Had something strange happen yesterday and just wanted to get an idea what you guys thought it might be:

Started out the day and the truck was running perfect. I had to bobtail to get another trailer. I drove about 30 miles, put some fuel in and drove about 15 more miles. All of a sudden (and I do mean all at once), the truck loses all power and the check engine light came on. I pulled to the shoulder, checked all fluids (full) and gave the engine a once-over. I didn't see anything, so called into maintenance. The truck was running fine (no spitting/sputtering), just no power.

Because of the location I was in, they wanted me to proceed to get the empty trailer (it's sitting in a location with shops around). As I drove on, it became quite apparant that the turbo wasn't spinning up (that's why no power). I called back into maintenance and explained that since the bobtail itself could barely pull any hills, there was no way I could pull a trailer, empty or not. They then had me head directly towards one of our terminals 130 miles away. Because once you were rolling, it did 'ok' (just no acceleration to it), I knew I'd make it there.

About 30 miles before I got to the terminal, I was pulling a small hill. The truck (on cruise) had dropped from 65mph down to about 60. All of a sudden it started kicking, jerking, etc. then took off like a rocket. The turbo had spun up and it had full power. The engine light was still on, though. I drove another 10 minutes or so with it running perfect again, pulled into a rest area and shut it down.

After about 15 minutes, I started it back up. No check engine light and it's still running perfect.

Any idea what would cause the turbo to stop working, then kick back in? It's not leaking oil anywhere, nor is the turbo making any noise, even under full acceleration.

The truck is a 2009 ProStar with the Cummins ISX with 306,000mi on it.

 

The check engine light comes on sometimes on my 09 Prostar. It usually happens after I coast down a hill. Never had an associated turbo problem though. I routinely turn the engine off for a few minutes and when I turn it back on the check engine light is off.

 

not sure, had similar issues happen to me, usualy like mentioned, I turn the truck off then on a moment later and no problems, Had it shut off then turn back on a few seconds later on my way to laredo. I think it's one of those glitches and nothing to do with the truck it's self.

 

I have 2 internaionals with similar problems, but they're smaller with 6 liters in them. Maybe its an international computer problem, it shuts off the turbo to protect it maybe?

 

No clue. I just got home after a 450 mile run. Had no issues whatsoever. Maintenance wants me to get past one of our terminals to have it hooked to a computer to find out, but other than that, was told to run it.

I tried stopping/shutting it down a few times, that didn't help at all until the turbo kicked itself back in while rolling.

 

Now......I'm not much of an engineer....but I do believe that unless the turbo is completely locked up, that sucker spins when the exhaust run through the blades.

Even with the DPF's, if the turbo is messed up....black smoke should have been pouring out of the stack!!

 

It could also be the actuator that stuck, causing the turbo to not spin at all.