While pulling my car hauler trailer I noticed something new this weekend...my turbo started to surge. It didn't matter whether I was going uphill or downhill, the turbo boost gauge would bounce between 15-30. This has never happened before. Seems it would go away for a time after I stopped to fuel up or turn off the motor and allow it to cool, but would act up again once it was warmed up again. It generally was only annoying as you could feel the surge of power over and over again, but when I hit one hill that was a relatively long and steep, the surge killed any power and slowed my truck down to a point of near embarrassment.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Any thoughts?

Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Thanks,

Brad

 

Get it scanned for codes is the first step. You don't mention any check eng light or the wrench.

It could be the electronics to the turbo as an issue or the high pressure turbo as a problem.

Hard to say if even that is a right guess without the diagnostics.

first step is to scan for codes.

 

You are correct Senix...I failed to provide all the information. No check engine light or other visible failure identification appeared. Spoke with the dealer today, they are thinking it could be the turbo. Lucky for me, I paid for the extended warranty last year. Might actually pay me back this time.

I will post what is found with the intent to help others with a similar issue.

 

In my truck I started noticing a drop in mpgs and my regens seemed a little closer. I also noticed my boost on one particular road seemed to be higher then I had remembered.

I took it in, no codes just want I had noted. Turns out my high pressure turbo was a little over 3psi out of spec.

So no codes for me either. The tech called the hotline on this and they confirmed the diagnosis of the seat of my pants.

 

Thanks for offering to keep us updated, Bad Brad. What's the model year/mileage on your truck?

Crystal

 

My truck is a 2008 F350 with ~45,000 miles. I purchased it new and primarily use it to haul stuff and tow a couple different recreational trailers I have. I have taken over-the-top good care of the truck with all mechanical/service maintenance performed by Ford dealers.

FYI, my dealer has had my truck for over a week now, taking it for several drives and cannot mimic the situation I experienced. I'm picking it up tomorrow with their data monitor hooked up to it and running it over a long stretch of highway, hoping to get it to act up again. I'm taking my GoPro also in hopes that if it acts up I will have both data and video as proof of what is going on. Hopefully, I can share more news tomorrow.

 

As previously noted, my dealer couldn't mimic the issue I experienced with my truck a couple weeks ago. Seems they were about ready to give up and hand it back to me so I had a visit to their facility today. They hooked a 25' camp trailer up to it for me along with a system that would monitor/record what my truck was doing. I drove it for a good 50-60 miles before it started to act up. Luckily, everything was recorded...I'm very curious to what they will find. No check engine lights or codes ever came on. However, while approaching a hill with a pretty steep and long climb, the truck started acting up to the point I pulled over and let it rest. Under 100% throttle, the turbo would only hit 10lbs boost at the maximum and the truck continued to slow from a speed of about 65 prior to hitting the hill. I knew I wouldn't make it so I pulled over and gave it about 5 minutes before attempting it from a cold start. Surprisingly, the turbo bumped up to about 30 lbs or so boost and it accelerated up and over the hill.

This is getting stupid...the situation doesn't make sense!!

Any thoughts?

-Brad

 

Crystal, today the service advisor from my dealer called to inform me that they have determined that a sensor that measures the exhaust back pressure needs to be replaced and should fix my problem. Also, they found some flakes of metal in my fuel filter, but didn't think it was to a point that Ford would want to do anything about it. How metal can get into the system is very troublesome to me as I know that the places I go to for fuel have filters on their equipment. I cannot understand where this could come from. Luckily, we have fuel filters to prevent particulates of any sort from reaching the injectors or other parts of the fuel system.

My question to you. Do you know of a sensor that measures the exhaust back pressure? If so, if this sensor goes bad, could it cause the situation I've been having? Thanks!

 

This is a bad thing if it was infact a correct statement from the dealer. If they indeed for sure found metal flakes in the filter they should be investigating it more. First off was it the upper filter, if it was you have a big time fuel system issue about to happen. If it does happen it will pollute the entire system, filters will not stop it, and it will be costly. I would think they need to look further into the metal flakes, make sure you have that documented somewhere, drain the water separator monthly and run a good fuel conditioner, although it may be too late.

 

Hi Bad Brad,

Thanks for keeping us posted. I'm not a technician, so I'm not the best resource for mechanical questions. I'd recommend reaching out to your dealership's service manager - they'll be in the best position to help.

Crystal

 

I'll have to ask which filter it was in. I also feel that this should be looked into further. The fuel filters were changed out in April. To find something like this is disturbing. BTW, since our only choice is low sulfur diesel, I'm a huge advocate for fuel conditioner. FYI, my dealer seems to believe that the fuel system would be covered by my extended warranty. This warranty is from Ford and was purchased from the same dealer. Yes, it would be very expensive.

 

Truck is about done. A couple other warranty items were done with the sensor. Also, the metal was found in the upper filter...this does concern me. The service tech told me he wouldn't be overly concerned by this at the current time as it was only two really small flakes....not the amount they see when component failures are occurring. However, we are keeping an eye on it.

For those in the know, I have never seen the dash light come on that indicates water in the system, filters have been changed per or earlier than Ford recommendations, and the filter drained at least monthly when driven. One thing that does concern me is that the truck often sits in a garage for 3 months or more in the Winter without being started. Could condensation occur in the fuel system during this period?