Took a look at my turbo wheel out of curiosity. Truck had a very dirty KN when I got it at 65k miles. It starts and runs great, doesn't smoke, oil was clean. Now has a 6637 filter on it. Is this one badly worn or is it normal to look like this on a 70k 6 year old truck? Do I need to be concerned about the condition of this wheel or my engine? Would it be a good idea to replace it with a wicked wheel and possibly adding an ats ported housing since I now have a DP Tuner and am getting some surge? Paranoia is setting in fast!!!

'01 f250 7.3 CC 6 spd
DP Tuner
4" Banks Monster
6637 Filter

 

Wheel looks decent, its a little dirty from the crank case vent oil. If a WW is in the near future, I say put a clean filter in and let it ride until the new wheel arrives.

 

From that photo the blades really don't look bad. I don't think the truck has ingested very much dirt and dust. What was the intake tube like? 65K miles on the truck isn't much, so I doubt the K&N was in there for very long. Besides, a very dirty K&N actually filters much better than a clean one.

I'm thinking you'll be just fine.

 

Looks good when you see nicks or is worn to a knife edge then start to open wallet

 

Doesn't sound so bad after all the comments so far. The tube only had an oil film in it. Not gritty and no visible chunks sticking to it. That little puddle of oil in the pic is about all the accumulation there was. Just don't want to find out I have a real expensive repair in my near future. I bought this truck last summer and so far all I've had to do is change all the fluids and filters. It has performed great and tows my car hauler great. Heres a pic of it with the Comanche I haul around.

 

I am at 64,000 miles and my wheel looks just like yours. I was relieved when I saw the condition of the wheel because the truck was used on a cattle ranch hear in Texas before I bought it and it spent most of it's time off road.

 

Looks fine...

 

No problems with that wheel.

 

^^^ and thats from a recently promoted turbo wheel destruction specialist/expert

 

Now that's funny. Right Jeremy...

 

Thanks for all the imput guys. I'm satisfied that all is well in my engine. Its great to be able to come here to learn about my truck and hear from others with experience and knowledge. I didn't know squat about diesels and still wouldn't if it weren't for FTE.

Next up for me I hope is an ATS housing and a Southbend clutch upgrade.

 

Your turbo is fine regardless. The reason you look at the blades is to see how much dirt the engine has digested. That grit grinds down the rings and cyl walls and kills your compression and power.

Here's my wheel at about 120k or so when I went to the big fat Napa. And yeah, that was my K & N air filter at the time! My truck has 200k on it now and runs great.

 

Yeah, and it's the truth. I didn't know that a turbo could be destroyed to the extent that I had and still seem to function ok, well except for the oil leaks.

 

Hey Fat,

See the how the center of the blades are convex? That is a sign that it's time for a new wheel. That is what we call a "breach" in the compressor wheel.

 

Hmmm, please elaborate Dan. That looks like what you said but I'm not sure. Doesn't look that bad, Should they be like a straight edge?