Diesel Diagnostics

Understanding how a failed EGR kills your turbocharger starts with one simple fact: the two systems share the same exhaust stream, and when the EGR valve or cooler fails, everything downstream pays the price. At PT Turbo, we have been rebuilding turbochargers since 1978, and in over 45 years we have torn down thousands of

Turbo Oil Starvation is the single most destructive failure mode a turbocharger can face, and it kills more center housing rotating assemblies (CHRAs) than compressor surge, overspeed, and foreign object damage combined. A turbo bearing system relies on a continuous, pressurized film of clean oil to float the shaft on a cushion just microns thick.

Turbine wheel damage from foreign object ingestion is one of the most common catastrophic failures we see come across the bench at PT Turbo, and it almost never happens because the turbo itself was defective. Something entered the exhaust stream, or worse, the intake stream, and slammed into a wheel spinning north of 100,000 RPM.

Compressor Wheel Damage is one of the most common reasons a turbocharger lands on our bench, and it is almost always a symptom of a bigger problem somewhere else in the engine. The wheel itself rarely fails on its own. Something got past the filter, the oil supply dried up, or the shaft started wobbling,

Turbocharger Shaft Play is one of the first things any experienced diesel mechanic checks when a turbo starts making noise, smoking, or losing boost. That little bit of movement in the center shaft tells you more about the health of a turbocharger than almost any other quick test you can perform in the shop. The

Diesel engine low power is one of the most common complaints that rolls into our shop, and the turbocharger is often blamed first, sometimes wrongly. After 45+ years of building and diagnosing turbos at PT Turbo, we can tell you that a weak-feeling engine can come from a dozen different places. The trick is knowing

Understanding Turbo Surge vs Compressor Surge is one of the most common points of confusion we hear at PT Turbo, and getting it wrong can cost you a compressor wheel, a set of bearings, or an entire cartridge. The two terms get used interchangeably, but they describe the same underlying physics from different angles. If

Understanding Turbo Whine vs Normal Turbo Noise is one of the most valuable diagnostic skills a diesel owner or mechanic can have, because the difference between a healthy spooling turbo and a failing one is often just a subtle change in pitch that most people ignore until the bearings let go. At PT Turbo, we

Blue Smoke from Diesel Engine exhaust is one of the clearest warning signs that oil is getting where it shouldn’t, and on a turbocharged diesel it most often points back to the turbo. Unlike black smoke (unburned fuel) or white smoke (coolant or raw fuel), blue-gray smoke means engine oil is being burned in the