Air filter sucked into turbo. Time for RBHAF

[Ironforger]

02 3500 2wd 6speed quad cab. 225k, Recently noticed noticed the vacuum sensor on the airbox tripped.  Upon inspection found that the air filter was full of rodent nest and the filter was partially sucked into the intake tube.  Good bet some debris got sucked into my turbo and the turbo intake housing is dirty/grimy. Lucky  I don't see any damage on the compressor blades and it spins freely thankfully.

 

So ripped out the factory airbox and put in a RBHAF. Went with the baldwin 2820 since it seems a bit better constructed with an internal wire cage.

 

Loving the sound. I can clearly hear the turbo spool up now. Wondering if this will improve my fuel mileage. It was getting 13  mpg before I installed the rbhaf.  Truck has a rather large service body which is not at all aerodynamic which doesn't do well for fuel economy. Like driving into the wind with a flat 4x8 sheet of plywood. I'm planning to fabricate a nice aerodynamic wing to  reduce drag. We'll see if that improves the fuel mpg. 

 

 

[Mopar1973Man]

I hope you cleaned up that turbo before installing. Need to pull the discharge line and then take brake cleaner and clean all that dust residue off the compressor wheel. Remember that shaft spins are insanely fast RPM's. Little bit of dust can cause an imbalance which puts more wear on the turbo bearings and seals.

6 minutes ago, Ironforger said:

Went with the baldwin 2820 since it seems a bit better constructed with an internal wire cage.

 

So far with everything I've done to my truck I've never had a filter distort on the inside as of yet. 

[Ironforger]

1 minute ago, Mopar1973Man said:

I hope you cleaned up that turbo before installing. Need to pull the discharge line and then take brake cleaner and clean all that dust residue off the compressor wheel. Remember that shaft spins are insanely fast RPM's. Little bit of dust can cause an imbalance which puts more wear on the turbo bearings and seals.

Thanks for the advice. I cleaned it up a bit with WD-40, but did not spray the compressor wheel directly.  Is brake cleaner safe for the turbo shaft oil seal?

If so I'll go right to town and spay / clean it.   Thanks!

[Mopar1973Man]

Brake clean is safe. Just make sure the engine can inhale that brake clean by disconnecting the discharge turbo. Allow it to fully dry before hooking up and starting. 

 

Also, have to remember if the dust went through the turbo how much that is in the discharge tube and in the intercooler.

[Ironforger]

3 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Brake clean is safe. Just make sure the engine can inhale that brake clean by disconnecting the discharge turbo. Allow it to fully dry before hooking up and starting. 

 

Also, have to remember if the dust went through the turbo how much that is in the discharge tube and in the intercooler.

 

Great Thanks.  I'll hit it hard with Bake Clean. I'll inspect the discharge tube & Intercooler as well.