Hi all,
New here. 1st time diesel owner. 05 LLY/Allison 5sp. 40K Mi No Mods

The heading tells the story but here's about the shortest version I can manage without ALL the details

Took truck to local mechanic for oil/filters change. Mech left rag in filter box which got sucked into turbo. I drove pickup about 50 miles total with offending rag firmly lodged in turbo. Noticed poor performance on first grade I came to but was almost home by then and shop was already closed as I had picked it up right at closing time.

Mech admitted mistake and accepts responsibility. He cleaned out turbo and precooler but truck still doesn't seem "right". Strange hesitation as tranny shifts into 5th at about 55-60 after hard accelleration and a new high pitched whistle. The whistle is very faint but I can definitely hear it. I don't think he wants to put in a new turbo.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Woof,,,

Well, if a blade is dammaged (or any other part of the turbo), then you have no choise buy to put a new turbo on or have that one rebuilt.

What the hell was he doing with a rag in the intake box??? And how did he put a filter back in there without seeing it??? I wouldn't be a happy camper.

Anyways, for the whistle - if he cleaned out the turbo and the precooler, make sure all the connections are tight. If anything is loose, it's going to whistle something fierce.

As Rttoys said, if something IS damaged inside the turbo, it will need to be replaced. If that rag got sucked up in there while the thing was spinning, it could have thrown the balance on the shaft off, or busted something visible. Whatever poor chunk of rag hit that spinning blade lost, and it was thrown into the tubes.

Get him to take care of it...we all make mistakes, but we have to pay for them too!!

The mechanic admitted his mistake, which is good. But if you still don't think it's right. I would keep taking it back until YOU do!!

I'd check the boots to the intercooler pipes and make sure they're all seated properly first, it could be something as simple as that. It could also be something nasty as said above like a breaking/bending a vane or something onerous like that. If that is the case, besides having a turbo rebuilt you may want to check the intercooler or possibly the engine itself. If something came out of your turbo like a chunk of rag or metal from the turbo that could cause major issues down the road in the engine :(
Best of luck to you, and hopefully it's just something very minor like a loose clamp on the intercooler pipes!

also have them check the intake side of the intercooler for rag debris that could have clooged the intercooler. obviously the rag lost the battle with the turbo, but may hae won the war by clogging you intercooler.

Check all your connections. The exhaust flange clamp on the back of the turbo also. As far as the shifting goes, the ally might have changed it's shift points to accomadate the lack of h.p.. Try just driving it and if thats the problem the tranny will relearn itself.

Thanks to all for the input. I'll go see him today and see how he's doing. He's had the truck for a few days and is pulling turbo to inspect for damage. Initial inspection showed no visible damage to fins that are visible by pulling intake hose.

There was debris at the intercooler intake so I'm worried about anything that may have gone through. The tranny was searching all over the place when I first tried climbing the grade that leads out of town. That's when I pulled over and listened the first time. But at idle there was no problem due to no turbo needed.

Well, I'll keep you posted

.001 bend in the shaft is enough to make it junk in 10K miles.

Sorry, there is no middle ground, he buys you a new turbo.

theres no room to fit a rag through a turbo, that thing prob did plenty of damage that you cant even see! Suckin a rag in the turbo is like using your sink's garbage disposer for a wood chipper! This is grounds for a new engine if nessisary, Id be Pissed, that sucks, what year is this truck and did the stealership do it?

did it damage map sensor on the way thru

I'm with some of these other guys on this one. They need to replace your turbo period! A mistake is a mistake, but he needs to stand behind his work and get you a new one. I would also at the very least pull the intercooler. I'd do that myself or take it to another shop. This guy already isn't completely on the up-and-up as far as I'm concerned.....just for the fact that he hasn't immediately offered to purchase a new turbo for you.

Seriously if he thinks that the turbo is fine then he should have no problem getting you a new one and keeping the rag-eater and doing whatever he wants with it :rolleyes:

If there was one speck of rag material in left in that intercooler that would tell me that some proabably made it to the intake. Anybody know how that could affect his DMAX? Not a good situation to say the least and you should not let this slide with some soft assurances "Oh it'll be okay" (none of that :knight:)

Good luck

Suckin a rag in the turbo is like using your sink's garbage disposer for a wood chipper!


Oh crap, should i stop doing that now?:D

New to this. What's a MAP?
Thx

the sensor in the intake right after the air box, its got a couple thin wires and if the got broke or rag stuck on it your truck will run bad

the sensor in the intake right after the air box, its got a couple thin wires and if the got broke or rag stuck on it your truck will run bad
that is the maf sensor. mass air flow sensor. it also doubles as the intake air temp sensor. the dmax does not have a map sensor. it has a baro sensor and a boost pressure sensor. kinda like the same thing differant name. the new version lly and lbz and lmm have one though.

Any answer from the shop? I would press for a new turbo and intercooler at the least. Even if debris didn't make it through the intercooler it could be lodged and come out later only to cause problems down the road.

A truck i worked on had this same exact problem

the guy had change the air cleaner himself, he wiped out the air-box with an old t-shirt...then popped in his filter...somehow he left it in there and it got lodged in his turbo....

we looked at it close and decided there was no way the turbo could have survived...the bent fins are very delicate and they were bent...

no way you can straighten them out and try to continue..you could try but i would bet that it would throw the impeller off-balance and cause a premature "explosive" failure..which is never a good thing with a turbo

if it was me i would be wanting to kick some butt,, they need to replace both turbo and intercooler,,T2 is right ,,and i would look for a new mechanic cause if he is so absent minded as to leave a rag in the filter housing he most be smoking dope

If that rag got through the cooler it's probably got some crap in the motor too, and that's scarey. Best of luck man, for his sake I hope the mechanic or shop owner have insurance, and if I were you I'd make a claim on your own insurance to make the whole thing legit.

More than likely the CAC is ok. Flush it out if in doubt.

if it was me i would be wanting to kick some butt,, they need to replace both turbo and intercooler,,T2 is right ,,and i would look for a new mechanic cause if he is so absent minded as to leave a rag in the filter housing he most be smoking dope

Damn dude------Shit happens------If you don't make a mistake once in a while it's probably because you don't do anything.

More than likely the CAC is ok. Flush it out if in doubt.

I agree you could just flush it out, but what kinda damage could lil' pieces of cloth do inside the engine?

I agree you could just flush it out, but what kinda damage could lil' pieces of cloth do inside the engine?
More than likely, any that made it past the intercooler are so small, they are already burned up and just a memory now.

What the hell was he doing with a rag in the intake box??? And how did he put a filter back in there without seeing it??? I wouldn't be a happy camper.

Anyways, for the whistle - if he cleaned out the turbo and the precooler, make sure all the connections are tight. If anything is loose, it's going to whistle something fierce.

As Rttoys said, if something IS damaged inside the turbo, it will need to be replaced. If that rag got sucked up in there while the thing was spinning, it could have thrown the balance on the shaft off, or busted something visible. Whatever poor chunk of rag hit that spinning blade lost, and it was thrown into the tubes.

Get him to take care of it...we all make mistakes, but we have to pay for them too!!


x2

More than likely, any that made it past the intercooler are so small, they are already burned up and just a memory now.

stick with me and juice on this one, juice who blew up many turbos and me who blew up one and had juice help me over the phone and on here with the replacement...nothing got through the intercooler but that doesnt mean it shouldnt flushed or replaced....i grenaded my turbo but replaced the intercooler and had no problems with the used turbo i installed. big thing is get the turbo replaced because thats what the mechanic messed up...

I don't think he wants to put in a new turbo.

Real simple, take it to the dealer have the turbo replaced, and bring it back to factory specs...and send him the bill, case closed. Next stop small claims court.

Hey guys,
Went to the shop and spoke to the mech and the owner. Owner assured me they will replace everything that needs to be replaced. Turbo is off next step is to look at intercooler/flush for debris etc.

Thanks for all the input. As to how the rag got there in the first place...about 4 months ago I drove through a swarm of bees. Some of them ended up in the box. Mech had just placed rag over bees in box to wipe them out when the damned Snap-on guy drove up and he needed a certain tool for another job. He covered the bees with the rag and the rest is history. Moral of the story...change your own damn air filters.