turbo went poof

[boogiethecat]

I agree John.  I took the oil pressure thing as "no backpressure in the turbo" rather than "no oil pressure", and as it was, it ran fine for 30,000 miles.
I have to admit that I did wait 10000 miles between my last oil changes, maybe that killed it but that's hard to believe...

But when the oil thing first became apparent (that was in the first minute of it's operation) I pulled the oil feed hose and cranked the engine over for a second, and got totally blasted with oil.  So I thought to myself, "well, there's so little backpressure in this turbo that at the end of this line there's no pressure....and it is a free flow kinda thing, so it must be ok"... I then called Diesel Services and they said it was fine... so I moved the turbo to it's own oil gallery connection, checked it the same way and it flowed fine, my gauge started working correctly again, and away I went.  Until last week anyway...

Mysteries...

[JohnEd]

Boogie Meister,

I certainly agree that if the thing was not getting ANY oil it would never have gone 30,000 miles....except simply being carried as freight.

I don't think that 10K between the first oil change would have caused it either.

"AhHa!"  Said Sherlock at that Paul Harvey moment.  "Oil went everywhere" would have been my clue, as it was yours, that there was oil getting in there and copious amts that were doing the lube AND cooling job both.  For future reference, and my personal edification, should there have been ANY oil pressure readable at that point with 50 psi available?

That is the scary part to me.  With your having disconnected the feed line and giving her a crank....I would have done "exactly" as you did.  And that is not to be patting myself on the back as i think you are pretty savy.  What it really means is that I would have come to the same END.  That I don't like.  If possible, I would like to learn something from your dismal experience that gives me a measure of confidence that I would be less likely to repeat your journey. Something beyond "beats the shi## outta me".  No doubt, you pheal the same way.  I know you will share.

Thanks for the info and a great story,

John

[NJT 5573]

Gary,

If you only lost a few quarts in an hour, that is not a typical loss of oil with a turbo seal failure in my experiences.

I haven't worked on a 220 in a long time. I walked out in the shop to look for a 220 oil cooler because the later Cummins group favored plumbing the Turbo from the cooler with # 6 aeroquip. I didn't spot one, they are probably buried behind 20 years of parts, but the thought was if you are plumbed off the cam bearings, you may be short on supply. You may even have worn  cam bearings or have turned a cam bearing. If I remember right when that happens the 220 will stop oiling the rockers directly above it, (or east or west of it with a pancake engine).

While the turbo is off, why don't you start it and see what the feed line will pump into a jug. I think we use to pass/fail test them by seeing if they would hit the ceiling with force in a 20 foot tall shop.

Another thought about the 220 lube setup if I remember right is if the valves are real loose, you will lose pressure at the galley pickup point because they will let excessive oil flow to the valve springs. If you like to run the valves a little on the loose side, you may want to snug up the ones close to where you are picking up the turbo oil supply.

[boogiethecat]

Hmmm interesting ideas NJ I'll try it and see what happens.  At least the oil in a jug thing

I'm taking my oil off a gallery under the engine that's hooked right to the lines coming in from the oil filter (remote)
so I'd guess it's a good spot.  There was a 1/4 npt plug there, and in the same gallery a few feet back is where the oil pressure gauge hooks in.

I'll let you know how much I can squirt in the next few days!

Cheers and thanks
Gary

[NJT 5573]

Gary,

I was thinking about your pickup. Its been awhile since I had a Luber Finer apart, but it seems like they have a heck of a small restrictor in the T handle, maybe .050 or something. Both your turbo and oil filter could be mostly unrestricted. When you check the output on the turbo line before you put it back togather, why don't you check the return line from the filter and make sure it looks somewhat restricted so you can keep some pressure on the Turbo bearings. If you have a Luber Finer, make sure that the restrictor is still in the T handle.

[boogiethecat]

Boy I'm lost on this one NJ....

I don't think I have a luber finer in there... what is there is this:

Oil pump exits into a 1"id hose which goes to an external full flow cartridge style (Napa Gold) filter.  From that filter it goes back thru another hose to feed the main engine oil gallery, from which I tapped the turbo line, and farther down it is where the oil gauge taps off.  There's 50-60 Psi in that gallery, and if I block the turbo hose with a gauge, that's the reading I get at the end of it.  I can't imagine that I'm starving it.  I do remember when I checked it's flow years ago, it squirted all over me like crazy.  Probably would have hit that 20 foot ceiling!~  So there oughta be plenty of flow.
The shaft's bearing surface doesn't look burned, or even hot...

Time will tell, it's on it's way to Don's this weekend...

Thanks for the thoughts!!!

Gary