Yesterday the mechaninc cleaned out my turbo on my 6.0 because of a check engine light and power lag and white smoke. It runs just fine now. He said it was really dirty and crusty and the sensor was caked up. It only took him about 20 minuets. Does anyone know how to do this? and how long before it needs cleaned again? what factors might make it get dirty quicker than normal?

 

Long idling, and driving like a nancy are usually what cokes the turbos up. No clue how he could have cleaned it in 20 minutes. The turbo needs to come off the truck, disassembled, cleaned really well with scotchbrites and that sort of thing, reassembled, and put back in the truck. I've posted the link probably 100x on here, but here it is again...

Diesel Technician Society


Enjoy

 

If it only took him 20 mins. to clean, he did not clean it internally. The correct method for cleaning requires Turbo removal and splitting the Turbo case to remove the Unison Ring and Variable Vanes for cleaning. Here is a site that provides instruction for cleaning the Turbo. Diesel Technician Society

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Oops sorry Mdub707. I think we were both on the same page at the same time...

 

Yea thee is now way you could clean a turbo right in 20 minutes you could not eaven clean one that fast if was already off the truck

 

he said he cleaned out the inside of the casting/housing and some sensor that was in there. he said it was really crusted up which is what was causing my issues. he said some of the castings were bad when put on some trucks and the problem with them was that the castings were porous and collected soot worse than usual. he said the best fix was to get a new housing that wasn't porous (obviously). whatever he did it runs fine now. i was just wondering if it was something i could clean here at home. he said it would cake up again, but dont know how long it will take. i priced a new housing at ford and they want $1300 for one. a whole new turbo from ford is $1500. a new upgraded stock turbo from innovative diesel is $1300. i would just buy a new housing but damn, for same price i can get a whole new turbo and, it will be better than a totally stock one from ford. what are you guys' recommendations on new turbos or upgrades for turbos?

 

For an upgraded turbo id go with the garrett powermax. Can support 175hp over stock but doesnt require injectors

 

Yeah the powermax is a great stock replacement that will support more HP too, runs about $1250 shipped from the vendors on the boards.

You'll be fine with yours. I'd do the cleaning process myself because there is no way he cleaned the inside of that turbo in 20 minutes. Plus you'll learn more about how your turbo works, and you KNOW it will be clean. And it's free!

 

I hope my stock turbo will be ok. I went ahead and ordered the tuner with a towing tune,daily driver and the xtreme street. They said they would write them for a stock setup. Is there anything else I can do to maybe prevent the turbo clogging up or do you think it will be an ongoing thing until I get at least a different housing?

 

Don't worry about the housing. As long as it's clean it should be fine for a while. Don't be afraid to work that thing and don't let it idle for long periods of time without the high idle switch. The mechanic sounds like he's pulling stuff out of his backside. Never once heard of the casting in the housing being an issue. How do you think they'd fix that? Machine a housing? No. They're all gonna be cast, and that's not the issue. The issue is the soot sticking to the vanes. Just give it the ol italian tune up once in a while and it should be fine for years to come. I've never had mine off of my truck and I'm at almost 80K now, and don't plan on taking it off anytime soon.

You're gonna love that x-street!!! Still one of the most fun tunes I have.

 

Well it definitely got blown out this mornin. I got it hung up feedin the cows and had to rod the **** out of it to get back to the driveway. What is the best fuel addative to use in it and what size stacks do you have in yours?