Is my turbo going bad?
 

Today coming home from work my truck made a n awful screaching noise. You can only hear it at low speeds. It only does it once in a while, it seems to be only when you get the rpms ups. I thought it was the belt, but the belt looks to be good, got another one I will put on tomorrow just to make sure. I drove it to the store to night and nothing happened. Went to move the truck tonight and it did it again. Could this be my turbo going out? If so should I stop driving it immediatley until I can get the turbo rebuilt? Thanks

Oh yea, 02 f250 fx4

Quick test.

Rev the engine in your driveway. If you can get it to screach, it's the belt.

The turbo won't spool up until your engine is under load. Revving the engine in the driveway doesn't put a load on it, so that's how you can separate the noises.

You could always remove the fan belt as well to completely rule it out.

I can't get it to duplicate it in P or N just when I was driving it. It only did it a couple times yesterday and nothing today. I did notice though that my boost will usually run up to about 22 psi and today I would be lucky to get it past 15psi.

I had a similar thing happen monday noise seemed to go up and down with turbo whistle when I would get on it some would go away then come back at lower throttle

after it warmed up bout 2 mi abruptly stopped and hasn't come back

I just spent an hour replacing my "belt tensioner assembly" cause after my fuel leak incident last week and the subsequent degreasing of the motor I appearantly washed all the lube out of the smooth wheel. Stupid parts house could order the two pulley wheels for $33 each, and take two days for delivery, or I could get the whole assembly for $79 immediatley. loosen belt spin belt tensioner wheels and make sure they have no drag, and are smooth. If not Orielleys has the assembly in stock. But like Curtis said if it doesnt do it in P or N then it may be the thrust bearing in the turbo.

I will check the tensioner pulley just to be sure. Stupid question what is the thrust bearing? Could I get the wicked wheel and that cure the problem or am I looking at having to get the whole turbo rebuilt? If I have to get the turbo rebuilt am I better off getting a aftermarket turbo like a garret ball bearing? Thanks for all the help

You should check your turbo bearing at your earliest opportunity. Remove the rubber boot that attaches to the turbo inlet. Grab hold of the nut on the center of the compressor wheel with your thumb and first two fingers. Test the end and side play by pushing and pulling on the nut, and by trying to move the nut left and right and up and down. The nut shouldn't move more than a few thousandths of an inch in any direction, and for sure, you shouldn't be able to force the wheel so that it touches the case.

think that was my problem top idler bearing is still intact but sounds like separators is broke
didn't make any noise idling or reving and is still quite but on my way to get a new one

you have the 6.0 right? if so it could possbily be the turbo they kill those things off quick, well in my expierences they have

My turbo turned out to be the issue and I shared those symptoms. My WW had been hitting the inside of the compressor housing, and once I got the turbo off the truck, all the fins on the exhaust turbine were jagged and weak. Still can't figure out why... :-huh Eugene's troubleshooting method is the way to start. I would eliminate the turbo shaft play issue (it's easy), hoping it's not the case. I'm thinking the belt pulley would be the next easiest step.

I did pull the intake off before heading to work and it appears that the housing is slightly lighter in color than the rest of the housing, almost like the wheel has slightly been brushing the inside. The wheel seems to have a little play and if I remeber correctly I can force the wheel to touch the side of the housing. The fins are not pitted but appear to have a lighter color than the rest of the wheel on the fins leading edges. I will try to figure out how to post some pics. Since it appears that I have to much play, how can I tell if the housing is still good and what do I need to get to fixs this problem. It is my daily driver and need to get it fixed ASAP. On a side note it only made the noise once on the way home from work this morning and nothing tonight on the way to work. Thank you for your help. Hopefully I won't have to get a whole new turbo.

If u get a new turbo, go stage 3 haha.

Now what 02 do you know of that has a 6.0. I wanted the dependable 7.3 http://campaigns.ford-trucks.com/for...ons/icon10.gif

haha, my bad, i forgot 01 wasnt the last year for the 7.3

The same thing happened to my early 99 turbo at 50K miles. I'd be interested in getting all the details on your failure as one of my projects is to try and come up with models to predict wear out mechanisms vs mileage and operating conditions. I blame my failure primarily on my switching to the open element cone K&N Aircharger. Only time will tell how long my new turbo will last with my replacement AIS which I switched to just after getting a new turbo. I now have a sensitive air flow gauge to monitor for any signs turbo surge which is what did in my original turbo.

Since you need the truck ASAP, your best bet is to have a rebuilt turbo installed. I can't remember the exact #, but there's a several hundred $ core charge if you don't take your old turbo in when you receive the rebuilt one.

You're taking a chance of doing serious damage to your engine if you keep driving with a worn out turbo bearing. That wheel spins at over 100,000 rpm, and if it comes apart in small enough pieces, they might get past the IC and into your engine. If you must drive it, really baby it as much as possible, no high rpm's and easy on the throttle to keep the boost as low as possible.

After you've figured everything out and have time, I'd also like your details for my failure model project.

I found a rebuild kit for the turbo. I have two options, first is a kit that just has the thrust bearings and journy bearings, Second is a cartridge that has the shaft bearings and the wheels. What would be my best option? There is about a 300 dollar difference and as always money is an issue. Also if I just go with a new bearing kit, and turbine wheel what exactly has to be done to balance the wheel? Thanks

I don't think you necessarily have to get it rebalanced, but it would probably be a good idea for a high performance application. My early 99 rebuilt turbo came with a 99.5 wheel that surged like crazy, and I had the wheel changed back to a new OEM 99 (WW) wheel, and was told what I just said. That was several years ago, and my bearing is still nice and tight.

Your best option is the complete cartridge because it's also worn. How much is the entire package? Several years ago I paid 900$ for a new (rebuilt) turbo, and that was from a Ford dealer because I broke down on the road and wanted it fast. There might be cheaper rebuilt options available. That way it's been all balanced as a unit, and comes with a warranty.

The rebuild with the bearings is 100 plus new wheel for the heck of it 80 so around 180. The whole cartridge is 480, that is bearings, plus new turbine and compressor wheels, and new shaft. turbo between 750 and 1000 (for around here) I can just get a used turbo with no rebuild for 300 but that just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

You mentioned that you have some wear on the turbo housing where the wheel has been rubbing. Your boost performance depends on keeping that gap small. That's why BB turbos build higher boost than ones with a bearing cartridge. The BB allows for a tighter tolerance and a smaller gap. I'm not suggesting a BB because they're expensive and have other drawbacks as well, I'm just saying that if you've worn that gap too large your rebuild won't hold quite as high max boost as one with a new housing.


If the used one came from a wreck, the turbo might be in excellent shape. BTW, if you shop for used turbos, and feel the play in the bearing, it will seem too lose, but that's because there's been no oil in the bearing which tightens it up. I bought my rebuilt turbo from the local Ford dealer but I helped to install it at an independent shop. When we took it out of the box, the bearing felt too lose to me and I was certain that I'd been sold a bad turbo. So off to the dealer I went, and he pulled his 3 remaining units off the shelf, and they all felt just as loose as the one I just bought. Anyway, if you shop for a used one be aware of this, and if it was me, I'd bring a squirt type oil can with 15-40w and squirt it up the oil passage and feel the bearing before and after to see if it tightens up like it should. Also, squirt oil up there when you install one so it doesn't run dry at initial start up.

The wear is more like a discoloration of the metal in the houseing. I think I caught it soon enough that there are no gouges or sratches in the houseing. You mentioned a little play in the bearing would that be the same if the turbo was still on the truck? even with the turbo bearing having some play in the bearings you should still not be able to get it to touch the side of the housing right? Thanks again for all your help. This website proves to be priceless in the money that you'll are able to save people with your experiance and know how.

My turbo bearing was so worn (didn't know it at the time) and I was towing up a mountain grade and I heard a pop, and then my truck sounded like a police siren. My wife thought there was a cop behind us, but I could tell it was the turbo. I was able to limp about 75 mi to the next small town, Yuba City, CA, and pulled the intake and did the wiggle test, and I could flop that wheel around in all directions, up down left right in out, and it would easily touch the case in any direction. After we removed the turbo, I could see that the turbine (exhaust side) had been hitting the case and chipped the corners of some blades in several places which was making the siren noise.

I've checked my new turbo several times, and both times the truck had not been run for a day or so, and the bearing always felt good and tight. I think that once the oil gets into the bearing it stays fairly tight, but I guess if the truck sat long enough the oil might drain out some and it would loosen up some but I'm just guessing. If someone with more experience than me doesn't chime in here, start a new thread with a specific title asking for help from someone that's rebuilt their own turbo, I know that a number of FTE regulars have done that, and could give more details on exactly how tight it should feel under various conditions. I think I've about told you all that I know, but I'll try and keep tabs on this in case I see something that I can help with.

thanks for you input I will do that