OK so I just bought a 2000 f250 cclb 7.3 And now the more Im looking at it the more I regret it. I decided to clean the intake tube today and found out that the impeller blade on the intake side of my turbo are broken. Now Ive replaced turbos before (on much smaller motors) but what i want to know is what may have caused this? Also what would be the most cost effective way to fix this? New, Used, rebuild??? Now that I got done looking at that I see this white almost soapy looking semisolid crystals on the waterpump. Im thinking I got screwed on this buy. I also noticed that the air flow gauge on the intake box it missing Im guessing some dirt took out the turbo because of it. So with these problems am I really screwed? And what other problems should I be looking for?
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Thanks In advance

 

WOW.....not good. That's the worst wheel I've seen. I would be amazed if the Turbo wasn't roasted. Sorry! Does it still build decent boost? I threw out my air filterminder long ago, it doesn't serve much purpose. Not sure what to tell ya about the Waterpump, others will chime in soon......

 

Those fins are beat up, no doubt about it. You may just get lucky and be able to swap in a new wheel. Many people end up putting on a 6637 intake (that's the number of the air filter CLICK HERE ) and an aftermarket exhaust. This makes "surge" much more noticeable so they install a Wicked Wheel. The WW helps reduce the surge that comes on more with mods.

You can get a new water pump for $150-ish, but you've probably realized that you want to do a complete flush. That means more time and many gallons of distilled water, but it's not that bad of a job.

Worst thing could be the dust that may have gotten in to your cylinders. You'll need a compression test to see if you're OK there.

 

OK Im a newbie to diesels how Do I compression check the motor? Im assuming since there are no sparkplugs Id have to buy some other tools to do it?

 

Welcome to FTE. The chips out of the wheel you're seeing is from foreign object damage. If the damage was all from dust, it would have more rounded edges and look like someone had taken a sandblaster to it. Now since that wheel is missing so many parts, and it can spin up to 130,000 rpm's while the engine is running, there's a good chance it will need to be rebuilt. Grab the center of the wheel with your fingers. If there is any in and out movement that you can feel, you need to rebuild the turbo. A little up and down or side to side movement is fine as long as the fins don't touch the housing.

A compression test involves using an adapter and going into the glow plug holes (under the valve covers). I'd start by removing the oil fill cap with the engine running and seeing what the blowby is like. Smoke coming out the tube is of no concern on a 7.3, but if there is any pressure behind the smoke, that's bad. A simple test is to flip the oil cap upside down and lay it on the fill tube with the engine running. If it just vibrates off, things are good. If it pops up in the air, that's bad.

How does the inside of the tube between the air filter and the turbo look? Lots of dirt inside? The factory airbox is a known weak link on these motors. Many do what's called the 6637 mod and change to an open element filter to eliminate this problem.

Clay at Riffraff can get you a rebuild kit for the turbo (with instructions and there are plenty of threads here with pics on the rebuilds), as well as help you out with a new intake if needed.

 

Good post , tried to rep ya . No joy ...

 

i would be concerned as to where those pieces went. Collected in the bottom of the intercooler maybe? What you reckon got sucked up in there to cause that type damage as i agree it had to be foreign object, not dust.

 

How many miles on the truck, and did you get a good deal? As long as these are the only major issues, if you got a good deal than I would say it's really not that bad. I say all of this because I'm just getting over a blown up transfercase. I mean litteraly "blown-up". Keep your head up man. Sometimes great trucks are made by their owners. Make it bad ***.

 

First of all...did you get this from a "car dealer," such as a Used Car lot? If so, Lemon Laws and non-disclosure laws can protect you, and you may be able to return it. Same thing with eBay transactions (sometimes).

If not, well, as mentioned, you will want to at least remove your intercoolers to make sure the chunks of metal aren't sitting in there waiting to be sucked into your engine. That's an easy enough job.

But on the bright side, as mentioned...if you got a smokin' deal, it may have been because the turbo was acting up and they didn't know what to do. Maybe if you rebuild your turbo and put a new water pump on, you'll might be good to go! We all hope that's the case.

Welcome to FTE. What a heck-of-a first post! Your photo made me cringe back like I'd grabbed a hot iron skillet with my bare hand...and also brought a tear to my eye.

 

Below is a picture of one at my shop a few months ago, It required a motor replacement due to low compression (subsequent of whatever went through the turbo)

I hope for your sake that all you will need is a turbo! But just be prepared to have to do more than that.

 

But with an CAC between the turbo and intake plenums on the SD trucks, the risk of FOD killing the motor is usually reduced. Unfortunately, we're left wondering what dusting signs the FOD may have hidden since the missing air restriction gauge is scary.

 

Very true!!

I actually see the damage on the turbo as a better thing than it being dusted. Do a rebuild on it, pull the IC tubes and clean and check everything. The motor could still be in great shape. A simple rebuild on the turbo and other "fixes" from us will leave you with a great running truck! Keep us updated on what find out.

 

Im gonna try the oil cap test in the morning after I clean it up and put it back together. But there was a lot of red dirt in the intake and pipe so im guessing whoever had it before me was offroading without that air restriction gauge By the way what is the CAC and FOD?

 

CAC - Charge Air Cooler (commonly referred to as Intercooler)

FOD - Foreign Object or Debris

 

Let us know what you find. Make sure the dirt was only coming from the hole and not also coming from an ill fitting lid on the air filter box. Those have been known to not seal well.