Turbine shaft nut sucked in engine?

[gpd725]

Hey guy's got a weird one for you. I've got a 97 7.3 psd apprx 280k. When I got this truck it was a powerhouse, but power started slipping off. At first it was intermitten and now it is a dog full time. No whooshing sound. Power is smooth, but low. Sitting in neutral pressing the accelerator to the floor the truck struggles to exceed 2250 rpm after several seconds it will make some boost and redline. This generaly produces lots of white smoke. I never hear or feel the turbo anymore.

So with my limited tools I checked for boost leaks, tightened everything, checked the EBPV. Then it got interesting. I pulled the air inlet off to look in the turbo and the first thing I noticed was a couple of blades were slightly buggered on the leading edges. I felt the shaft play and could descern none in and out, but a good bit side to side. Then I noticed the threaded shaft sticking out of the turbine had no nut! After looking at a schematic online for the Garrett 38 it appears there should be a nut there.

Is it possible that the turbine is slipping on the shaft not creating boost? If thats my problem, where do I get a nut and how would I immobilize the shaft to tighten the nut? Thanks. Mike

[Zander's 5.8]

There's no nut there. The compressor wheel is threaded.

[don't ram it, stroke it]

White smoke indicates either coolant leak, or bad glow plugs. The slow to rev up issue sounds more like a bad injector issue....

[jesilvas]

Originally Posted by gpd725

Power is smooth, but low. Sitting in neutral pressing the accelerator to the floor the truck struggles to exceed 2250 rpm after several seconds it will make some boost and redline. This generaly produces lots of white smoke. I never hear or feel the turbo anymore.

That sounds like a fuel delivery or HPO issue maybe. And you won't get any boost basically in idle.

So with my limited tools I checked for boost leaks, tightened everything, checked the EBPV. Then it got interesting. I pulled the air inlet off to look in the turbo and the first thing I noticed was a couple of blades were slightly buggered on the leading edges. I felt the shaft play and could descern none in and out, but a good bit side to side. Then I noticed the threaded shaft sticking out of the turbine had no nut! After looking at a schematic online for the Garrett 38 it appears there should be a nut there.

Is it possible that the turbine is slipping on the shaft not creating boost? If thats my problem, where do I get a nut and how would I immobilize the shaft to tighten the nut? Thanks. Mike

Originally Posted by don't ram it, stroke it

White smoke indicates either coolant leak, or bad glow plugs. The slow to rev up issue sounds more like a bad injector issue....

Not necessarily and not. White smoke can be oil burning off. What does the smoke smell like? Check the turbo down pipe or exhaust exit pipe at the back. See if there's oil.
And GPs? That's only on start up.

[don't ram it, stroke it]

I thought oil burning off created blue smoke not white? He could also check to see if the degas bottle losses coolant over time right?

[jesilvas]

Well I guess I was thinking oil on the exhaust. Cause that happened to me.
And yep. Coolant loss is bad if it's not on the ground

[gpd725]

Thanks for all the replies! White smoke appears to be oil. Definately not losing any coolant. No coolant in oil. What are "GP's"? The turbo down tube, is that the exhaust side or the intake side? As far as burning oil, I noticed when I pulled the rubber elbow off the turbo it had maybe a tablespoon or more of motor oil in it. There was a hose coming from the drivers valve cover leading into the intake tract (PCV?). I assumed thats where it was coming from.

[jesilvas]

GPs are glow plugs.
The down pipe is exhaust.
The oil in the intake is the crank case vent. Normal.