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Catastrophic turbo failure

5K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  kendallcschm 
#1 ·
Well the title says it all. I'm assuming the bearings came apart
and let's just say it isn't pretty. Turbine wheel is completely gone
And I'm assuming the housing is too. This is where I need help this is going to be my first major tear in to a 7.3 I've work on diesels in the past mostly 5.9s since this is my first ford which I love I'm just wondering what pulling this apart really involves since I'm use to seeing tubos fed via a oil line not a pedestal and if it comes off as one unit or two separate pices. Also one more thing is if pieces of the turbine wheel made it to the inter cooler how would I clean it out? Any info would be much appreciated since I am a newbie to the 7.3:
 
#2 ·
#3 ·
That sucks!

Turbine wheel is on the exhaust side so all that debris is out the exhaust pipe. The alum wheel that draws air through the filter is a compressor wheel. That indeed can make it to the intercooler but most likely stops there. You should pull the intercooler and shake all the debris out of it. You might also get some oil come out of it from the ccv.
 
#4 ·
Thanks kendallcschm not really sure what caused it to fail motor was full of oil and I say was cause most of it went out of the exhaust and I had the valve covers off in November do to the harness coming loose on the passenger side and I was getting excellent oil pressure to the heads alt least at that time and it had good pressure today until the oil made a dissapearing act out the exhaust so as of right know I really don't know. Also thanks for the link it will really help once it stops snowing here in Vermont
 
#5 ·
The charger comes off w/o the pedestal. It's been about 10yrs since I did this exact same thing a few times on my early 99. So bear with me, you'll have to pull the drivers side valve cover, this is all you have to do to make room if I remember right. There's 2 o-rings to replace which should come with your charger. Hose the v-band on the exhaust with pentro 90 if you can get it, or any good penetrating oil i guess, about an hr before you need to take it off that might help it bust loose from the flange. When you snug the 2 hold down bolts they only get like 18 ft lb. Don't over do them like I did and end up back there with a right angle drill putting in heli coils :banghead: As far as the pieces go, I'd just pull the intercooler and shake the stuff out of it. It's an easy job, if I missed anything important I'm sure someone will fill in the blanks. Hope this helped. I was 18 last time I worked on a ford so I'm sure I missed something.
Edit
Just realized you said turbine wheel, did you mean compressor? If not you shouldn't have anything in your cac.
 
#7 ·
No prob :thumb:
 
#8 ·
How about if there is oil in the intercooler just use a standard degreaser or should I use something softer like a dish detergent like dawn and let it soak? And also when I start shopping for a new turbo prolly gonna be looking at a stock one since I'm just looking for reliability not really into going bigger but should I go new or are there companies out there that have good reman units that people have used and are satisfied with?
 
#9 ·
been there, done that brother. You'll need to remove the intercooler because the rest of the carnage is lying in wait, there.

No need to remove valve cover. Remove air assy to turbo, remove cac tubes and spyder assy, spray the **** out of the v-band clamps on the exhaust side and up pipe collector..(behind turbo). With time to soak, undo them and hit'm good with a screwdriver / crowbar..etc til they "POP". Now, undo the 2-bolts securing the turbo to pedestal. ITS REALLY THAT EASY.

Get'n to intercooler, theres a writeup somewhere, but i know you do have to remove the header panel crossmember bar, then its just a matter of vinnessing the biatch.

you might wanna get this...Riffraff Diesel: "Mechanics Parts Cabinet" Combo kit

Unless you just wanna replace the turbo pedestal orings only, then have at it, at the dealer.

Good luck.

I used dish soap, but really, i was more worried about the pieces of compressor wheel.
 
#11 ·
get some PB blaster to help get things loose.. it sounds pretty magical
 
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