My compressor wheel is spinning fine, but the truck is smoking black real bad, the turbo whine is about half or less as loud as it used to be, and the truck doesn't "blow off" during shifts. I dont want to take the turbo out just to see if it spins, so any other input?

 

If it spins free and easy the other side is spinning too. They are on the same shaft

 

ooooh really?? So if the impeller shaft/turbine in the intake are turning so is the exhaust turbine??

 

Yes. They are connected to one another on the same shaft. Google pics of turbos and you should be able to find a cutaway which shows everything.

 

oh ok. Well I think this is good news? Pretty sure that means my turbo isn't blown anyhow...
Well whats my next step then? The exhaust flange is tight and hasn't moved.. so why would the turbo not be be spooling as loudly?

 

There could be a number of reasons. You need a boost gauge instead of just going by sound. You need a boost leak "detector" or more specificly a way to hook an air compressor to the inlet of the turbo so you can pressurize all of the intake tract and boost pipes, then look for a leak. You can make one for a few dollars with parts from Lowes or Home Depot.

If your compressor wheel spins freely, grab the shaft with the nut on it and push it in and out. See if it moves. It shouldn't move. Now push it up and down, trying to push it so the compressor fins would make contact with the housing. Do not try to press it up and down very hard or you could do more damage, just enough to see if it moves. It should move a little, but not enough for the fins to contact easily. Run the truck at idle and see if the compressor spins slowly. It should.

You definately need to make sure your wastegate and AFC boost lines are correct. The afc needs to have a line which comes from the inkake manifold to it. If that line is teed off to the wastegate then make sure the other end is plugged or has no leaks. If the teed part goes to the boost elbow and then to the wastegate, make sure the only leak is the controlled bleed from the boost elbow.

Since you don't know if you are running normal boost now and maybe too much before, you need a boost gauge.

 

I dont have an air compressor, and I probably shouldn't drive 40 minutes to my parents to use theirs right?
The shaft doesn't move in and out, and has very little side play. The fins didn't appear to make contact with the turbo at all. Yes the compressor spins slowly; I actually thought it was bad it spinned slowly .

The wg and boost lines are correct. The afc is fed off the line coming from the intake. The other end is plugged w/ a screw then clamped down.

So pretty much I stand at tryign to find a boost leak right? Can I spray ether along the boost lines and IC to see if they leak? I dont have a lot of cash to be towing this thing all over and having a shop do a leak down test.

 

some dish soap mixed with water would work, wont hurt anything. the best way to find a leak was stated above but you have to use what you have

 

Upon thinking about it I think my dad actually has a portable air comp., maybe I'll borrow it and make a fitting. What a pain in the *** this is. I cant believe a passion for diesel is so gutwrenching and can inspire so much hatred.

 

The turbo sounds good so you'd be fine driving it easy. A boost leak detector is a good investment of a few dollars. Mine is a 4" rubber drain coupler, a 4" PVC cap, two hose clamps, a male 1/4" quick connect fitting and some Teflon tape I had laying around. I ground the threads off of the PVC cap to make it smooth where it fits into the coupler and clamped it down. I drilled a hole in the cap for the fitting and sealed the threads with Teflon tape. I use the regulator on my compressor to regulate the pressure I put in. Dish soap and a spray bottle work well for finding leaks. When you clamp the coupler to the turbo, make sure it is real tight and on there good. When you pressure up, it can blow off and will scare the crap out of you. It may hurt you if it hits you and may damage something it hits, but more than likely not, there's just always a chance. I use t-bolt clamps for that reason instead of worm drive cheap stuff. It's more expensive though.