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1994.5 - 1997 7.3L Power Stroke Diesel  

compressor wheel damage

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Old Feb 3, 2015 | 05:48 PM
  #1  
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compressor wheel damage

I've had my truck for 3 years, bought her around 255k miles, put about 25k on it since then. I thought it was running well that whole time. Recently there were some problems starting in the cold, so I replaced the glow plugs and the batteries, which has helped a lot. Unfortunately there's often still a good deal of smoke on starting. And then, there's what I saw when I took a look at the turbo during the GP replacement...



Pretty sure this ain't how it's supposed to look. What could have done this? In the time I've owned it, the truck has never run without an air filter. How dire is this for the engine's health?
 
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Old Feb 3, 2015 | 05:51 PM
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It's not good for the turbo itself, as its running out of balance.


What style of air filter setup?


Does the wheel/shaft have any in/out play, or excessive side to side where it contacts the housing? Doesn't look like any marks on the housing, but hard to tell for sure.
 
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Old Feb 4, 2015 | 08:34 PM
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yea ya probably wanna get that addressed.... somebody before you probably sent some crap through it.... then again my buddy has a 97 that he bought that has about 3/8 to 1/2 inch of in and out play.... went probably 200 miles like that when he bought it... made boost an all never any funny noises really or impact to the housing..... haven't really diaged it to figure out why its doing that cause its been winter an all....
 
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Old Feb 4, 2015 | 09:45 PM
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I dont want to alarm you, but while you have the GP's out, you should run a compression test. Anything that went through that turbo also went through your motor.

Granted, my turbo wheel looks ALOT worse than that, and I haven't ran a compression test yet.

Just something to think about.
 
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Old Feb 5, 2015 | 04:15 PM
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Yikes! I wonder if the thrust bearing going out could cause wheel warpage? Short of dropping something into the air intake and it got chewed up...

In the bottom of the picture: the compressor wheel appears making contact with the housing. It's either the crack in my screen, or you can see a dark line where it has taken some metal off of the housing, which is probably why you haven't noticed it until now.

Also, You have what looks like a lot of oil getting blown into your turbo. Probably from the Crank case vent.

I guess now is now a better time than not for a turbo upgrade!
 
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Old Feb 6, 2015 | 08:06 PM
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I agree there looks like a line on the housing, showing where the wheel hit it at some point. I don't think it's hitting right now. There didn't seem to be any shaft play in the turbo, either in-and-out, or side-to-side.

It had a K&N, I just replaced it with a standard paper filter.

I should definitely have done a compression test, but I didn't. That would just tell me whether one of my cylinders is hosed, right?

Does the oil mean I should replace the PCV valve? Does this truck have one?
 
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Old Feb 6, 2015 | 08:19 PM
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The oil is normal. The crankcase vents back into the intake through the dog house on top of the driver side valve cover. There is no pcv valve.
 
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Old Feb 7, 2015 | 02:25 AM
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Originally Posted by efjellanger
I agree there looks like a line on the housing, showing where the wheel hit
ome point. I don't think it's hitting right now. There didn't seem to be any shaft play in the turbo, either in-and-out, or side-to-side.

It had a K&N, I just replaced it with a standard paper filter.

I should definitely have done a compression test, but I didn't. That would just tell me whether one of my cylinders is hosed, right?

Does the oil mean I should replace the PCV valve? Does this truck have one?
How long did you have the k&n? If it was to any length of time, that is what likely killed your turbo...

Richard
 
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Old Feb 7, 2015 | 06:37 AM
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My truck had a k&n for 6 years. My best friend owned it and I actually gave him the filter after I sold my xcab years ago. My wheel still looks new. I would bet the whole filter housing is deformed . I hope the op did a 6637 type filter and not an OE filter type.

Just a heads up as that engine won't take that dirt intrusion long. That blade needs replaced asap!!!!
 
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