How to tell if turbo is bad. or no whistle with open exhaust

[Eubee]

PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT THE VEHICLE IN THIS POST WAS NOT DRIVEN ON PUBLIC ROADS AT THE TIME OF THE REMOVED CAT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT EVEN DRIVEN AT ALL WITH THE CAT TEMPORARILY REMOVED. THE CAT WAS TEMPORARILY REMOVED FOR DIAGNOSTIC/TESTING PURPOSES.

Hey all, I have a couple questions.
1- What is the quickest/easiest/most common way to tell if a turbo is bad?
2- I temporarily removed my cat the other day (unbolted from downpipe, and unclamped from mullfer inlet) and started it up to hear the 'straight pipe turbo whistle' first hand; also to discover the presence/absence of any abnormal sounds. Well, I got ZERO whitsle from the turbo. The exhaust was just louder decible wise, and you could hear the airflow from the turbo, but absolutely no whistle. With the exhaust all connected, it runs/drives fine, and you can hear the turbo spool from inside the cab whilst driving down the road. No squealing or grinding that I could hear. Any thoughts, comments, and/or ideas?

Thanks a bunch,
--Jess

...lets see if the green police ban me here too.

 

[fordoor]

Signature? What year, mod's., etc. ? What are your boost #'s? Were you having issues at all with your performance? Turbo Whistle can be quite different for different years, and how a truck is modified. For example, no 6.0 turbo sounds as loud as an 03' turbo.

 

[Zookie400]

welcome! no green police here! we love straight pipes!

the best way to check your turbo is by taking off the intake boot, and checking to see if the shaft spins freely, check the compressor wheel for cracks or missing fins, check to make sure the compressor wheel cant touch the housing, and check the shaft play. i dont know the specs for the 6.0 turbo, but im sure someone here does.

also the 6.0 turbos are variable geometry, so the vanes can freeze up causing issues. im not sure of the easiest way to check them.

 

[Eubee]

Signature? What year, mod's., etc. ? What are your boost #'s? Were you having issues at all with your performance? Turbo Whistle can be quite different for different years, and how a truck is modified. For example, no 6.0 turbo sounds as loud as an 03' turbo.

Sorry. 2003, bone stock (to my knowledge, as I just bought in early Nov this year) I bought the truck knowing it needed some work. One item I have yet to get to is the ICP sensor.

No performance problems that I noticed, but the only thing I have to compare it with is my Dad's '99 7.3 SD. I have noticed a bit of oil in the valley on top of the motor, but brushed it off as the ICP sensor.

Just recently I have been getting a wierd vibration/harmonic that does not vary with engine or drivetrain speed. It is similar to an exhaust rubbing on something, but all looks good under the truck (except for the oil coming from the ICP) I just replaced the boot for the turbo outlet to CAC plumbing and took note of oil around the supply line on top of the turbo. So I thought maybe turbo bearings causing the vibration/harmonics, and proceeded to disconnect the exhaust to investigate some.

I'll add more as I think of it.

Thanks

 

[DaveBen]

Get guages!! You will KNOW what is wrong with an EGT, BOOST, and some other like a Trans Temp guage.

Dave

 

[fordoor]

welcome! no green police here! we love straight pipes!

the best way to check your turbo is by taking off the intake boot, and checking to see if the shaft spins freely, check the compressor wheel for cracks or missing fins, check to make sure the compressor wheel cant touch the housing, and check the shaft play. i dont know the specs for the 6.0 turbo, but im sure someone here does.

also the 6.0 turbos are variable geometry, so the vanes can freeze up causing issues. im not sure of the easiest way to check them.

I agree! And here's how to unfreeze the vanes http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/articles/article-06-05-php

 

[fordoor]

welcome! no green police here! we love straight pipes!

the best way to check your turbo is by taking off the intake boot, and checking to see if the shaft spins freely, check the compressor wheel for cracks or missing fins, check to make sure the compressor wheel cant touch the housing, and check the shaft play. i dont know the specs for the 6.0 turbo, but im sure someone here does.

also the 6.0 turbos are variable geometry, so the vanes can freeze up causing issues. im not sure of the easiest way to check them.

Sorry; try this one. Diesel Technician Society

 

[Eubee]

Get guages!! You will KNOW what is wrong with an EGT, BOOST, and some other like a Trans Temp guage.

Dave

yeah, they are on my to do list. gotta get some general maintenence done first though. It has the factory trans temp gauge; but how accurate are they?

 

[fordoor]

The factory TFT gauge is totally useless. The only thing it does is tell you when you've boiled and fried you're tourqeshift.