Air to Air Leak
 

I own a 2000 Pete dump truck that has a 3126B Cat in it. I had noticed lots of power loss lately. I recently had new injectors installed because of a oil in fuel problem I was having. Everythings ok there, the truck is not smoking or anything unusual. I recently had someone go over everything to find out why the loss in power. I was told that I had a Air to Air leak and repairs with parts would be around 1800.00. Exactly what is an "Air to Air" leak and is there any less expensive way to fix this problem? Sorry to sound dumb but you never know unless you ask.

"Air to air" refers to the chassis mounted charge air cooler (CMCAC), that other big radiator looking thing that is mounted in front of your truck's actual radiator.

The CMCAC cools the intake air after it has been compressed by the turbocharger, and before it enters the intake manifold.

A leak in the CMCAC will allow turbo boost pressure to escape, which causes a lack of power and high exhaust temperatures.

A CMCAC usually will crack where the "header" attaches to the "core" at the hot (turbo) end.

Your engine is electronically controlled, so the ECM is noticing the lack of proper boost pressure and not allowing full fuel so as not to emit exhaust smoke.

Low boost pressure in combination with the ECM not allowing full fuel equals lack of power.

A new CMCAC is usually $800.00 to $1000.00, plus the labor if you have a shop install it.

You stated that the engine has been worked on recently, so make sure that all the "boots" that connect the intake piping between the turbo and CMCAC, and between the CMCAC and engine intake manifold have been reinstalled correctly, the clamps are tight, and the boots are not damaged, as a problem with those could also cause a loss of boost pressure.

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