Turbo actuator problems
 

So mechanic says turbo actuator is bad but says best just to buy new turbo. Turbo was supposedly cleaned 3 years ago by same mechanic. Do you guys thing a new turbo is needed or get by with just an actuator. Truck surges a bit going down road then sometimes no power or turbo boost. Any suggestions. No codes on vehicle. Egr delete was done same time turbo was cleaned

what year?

Its a 2005 6.0 powerstroke with around 170k miles

with my computer I can actually control the turbo vgt percentage to see if the turbo is working correctly.. but I'm I would put money on it that theres nothing wrong with your turbo. the truck uses the ebp sensor to control the turbo and I have seen them not throw codes and people will think their turbo doesn't work anymore. for $100 I would go to the dealer and buy a new ebp sensor and try it before diving into the turbo.. if it was an 03 truck I would say turbo. let me know if this helps.

So changing out the actuator wouldnt fix my problem. It could be a sensor. You feel the surging at mostly cruising speeds. Where is the ebp sensor located.

The turbo works it the surging is annoying. There is some loss of power at times. But its my wifes truck and when stuff happens while she is driving she is no help when I ask her what the boost is. Surging has been happening awhile apparently. Now she complains about power loss at times.

driver side next to the valve cover. 3 wire connector that looks just like the icp connector. there's a metal tube its connected to that goes down to the exhaust manifold. pull the sensor off and put shop air to the tube and make sure theres flow.. if its backed up or clogged you wont get a reading and it will tell the turbo no to shut the vanes. so pull the sensor check the tube and put a new sensor on.

So this sensor would cause slight surging going down road. Surging goes away when you accelerate so i know turbo works its just frustrating to figure this out without throwing money away for shop to diagnose and fix the right thing

I am agreement with "FULLY LIT" based on a past experience with my 06, mine has been fine ever since replacing my EBP sensor a few weeks ago.

ebp sensor and or icp sensor would cause surging but ebp is controlling the turbos actuator.. and keep in mind the actuator on your turbo is controlled by oil pressure.. so unless you have no oil pressure I would go after ebp first then go to the turbo. but if you had a scan gauge or something to see your ebp v and psi you would probably see it flux a lot because its not reading right.. and when you excel it spikes to 4v and your flutter goes away.