we towed our show car to a show yesterday (75 miles each way) (won best in show!).. 7000lb closed trailer.

but on the way there, there was one hill, 08 6.4 DRW, in T/H mode, it downshifted up the hill at 65 to maintain speed, no problem, boost at max (high between 3 & 4).. 3krpm, for 2minutes, crested the hill, started downhill immediately, and there is this sudden howling sound, turbo down at near 0 (downhill after all) as expected..

lasted 45 seconds, really loud.. thought something was about to blow up.
almost like the bearings on the turbo shaft were worn, and it was wobbling at high speed.. the sound winds down and tails off over time, not a sudden chop off ending..

happened on the way back too, different hill, not as long up hill time.

this is starting to worry me.. we have a 1000 mile trip(each way) to Tennessee in 2 weeks with the trailer, and there are longer steeper hills than this one. and I haven't added any repair time to the trip schedule.

what should I look for under the hood, if anything, before I take it in to Ford?

Sam

 

Does it do it or clear up when on level ground and not pulling hard? Don't know alot about Turbos so all I could think of is maybe you should run with full synthetic oil to help keep it lubed. The Dino oil might be breaking down from the heat with pulling on those runs.

 

I hear strange sounds made by air, usually when the motor is pulling hard up a hill, not down hill under virtually no load.

Sound I hear can be described as running your shop-vac and popping your hand on the end of the hose, kind of a quick pop-pop-pop sound that lasts for 10 sec. or so.

Now, the same popping sound does happen when I downshift to engine brake and I am being pushed rather hard by a trailer. It's rare but could this be it? I think it's some kind of thingy in the intake dealing with too much air flow.

At any rate, if any of this related to ya, I have 146,800 on the odo and no issues with any of the turbos or other engine stuff. Just radiators go out every 30K or so.

 

has only happened 3 times.. once last fall (reported in my 'first tow' post)
and twice yesterday.. all three times towing the car trailer..
(only had the truck since last fall)

ONLY after cresting a hill and starting down.

how can engine oil have any bearing (sorry) here?

Sam

 

not my sound, this is more like YEOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwllllll.....

Sam

 

Ok, well you could follow my philosophy, when it happens go WOT and break it or make it stop. 1 of the 2 will happen.

Congrats on the show award and best of luck on your 1K coming up.

 

your description sounds like the fan clutch kicking in to cool the engine down, then releasing again.

If it is this is normal.

 

Yep, engine fan kicking on...just coincidence that it came on right as you finished pulling.

 

never heard a fan before.. this is LOUD.. drowns out the radio..

Sam

 

Hey Sam, I think the guys are right. The fan kicks on a 225 degrees (water temp) in my truck, at least it did the other day when the outside temp was 92. It runs fairly often towing up hills at interstate speed for me. And, it is pretty loud.

you should get some kind of scan gauge or OBD II reader so you can see what's going on.

 

engine oil lubes the Turbos'. The turbos get very hot sometimes and cooling them down after a long hard run by idleing 3 minutes is not uncommon. The oil when hot does not lube properly. Synthetic lubes better then dino oil when hot.

 

Any suggestions on an ODB scanner? I don't intend to dpf delete, but would like to monitor egts etc.

Sam

 

Classic sound of the clutch fan engaging. I also notice on my stock temp guage it will go just left of center at just about the same time the clutch fan kicks in.

My IQ says 220F most of the time when this happens.

Good news is the tranny does not seem to creep past 200F.

 

I have the older generation Edge Insight. This new one looks even better. It's pricey but works great.

Edge Products| What's Happening

 

had the Edge Evolution in my 06 F150 ..

hm.. could I monitor engine temps with that (odb connection)..
maybe won't connect..

Sam