I just purchased my first Powerstroke. It's an '01 F350. I put on a reman turbo before I drove it 500 miles to take it home. No problems.

On the 2nd trip it started to smoke in the cab. At first I thought it was the insulation in the firewall burning. Upon closer inspection it appears to be oil leaking onto the turbo somehow. There is oil and carbon on the turbo and all over the firewall. There is so much smoke coming into the cab through the radio and defrost vents, that I have to crack the windows to get enough fresh air to breath. I checked the oil at the end of another 500 mile trip and the oil registers about half way between nothing and 'Add' on the dipstick.

I'm ready to light this thing on fire and call the insurance company. $$$

Anyone know what's going on?

 

Since you had swapped the turbo, first guess would be pedestal orings. Are you sure it's oil burning, smell? Second guess would be a blown high pressure oil line.

 

Does oil pass through the pedestal to lube the turbo? I have extra O-rings, that's something I could fix.

When we installed the new turbo we couldn't seat properly the clip that connects the up-pipe to the turbo. But there can't be oil leaking from that, right?

I've got everything torn apart right now and can check the Pedestal O rings.

 

i'd say, if the turbo wasnt seated against the uppipe collector, then the turbo is not seated onto the pedestal, either

 

The bolts that hold the turbo to the pedestal are secure. Doesn't that mean the turboe is seated on the pedestal?

 

If you had a hard time getting it lined up it's possible you pinched an o-ring the pressure in a low pressure system on you're truck can be 45psi! It's critical that the o ring is perfectly seated and the turbo is not under a bind from the "baby's butt" when torques down or you will probably have a leak! Are you sure the oil is not coming through the up pipes from a bad cyl? And last, why did you have to replace the turbo? What led you to diagnose it as bad?
Jim & fat Monty}

 

It wasn't hard lining up the turbo to the pedestal, or the up-pipe. I just couldn't get the clamp closed tightly enough to thread the bolt through the eyelet and get a nut on it. We had to buy a longer bolt and tighten it down.

How do I test for a bad cylinder?

I replaced the turbo because a piece of plastic was sucked in off the air cleaner and chewed up the fins on the compressor wheel. Made it sound like a wood planer. So I replaced the whole turbo to avoid any damage that could have taken place to the shaft or housing.

 

To test for a possible bad cylinder, check for blow by. With the motor running flip over the oil fill cap and try to set it on the oil fill, if it just vibrates off, you are probably ok, if there is pressure behind it trying to lift the cap, you might have issues, where you need to check compression. I'll try to find Trey's videos of this.

 

Here is Try(A/Ox4)'s video

2002 F250 7.3L Blow By with CCV Mod - YouTube

 

If you loosened the up pipes then you should have been able to get the index pin spot on!?!? And had no need for jury rigging the clamp! I guess I'm confused jere did you mix up the clamps possibly?
Jim & fat Monty

 

I don't think so. The clamp on the up-pipe is thicker and heavier, maybe to handle higher EGT's? And we left the downpipe clamp on the downpipe after unclamping it. The heavier clamp has a longer bolt, but it just doesn't seem long enough.

 

Di you loosen theup pipes to the turbo?

 

I didn't loosen the the up-pipe. But I was thinking about removing the piece that connects to the turbo, installing the clamp, and reconnecting the up-pipe. I just don't know if I can get in there to tighten it back down.

 

After months of headache and complaining I called the Ford Dealership. They told me that when they install a turbo they have a tech pry the up-pipe with a prybar to allow it to seat against the turbo correctly while another guy places the clamp.

So I took the truck to a non-dealer shop and they did so for $75. I really wish I would have done this sooner.

Conclusion: Exhaust was shooting out of gap between up-pipe and turbo, burned a whole in heat foil and smoke in cab was a result of burning insulation from exhaust gases.

 

Glad you got it worked out! I didn't look at the dates but reading threw the thread I was thinking the whole time the baby butt wasn't sealing like it should if you had to use a longer T bolt. It takes a little prying to get everything aligned and seated again after pulling the turbo off. Everything should be lined up and just perfect before putting any bolts in and tightening them down.