and look for signs of coolant in the oil. Milky looking, etc.

Ideas: If the engines idles rough and hot at idle I would suspect an injector is leaking. This raises the idle EGT's and can make that sound you described. I have heard that sound in the Common Rail trucks when the injectors are not sealing good and it sounds like what you described. If you have been running high EGT and increased pressure with the EZ box, the injectors would be my first suspect.

A broken ring is not something I would suspect from the newest engines. Too much is done to control the top ring temperature by Cummins and they just dont get that hot. Unless this injector has been leaking for a good long time and the EGT is always high in that cylinder.

I dont suspect that the head gasket is blown either, but I think its a good, cheap and fast idea to check the things I mentioned yourself.

Remove your air filter and check the ease of rotation of your bottom turbo. If at all possible, remove the cold pipe to the top turbo and do the same. This can help eliminate the turbos from the equation.

Don~

 

Gypsyman,

I clapped the BOVs off to see if it would make a difference. I talked to different people with twins and some are running BOVs and some aren't. I was told they weren't really need and I could close them off. And yes they actually did seem to make the truck run a little better.

I want to again thank everybody for your advise/support in leading me in the right direction and giving me a good idea on what could be going on with the truck. Now its time to work the truck.

Brandon