When my actuator failed I replaced it with the City Diesel actuator that I got from Gino’s Garage. Nice thing with it is it does a complete cycle every time you start the truck so it basically cleans any soot off the vanes constantly. Also it is self calibrating so you don’t need to connect it to the dealer computer. Easy DIY replacement in the driveway.
Totally agree. I always shut my engine down when EGT1 is at or below 350 degrees F. I'm a firm believer that these engines are hurt a good bit when they're not properly cooled down and especially when they're shut down during a regen with temps 1000+ on each EGT.
I today ordered a re man actuator after mine being diagnosed bad yesterday. 2014 with 95,525 miles. I saw this video and thought you must have a listening device. Way to go Marion!
I have a 2015 and received a letter a while back stating the actuator warranty had been extended. I purchased the truck used February of this year. You may want to check with the dealer.
Just get it tuned and deleted and you won't have to worry about emission equipment failures and excessive soot build up. Saves the engine alot wear and will pay for itself in fuel mileage alone. The 6.7 Cummins is a great engine but getting it deleted is a major step in longevity. Btw I have the same truck just alot of mods. The emissions equipment started to fail at 70k I hit a pot hole and it all fell off.
Heard about turbo actuator failures - my truck is 2016 Ram 2500 Diesel. Had an opportunity ($ benefit) to replace turbo with an ATS turbo touted as a more reliable actuator. It pushes more air so there is increased horsepower & torque with a standard tune. The engine braking may be a little less but I haven’t tracked it. Like how it spools up.
Wonderful information as usual, thank you Marion. Occasionally I get a "check engine" light with a fault code that reads something like "lost communication with turbo charger". When this happens, the exhaust brake doesn't operate. After stopping the engine and clearing the code with my "Torque Pro" app on my phone, everything returns to normal for thousands of miles. I suspect it is some sort of electronics glitch. Also, I've heard from several people (that I think are savvy on this topic), that we should try and use the exhaust brake on a regular basis to "exercise" the thing. There's my $.02 !
Marion, always great to see your videos and hear your words of wisdom! I recently installed a data monster on my 2019 CTD and am trying to decide which parameters to monitor and what ranges are best to stay in. Have you seen a list, or could be a good video idea, which parameters you monitor and what range/limits you are looking for. Turbo temp
My 2014 is waiting right now for a new City Diesel actuator to arrive. I have 168xxx miles on it and for the last 2-3K miles the actuator has been acting up, then recently it completely stopped working and I got a CEL. From day one I have run an Edge CTS with a turbo timer and had the truck stay running until my post turbo EGT dropped below 360 degrees. From day one I have run the exhaust brake all the time. I can tell you when towing my camper 12K lbs in the summer it can take upwards of 10 - 15 minutes for the EGT's to get below 360 and the truck to shut down. The coolant runs through the back side of the actuator housing so it should be keeping the actuator at around 200 degrees, but it still failed. I think it's just a case of accountants buying the electronics in the actuator from the lowest bidder......
I always run with the exhaust break on and always warm the truck up before driving and cool it down before shutting it down. My 2018 was “fixed” at 9000 miles. The truck thanks me every time I drive it.
I think most of the actuator failures on 13-18 trucks are from soot buildup. The buildup puts too much stress on the actuator which is constantly moving back and forth while you’re driving with varying load and throttle, but it never makes it past the 80% mark unless you run exhaust brake or you get the city diesel setup. I’m not too confident in the quality of my turbo from city diesel (I seem to have some slack already after ~20k miles) but the actuator seems to be very nice. You can hear it cycle back and forth when turning key on and when turning off the truck. If you cycle through key positions too quickly with it the truck will make a snorting sound which is kind of cool..
The turbo routes coolant around the circuit board of the actuator to help cool it. The coolant seal between the turbo and actuator failed on mine, which led to failure of the actuator circuit board. I don’t know if it was the coolant itself or the temperature of the coolant that caused its demise. This happened at about 130k miles. The turbo itself is in great condition. The compressor wheel is still tight. The variable wastegate actuation assembly is clean of soot buildup and moves freely. Still, rather than worry about another occurrence with a direct replacement, I swapped in a regular grass roots turbo that should last.
If you are not towing just normal driving around how long should you idle before shutting down? I’ve been just idling it a minute or two. When towing and pull in for fuel I never shut it off just let it idle.
Mine just failed at 70k -along with the DEF pump! Dealer charged $2500 for the DEF pump. The actuator was under a special extended warranty for 2015 diesels only - I never got the letter. I live on the coast of CA and my truck suffers more from never heating up usually.
Whenever I'm pulling our 32 foot trailer and pull in a station to refuel I'll idle during my fill up. Usually takes 5 to 8 minutes and if I want a snack at the mart I'll park then turn it off. My 2017 manual says 5 minute cool down after a hard pull and no problems so far.
The actuator can also fail because of bad gasket if it gets coolant on board its done. That's what happened to mine. I replaced the actuator and coolant so far so good. Got back my exhaust brake.
Hello. Thank you for your videos. The one about cooling the turbo was beneficial. I got a P2262 code related to the turbo. The truck is in the shop - something about low turbo pressure. What can be the culprit? Not cooling down enough maybe? Also... what's your opinion on banks air intake elbow with heating element to rid myself of the grid heater and it's famous bolt issue?
I had the same issue and in my case, my truck was constantly going into Limp Mode. I replaced the sensors several times, but nothing ever worked. As soon as I put a load on the truck, instant Limp Mode. Once I replaced the Turbo itself, now everything is fixed. The actuator was the issue.
Hi again. Not having much luck with my 2020 HO. Turbo was fixed...exhaust brake wasn't working. They replaced it with a new turbo. Now, 5 days after - I got a loud knocking/ticking coming from engine. :-( I'm so done with this truck but lucky I have warranty. What causes this? Think they messed something up with turbo install?
The actuator can indeed fail from soot buildup on the vanes/nozzle increasing load on the actuator outside nominal operating conditions. Thats how they get "stuck". And yes, the actuator can fail at anytime even if soot buildup isn't present. But soot buildup certainly factors into the equation.
2020 ram 2500 with Cummins here. I don’t have any special gauges other than what came stock on the truck. How do I know when the temperature is low enough to shut down? Do I just follow the manual’s recommendations? Is there any time frame that you recommend idling? I don’t tow much. I usually only idle for a few minutes when I get to my destination.
Also, I always use my exhaust brake, even when driving around town. Is this helpful in maintaining turbo reliability? I thought that extended idling was bad for these newer trucks.
@@henrydice6871 Yea, it's fine to use the exhaust all the time. Extended idle is bad. if you are not towing, 5 mins after highway run is good enough. Towing, I'd keep it running 10 mins after stopping. Extended Idling would be like 15 mins or more. If you have to do that, use fast idle at 1500 rpm.
Hi Blair.... so... they ordered a new actuator. Couldn't program it. So they called their tech support and they found the turbo defective. They decided to put it all back together and let me use the truck with no turbo. They can't start the engine now. My question is... with these newer trucks, is it okay to run without turbo? I thought the ccv helps relieve internal pressure buildup from the engine before it damages gaskets - like the head gasket and that the turbo helps draw that from a house connected to it and the ccv oil filter? Anyways.... dealership says tech has 10 yrs experience.... whats your take on driving with no turbo on this turbo engine?
That's a good question. I doubt it but being anal I understand your concern. I don't think I'd run it much till I get a working turbo. Could cause some untended problems? DPF etc... Some of the deleted trucks disconnect the vent going into the turbo and install a small filter like this www.bing.com/shop?q=crankcasee+exhaust+filters&FORM=SHOPTB
Thanks for the video I am getting a check engine light on intermittent the code is U010C do you think it’s my actuator I will clear the check engine light then a few days later it come on with same code I have boost and I have my Exhaust break no loss in performance thanks
@@eliseolozano4785 I replaced the turbo actuator all is good now code went away and has not came back I got the actuator from DDP it’s a city diesel actuator really easy to install hope that helps
If you have an after market gauge, if not give it a minute while in town and 5 minutes on after highway run. 10 mins after towing in summer. That'll work.
I haul with my 3500 for a living and sleep in it so it idles a lot and has never seemed to hurt anything. I’m kinda tired of the “it hurts to idle them” because that’s BS! Just had to replace my turbo actuator at 304,550 miles. It was easy to do and with the aftermarket actuator it seems to have more power than it ever did with the factory one and accelerates like a scalded dog! But yes always let your diesel idle down even after driving to the store, it will never hurt it and will help prevent costly repairs.
As a fleet mechanic with about 20 or so 2013ish ISB cummins in our fleet. I have never seen an actuator failure due to soot. All have failed electronically. And this fleet is driven by complete idiots that do nothing to help protect soot build up or cool down the turbo. I believe all our 6.7s have had the actuators replaced at least once but still running the stock turbo itself. The turbos seem pretty bullet proof the actuators are made of glass
