Turbo bearings dying?

[TronDD]

Finally got my truck. But, bad omens have turned into bad noises.

About 45 minutes into the drive home (2 and a half hour trip), I hear a weird buzzing, groaning sound from the center of the dash. Blower fan wasn't on, I turned the radio off, no change. It started at the same time as wind noise over the mirrors or rain guards and though maybe it was wind or buzzing from the visor. It stopped as suddenly as it started after 30 seconds or so.

Maybe 45 minutes later, it came back. It didn't come with other noises this time. Definitely sounds like bearing groan, or like the sound of a power steering pump straining at full lock. It didn't seem to change at all if I hit the throttle and got the boost up, or let off and let the boost drop. Again, it suddenly went away and never came back.

I also noticed the stock oil gauge was dancing around the line at the low end of the normal range. Now I'm afraid oil pressure isn't there for some reason and it's occasionally starving the turbo.

Tim.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

first thing i would do is get a real oil pressure gauge on there. my factory gauge was dancing around like you said yours is and turns out my wire was cut. put in a new piece and all is good again.

take the intake tube off at the turbo and look at the cold wheel. if it has any chips in the wheel or if the wheel is touching the housing then the turbo needs to come out for repair. also try to push/pull on the turbo shaft. if there is ANY movement there then it is time for overhaul. you will have a little side to side, that is normal, but if you have a lot of side to side then that is not good.



What transmission do you have?

 

[TronDD]

Yup. I'll pick up a real gauge tomorrow, if I have time. Certainly before I do any driving in it.

The gauge was "dancing" not in that it was moving quickly back and forth but over the trip it moved a little from on or just below the start of normal to a needles width above it.

PO said the grounds should be checked and cleaned because he wasn't getting a consistent reading when calibrating the FIPL, so maybe it's related to that.

Trans is E4OD, freshly rebuilt. Another thing I thought of is maybe he put an electric fuel pump on it and that's dying or it was cavitating. I'll check that out but it really sounded like the it was coming from the middle of the dash.

Tim.

 

[TronDD]

Had some time to tinker tonight. I found both splash guards in the front wheel wells were just floating around, bent from wind and had been flapping and rubbing on things. May have been the source of my weird noise.

Turbo input turbine looked good. A tiny bit of wiggle, but zero in/out play. I don't think the turbo is a problem.

Of course, now I can't get the truck to start...

Tim.

 

[icanfixall]

The po is full of goose crap about the tps and grounds. If the engine is battery grounded so is the tps. Just follow the ground cables to the block to make sure. Actually if they were not connected you wouldn't be able to start the truck. As for the up & down oil pressure reading.. Just not so... That stupic dash gauge is only a pointer without any readings other than telling you there is at least 7 lbs oil press. Many times the connection is loose causing this problem. Some pliars squeezing the connecter may solve this.. But installing a real pressure gauge is the better idea.

 

[TronDD]

I'm sure the grounds are connected, he was saying to just make sure they were clean.

Couldn't find the stock sending unit for the pressure gauge. Not on the top of the turbo like the factory installation. Buried at the back of the block somewhere?

Found a pipe plug in the block above the oil cooler, towards the firewall, but I read there is one below the oil cooler where I can hook up my gauge. Have to see what I can find, and reach.

Time to learn how to bleed the injection lines, too, I guess.

Tim.