04 exhaust, cac, intake and turbo filled with oil

[toby]

Hey folks, first post here so bear with me! I have a 04 sick-0 with 111,000 miles on it, that came from another shop for a lack of power concern. The story is that the customer was driving, heard a "noise from the turbo" as he describes it and the truck stalled. Apparently the other shop had to add 11-12 qts of oil to get the truck started. There is oil running out of the exhaust. I pulled the hot side cac off and the turbo is full of oil. I pulled the intake tube off and the turbo is dusted and the bearings are shot (its obvious!) Pulling off the cold side cac tube the cac is filled with oil as well as the intake and there is once again no oil on the dipstick. My question is this... I have never seen this type of failure and wondering what to expect. Can a failed turbo dump that much oil into the exhaust and engine, or should I suspect crankcase pressure issues? I am leary to perform a crankcase psi test, as I already filled the shop with smoke and who knows with the oil in the intake and such what might happen. I have always wanted to see a runaway...but just not one in my stall!! LOL

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Toby

[Keith Browning]

And what a first post! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shocked.gif

 

Toby, you have a lot of things to consider and you will need to be methodical in your diagnosis. You AND the customer need to realize and agree that repairing this vehicle may need to be done in stages and you both need to be aware of the worst case scenario from the beginning. (engine, turbo and catalytic converter may all be toast) What intrigues me the most is that you said the customer heard a noise and the engine stalled.

 

When you run the engine does it start normally and run smoothly with no base engine or engine knock?

• If it does you could consider replacing the turbocharger, draining and cleaning the charge air cooler and tubes and replacing the catalytic converter. At this point you will need to run the engine and re-evaluate what you have. All of these parts need to be replaced any way so there is no need to feel like you are wasting time or money but at this point you cannot rule out additional damage. Since a considerable volume of oil has passed through the exhaust the truck will smoke for some time as the oil needs to burn off and clear from the rest of the exhaust system.

   

  .

• If the engine runs poorly, misses and knocks then it is quite likely that there is base engine damage as a result of the oil in the intake system. Repair as required. Be advised that even if the customer has that diesel engine warranty that extends coverage beyond 5/100,000 you will need to follow the warranty guidelines and the prior approval process.

My shop saw a couple of these on early build trucks. The root cause was leaking injectors that diluted the engine oil with fuel. Early build 2003 engines had turbocharger oil seals that failed due to fuel dilution resulting in turbo failures and engine failures. Check out the photos from Engine Failure One that shows that failure. Notice the carbon build-up, melted crusty pistons and melted glow plug tips.

 

That engine ran away. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cover.gif

 

Point being that if the first scenario fixes the damage and the base engine appears to be okay you need to determine why the turbo failed. Don't rule out fuel dilution and we can test for that when and if we get to that bridge... but that is not likely on a 2004 truck.

 

 

Good Luck!

[toby]

Well I did get it started in the shop after pushing it in and charging up the batteries. Even with 2 hoses hooked up to the exhaust I still filled the shop with smoke. The engine ran like a bag of you know what at idle. I didnt even dare try and rev it up at all. The customer did say that he had heard the engine "knock" but that he is also not all that "in tune with diesels" I was figuring that at the minimum the turbo and cat need replacing and the CAC cleaned. This is a retail job so I was not wanting to spend more of the customers cash than needed, but also dont want to blow him out of the water right away with a motor right off the bat. Thanks for your reply and I will do some more checking in the morning and see what way the customer wants to go.

[LARRY BRUDZYNSKI]

What's the air filter look like? We see alot of turbo failures due to air filters being restricted and pulling the thrusts out of the turbos and filling the comp. housings and cac's full of oil.

[toby]

Well the air filter was full of dirt and dust, a fair ammount fell right out when I took a look at it. I quoted the guy a turbo, cat and CAC cleaning and he figured I was full of crap. "His friend rebuilds turbos, and this same friend says there is no way it needs a cat and that I am full of it". /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/icon_crazy.gif So after towing it to our shop from another shop, he sent a tow truck to pick it up before I could even get the cac tubes back on! This guy has now spent more money in diag and tow bills than its even worth. Oh well, thanks for the help guys, I am sure I'll need more some day.

[LARRY BRUDZYNSKI]

Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, you probably wouldn't want to marry this one.

[mchan68]

So after towing it to our shop from another shop, he sent a tow truck to pick it up before I could even get the cac tubes back on! This guy has now spent more money in diag and tow bills than its even worth. Oh well, thanks for the help guys, I am sure I'll need more some day.

Well, let's hope the engine DOES runaway on him!!! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif All kidding aside, "customers" like that you just don't need. Believe me, I get more than my share of them! I have one replaced both of his batteries himself two years ago. Just last week, he came in and bought two new batteries because he doesn't like how slow it's cranking in the morning, during cold starts. He wants the two batteries that are in his truck now, returned for warranty reimbursement, but he doesn't want to pay for diag! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/icon_crazy.gif