2mopar_diesels wrote:
racertracer wrote:
And here is the most important note to remember: Follow the turbo cool down procedure as stated in your owners manual so that you don't suffer a worse catastrophy such as a warped cylinder head or leaky head gasket. So allow the engine and turbo especially, to properly cool down after a trip.
Racer
I'm positive that we have not stressed enough the importance of having a pyrometer...........everywhere else where diesels are discussed, two gauges are pretty much mentioned as standard. Boost/pyrometer, with pyrometer being most important...........it was the first upgrade I did for the dodge, even before power was added.From now on, that will be my #1 suggestion to prevent failures........improper shut down is the biggest cause of failure, and not knowing what temps your turbo was subjected to is making things worse.
Well, there might be some merit to all that. But I rarely do any serious "cool down" technique. Just the coasting from the freeway, down the off ramp, and to a stop cools a turbo considerably. The simple pulling down the street to the house part really doesn't do anything for creating much heat.
Is pyrometer important? Yes if you are "souping up' the engine to high hp levels and really "pouring on the coal" and working the engine to its max potential. I ran my previous Cummins N-14 to 1.4 million miles without a pyrometer. Never replaced turbo. I currently have almost 800,000 miles on my Cummins ISX 15L with a VGT turbo from hell, still no pyrometer and still original turbo. Both of them regularly had to move almost 80,000 lb gross. The boost/pyrometer gauges are not "pretty much standard" on commercial trucks and likewise standard consumer diesels. Go down to your local International, Peterbilt, Kenworth, Volvo, Freightliner, and Mack dealerships and take a gander at all the trucks on the lot. Only a small percentage of them will have boost or pyrometer gauges in them.
Driving style is more a factor in turbo longevity. I have over 3.5 million miles commercial truck ownership and driving and have never lost a turbo. I am confident that my CRD turbo will last for quite a while even though I follow no specific cool down procedure and have none of the gauges you mentioned.
This all doesn't mean using a little common sense in how you do things isn't warranted or that in some instances, your comments have merit. But there is really no pressing need to put on gauges and follow specific cool down procedures if one is a n average driver. The gauges do look neat though and impress others.
Banks Power did a writeup on turbo cool down several years ago and showed that turbo cool down is a concept that was carried over from days gone by and is not as critical today. True, if you are applying full power, doing a hard pull, and reach up and shut the engine off, you would be in trouble. But that is not likely. Just is coasting down from highway to street speeds and then the stop and go of normal street traffic will bring down turbo temps to low levels. There is a lot of air volume passing thru that turbo in a short period of time, as well as a high amount of oil circulating thru the unit.
But do as your gut tells you. But you might check out myth #7 in this article.
http://www.bankspower.com/techarticles/ ... -&-Fiction
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