help loss of power - turbo?

Hi,

2006 140

It started with surging on hills at freeway speed, but ran great around town. Then today, it appears that I've lost turbo boost or something and the check engine light came on. Last week the serpentine belt came apart and took out the engine harness at the top. Just wondering if this is electrical or if I have some sort of turbo resonator problem...

Any help would be greatly appreciated. ...

I connected the dad and found -

P1482 - had this issue for a while now
P2011 - mass air flow sensor

Instrument cluster communication errors -
B1040
B1041
B1042
B1471
Traction control errors
C163E
C150B

Regards,
Chris

chrisrad99 said:

Hi,

2006 140

It started with surging on hills at freeway speed, but ran great around town. Then today, it appears that I've lost turbo boost or something and the check engine light came on.

Click to expand...

The surging comment has often traced to a split hose or other charge air system leak.

Turbo? - The Garrett turbo is very, very reliable. I would not blame the turbo proper until all else is exhausted.

chrisrad99 said:

Last week the serpentine belt came apart and took out the engine harness at the top. Just wondering if this is electrical or if I have some sort of turbo resonator problem...

Any help would be greatly appreciated. ...

I connected the dad and found -

P1482 - had this issue for a while now - glow plug related. Ignore for now
P2011 - mass air flow sensor - Is there a sub code? 2 = range exceeded. 1 = below range

Instrument cluster communication errors -
B1040 - CAN Bus ECM
B1041 - CAN bus ABS/ASR or ESP
B1042 - CAN Bus TCM
B1471- Ambient Temperature Sensor (wiring damage?)
Traction control errors
C163E
C150B

Regards,
Chris

Click to expand...

Keep in mind that the Mass Air Flow is a calculated/monitored value. It doesn't just point to the MAF sensor proper. For certain the MAF sensor, O2 sensor, boost pressure sensor, boost temperature sensor, EGR are all involved with the calculation/monitoring. (Perhaps the ambient temperature sensor also?)

Your CAN codes could be related to the wiring damage. Did they return after reset? Good luck. vic

Thanks very much for your reply. Its great to have the support of this forum and its collective expertise!

I haven't reset the codes, so I'm not sure about the CAN codes. They certainly don't make sense, since the gauges seem to be working properly. It could be that one of the wires in the harness wasn't repaired properly. I was stuck by the side of the highway at 11PM with 1/2 the sepentine belt and a damaged harness. Miraculously I was able to mcgyver the thing back together using a carpet knife and black tape. AAA sent out local towing company with a pick up truck to tell me that my van was too big for their tow trucks and I would need a commercial sized tow truck. There was no choice but to try and get the van to limp to the shop.

After some more research, it sounds like the symptoms are similar to turbo resonator or hoses.

Thanks again!
Chris

chrisrad99 said:

... It could be that one of the wires in the harness wasn't repaired properly. ...

Click to expand...

I would think that it is more likely that the CAN bus was somehow shorted out or the signals otherwise interrupted during the harness damage. I would scan again, record all codes in detail and then clear all the codes with the DAD. The CAN related codes probably won't come back.

chrisrad99 said:

AAA sent out local towing company with a pick up truck to tell me that my van was too big for their tow trucks and I would need a commercial sized tow truck.

Click to expand...

Stories like yours are why I changed over to Good Sams towing after having AAA for many decades.

chrisrad99 said:

After some more research, it sounds like the symptoms are similar to turbo resonator or hoses.

Thanks again!
Chris

Click to expand...

You probably have a couple, or more, things going on. The surging/loss of power/LHM often traces to charge air system leaks. The other codes are likely related to the harness damage at the time of the incident. Even the erratic voltage by losing the alternator can make Sprinter modules unhappy.

vic

chrisrad99 said:

Hi,

2006 140

It started with surging on hills at freeway speed, but ran great around town. Then today, it appears that I've lost turbo boost or something and the check engine light came on. Last week the serpentine belt came apart and took out the engine harness at the top. Just wondering if this is electrical or if I have some sort of turbo resonator problem...

Any help would be greatly appreciated. ...

I connected the dad and found -

P1482 - had this issue for a while now
P2011 - mass air flow sensor

Instrument cluster communication errors -
B1040
B1041
B1042
B1471
Traction control errors
C163E
C150B

Regards,
Chris

Click to expand...

Wow! Mine just did that today as well. I thought I would jump on here to see if I can find some answers before for giving the stealership another $300 to replace a Charge Air Hose thats under $100 online. The part number I replaced last time is 5120147aa. This happened only 18months ago!

ok, smoke test did not find any leaks in the hoses or turbo resonator. Mechanic indicates that he found water in the fuel. Going to replace fuel filter and clean intake manifold and injectors and see what happens. Also, the glow plug seems fine, the module is bad, going to replace that as well.

Regards,
Chris

turns out dirty injectors and water in the fuel was not the problem. Still working on it. EGR or turbo hoses, charge air, resonator are all suspect.

Regards,
Chris

chrisrad99 said:

ok, smoke test did not find any leaks in the hoses or turbo resonator. ...
Regards,
Chris

Click to expand...

How much test pressure? If you don't test with between 15 - 20 psi then the leaks may not be revealed by a smoke test. I wouldn't exceed 20 psi though. vic

I'm curious as to how a "smoke test" tells you more about a pressure leak than just using a soap/water mixture (won't hurt anything that I know of, it's even good for your hands and skin).
If you wish to be a purist, go and buy some of the children's bubble mix. You get great big bubbles that stick around a while.
Seeing a stream of little foamy bubbles at the site of the leak would seem a lot easier than trying to see where "smoke" is escaping from a pressurized turbo system that cannot really be "exercised" without the engine running, and then there is probably a lot of air movement from the engine driven fan(even with the viscous clutch disengaged, it still turns and moves some air).
So please explain why the "smoke test" is so popular and in particular what makes it better than bubble soap?
The only way to positively test the charge air cooler (Intercooler radiation in front of the engine coolant radiator) is to remove it and put in in a flat pan of water, then put a regulated 20-22 PSIG pressure test on the entire assembly. Any bubbles...get a new charge air cooler.... or find someone who can micro weld/solder aluminum successfully, the operable word being "successfully".
Roger