'03 CTD question?

Glad you got it worked out. Parts are bound to fail after 12 + years regardless of who makes them.

45Ricochet wrote:
Great reply I guess :S Who needs AC in Canada anyway :W They actually have three different belts. One is non AC, one is with AC and yet another for AC with a EB. Oh wait.... not sure about the 03 with the EB. Anyway glad it wasn't a turbo although the AC replacement was pretty close to the same price. Only difference is one would be a Cummins failure, the other is a Dodge failure :B

Does it matter? Nice spin though! :W

Great reply I guess :S Who needs AC in Canada anyway :W They actually have three different belts. One is non AC, one is with AC and yet another for AC with a EB. Oh wait.... not sure about the 03 with the EB. Anyway glad it wasn't a turbo although the AC replacement was pretty close to the same price. Only difference is one would be a Cummins failure, the other is a Dodge failure :B

Good follow up report... And it's always good to here about technicians that can actually diagnose a problem rather than throw parts at it and charge the customer.

OP with another update.

Had a mechanic come to my place with his bore scope. He could not find any contact inside the turbo. After about an hour of trouble shooting found the AC compressor and the clutch bearing for the AC compressor were both at fault. The additional load made the truck feel like it was losing power. The bearing failing gave me the grating sound I heard after a few minutes of idling.

I also had a boost fooler chip in the truck. This mechanic seemed to think a number of other factors were also in play. The chip was on its way out, I may have picked up some bad fuel, and I also needed to clean my air filter. It was almost a perfect storm of things going wrong.

I had the AC compressor replaced yesterday and it seems to run fine now. I haven't had the cance to give it a real test, but I should this week, I have 2 fivers to move. One is mine and weighs just 14k lbs. the other is BIL and weighs close to 10k lbs.

if it turns out to be the turbo, changing it out turbo is about a one hour job on your truck.

Jack up rightside, remove tire/wheel, remove inner fender (6? screws), spray the four mounting bolts down with Kroil or some other penetrating spray, remove intake boot, remove intercooler hose, remove exhaust band clamp add heat to the four bolts and remove. reverse to install, note do not tighten the four bolts until you have the exhaust band clamp installed and lightly tightened!

Also pick up some Never-Seez High Temperature Stainless Anti Seize NSS-160 for use on the turbo mounting bolts. you might want to change out all of the hoses when you do this.

Don

A down and dirty way to check and see if you need a new turbo is:
Push the compressor wheel as far over to the side as you can get it. If it contracts the housing a new snail is in order. :)

On edit I can see the AH is a faster typer than I am! :B

Can you see where the turbo is contacting the inside of the compressor housing?

OP here with an update.

Took the air intake system apart yesterday. Physically checked them for cracks and soft spots. Found none. While it was apart checked for play in turbo. Found a small amount of radial play, no end play. So I put everything back together and started the truck. Ran for about five minutes then a rattling sound started, sounded exactly like a wrench had been left on top of the engine. After about ten minutes of running I heard a grinding sound. This one sounded just like gravel in the brakes, but I wasn't moving.

Near as I can tell, the turbo needs replacing. Next available appointment at the shop is June 8.

There is another mechanic specializing in diesels, Cummins specifically. I will also talk with him to see about possible upgrades.

Dan

Any updates from the OP?