Could a piece of old turbo be clogging my exhaust?

JacobM5727 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:23 pm

Hello, I thought I'd registered here before but apparently not. This forum has been extremely helpful for me in the past. Thanks for that!

Some background:

I have a 2005 CRD I've had for about 4 years. Got it at 103k miles, now it is about 140k.

About a year ago my turbo went out.

I replaced it, and it's been mostly fine since. I could not afford a good turbo so I got the Chinese one which I have heard is horrible. I have issues when I accelerate to highway speeds. I've seen similar issues posted and their conclusion has been boost hoses. I've checked mine and they are alright.

There is a small crack in the intercooler, that seems to be a minor issue from what I've read.

I have no codes and normal looking smoke - maybe more grey than normal? Not sure what normal is honestly.

I just replaced my fuel filter head yesterday, it had the issue where it was letting in air through the heater connector. I was hoping it would fix everything, but while it seems better, the issue is still there.

My transmission died and was rebuilt about a month ago, should not be the issue since it was there before the rebuild.

MAP and MAF sensors have been cleaned. Air filters replaced - from K&N to normal.

So I have been assuming it was the cheap turbo, I seem to have a lot of turbo lag. Then I remembered that when I replaced my old turbo, the wheel on the exhaust side was gone. Having never seen a turbo, I did not notice until the new one was in and even then, did not really think much of it.

Is there a chance it could be a backpressure issue? Could the wheel be blocking enough that it could cause these issues? I'd like some opinions before I cut it off and check. If I do, how would I put it back on?

All stock, thanks everyone.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:53 pm

The turbo is controlled by vacuum.
If one or both of the vacuum solenoids are bad you won't get full boost.

The only way to know how well the turbo is performing is with a boost gauge. You could install one or use a ELM327 with a OBD app to read the boost from the MAP sensor.

A restricted exhaust could also cause boost or acceleration problems. You could try removing the muffler to see if things improve. My exhaust is straight piped. No muffler, no cat, no restrictions.

A stuck open EGR valve can cause boost and acceleration problems.

JacobM5727 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2016 11:11 pm

Thanks for the quick reply.

Will any ELM327 show boost or do I need a certain one?
What should the boost be?
I have tried to find out the specs in the past without any luck.

If the wheel fell in, would it break through the cat or would it wedge in front?

MM53 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2016 11:50 pm

Wedged in front or cat is a possibility I would (and have) remove the cat no need for it.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 8:12 am

JacobM5727 wrote:

Thanks for the quick reply.

Will any ELM327 show boost or do I need a certain one?
What should the boost be?
I have tried to find out the specs in the past without any luck.

If the wheel fell in, would it break through the cat or would it wedge in front?

I use the TorquePro app on my android tablet. So I chose a ELM327 Bluetooth adaptor that would work with it. Many different types are available on Amazon.

Under hard acceleration, 17-21 psi is good.

I doubt the whole wheel fell into the exhaust. It would have been very obvious when the old turbo was removed.

Another possibility is that the vacuum actuator on your cheap turbo is not adjusted properly. I have no idea how to adjust it. I just know that Garrett sets it from the factory.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 10:55 am

If you still have a CAT in place and a piece of metal from the turbo has went down into the front of the CAT it certainly can and will damage the small openings in the ceramic brick inside the CAT. A piece of metal bouncing around in the front of the CAT could over time pretty much stop up the CAT...
Best solution is to completely remove the CAT as there are no sensors on the exhaust pipe that will trip a DTC with the removal. If you are in an area where you vehicle has to pass an emission test via a probe up the tailpipe, this could be a problem and if the CAT is damaged you will have to have it replaced....

Note: The CRD will actually run and perform better WITHOUT the flow restriction of a CAT in the exhaust system. An open straight through non-restricting exhaust system allows faster turbo spool-up when accelerating and can lower EGT.... :wink:

JacobM5727 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:07 pm

I'm in Colorado, I need the cat unfortunately. My emissions were higher this year than two years ago, by a wide margin - it could have damaged it.

I ordered the bluetooth reader, I'll post readings when it comes.

I'm thinking I should cut the cat off and check, can I reattach it with some sort of sleeve clamp or do i have to take it to be welded?

Thanks.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:35 pm

JacobM5727 wrote:

I'm in Colorado, I need the cat unfortunately. My emissions were higher this year than two years ago, by a wide margin - it could have damaged it.

I ordered the bluetooth reader, I'll post readings when it comes.

I'm thinking I should cut the cat off and check, can I reattach it with some sort of sleeve clamp or do i have to take it to be welded?

Thanks.

You should put your location in your profile so its easy to see if there are other members nearby who can help.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 2:04 pm

JacobM5727 wrote:

I'm in Colorado, I need the cat unfortunately. My emissions were higher this year than two years ago, by a wide margin - it could have damaged it.

I ordered the bluetooth reader, I'll post readings when it comes.

I'm thinking I should cut the cat off and check, can I reattach it with some sort of sleeve clamp or do i have to take it to be welded?

Thanks.

Any good muffler shop can remove the CAT, inspect it internally, and reinstall it if undamaged or install a new one if damage is found... :!:

and as SS suggested, add your location to your profile; it helps others when answering questions.... :wink:

JacobM5727 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 2:07 pm

Ah thanks I totally forgot.

There is a place up the street, I'll give them a call

Said about $40 to take it out, he said I should have a precatalytic converter then a catalytic converter, sound about right?

I'm pretty sure it goes from the turbo, then there is a piece of flex looking stuff, then cat, then muffler.

There's a chance it was messed with before i got it, the cat weld seems pretty rough honestly. I'll take sobe pictures when I get off work

papaindigo · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 2:52 pm

I don't know about a pre-cat but I do know a couple of things:
1. the exhaust down pipe to turbo is a marmon flange (e.g. no gasket) and there are several bends/constrictions before getting to the cat that might have caught an errant turbo "fan". Worth undoing and taking a look inside the pipe with a fiber optic camera if available as fan may be stuck in pipe before the cat.
2. I could be wrong but does CO do a in pipe "sniff" test on the diesel? IIRC based on past chats they do a dyno opacity test (e.g. just look for excess smoke in the exhaust). If the latter is correct you need to have the "appearance" of a cat in place but what the "guts" of the cat are may not matter. Smoke is incomplete combustion so 1) do several "Italian" tuneups to clean soot out of the turbo; 2) run at least 1 tank of biodiesel before and during inspection cycle; 3) make sure the air filter is clean; 4) clean the MAP sensor and you should be good especially if you have a GDE tune.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 9:50 pm

There is no precatalytic converter on a Jeep CRD! Thats a gas thing!!!!

As Pap stated: if they do not do a tail pipe sniff in your area, then you can remove the CAT, bust and remove all the guts out of it and reinstall it and for all visual appearances it will look like the CAT is in place... His suggestion to inspect the whole down pipe from the turbo to the inlet of the CAT and make sure there is no obstructions or other foreign parts lodged in the pipe is a good one.... :wink:

JacobM5727 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 17, 2016 8:58 pm

I know they do opacity, but I am not sure of they inspect anything.

Sorry my day off was cancelled so no muffler shop yet. Thanks for clearing up the pre cat - i looked at the parts list and it only shows the unit as a whole so I wasnt sure.

No pics yet but will grab some before I go, whenever my day off ends up being.

JacobM5727 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 23, 2016 8:19 pm

Update, finally!

I got my reader(s) in the mail today. Cheap ones from ebay, was 1 for $8 or 2 for $11 so I got two just in case. Anyway....

I used the torque app and it was only showing about 9PSI max boost under load.

I think flash7210 might be onto something with the actuator. I found some steps to test and adjust it so when I get a day off (going on like 12 days straight now -_-) I'll pickup a hand vacuum pump and check it out. HF has one for fairly cheap.

I still plan to have the muffler shop take a look as well.

Will follow up again once I have more, thanks a lot.

Could a piece of old turbo be clogging my exhaust?

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