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So after 6 months or so of carefree driving. I realized today that the truck feels a bit down on power. Sure enough, fire up the Quadzilla and discover that I'm only making 23lbs or so, and that the Quad is defueling due to high EGT long before I hit the end of the skinny pedal.
Long story short, I popped the hood tonight and started checking things. Compound piping came off, and I checked both turbos for shaft play or any signs of failure. They both spin over smoothly, and have minimal oil leakage (tiny little bit of build up on the sealing flanges but the pipe ID has no fluid residue.
I checked all boots, the only ones suspect are the intercooler boots, but then again I sincerely doubt that a torn boot would handle any pressure, let alone 23lbs.
Then I noticed the air filter. It was caked in dust and oil. It's an AFE Pro-Dry S with a prefilter bag on it. The bag gets taken off periodically and washed, but this time I noticed that the filter element, which is usually pretty close to off-white, was straight black. A few months ago I installed a vibrant catch can with an atmospheric filter vent. I installed it next to the passenger battery (between the head and the battery), and I'm guessing that oil vapor has been leaching from the vent through to the filter and clogging it slowly.
Here's my question. I cleaned the filter thoroughly with soap/water and will let it dry overnight, but best I notice the filter doesn't allow much fluid to pass through it, except on the very end of the cone. Does anyone think an air filter can get that clogged, to the point where it would restrict airflow and prevent boost from building? From experience I would think you'd hear/feel the filter vacuuming under load, then release when the load is reduced suddenly.
Either way, new filter and pre-filter on the way, and I'll be removing the catch can tomorrow and relocating it to under the driver-side fender. Lesson learned.
Long story short, I popped the hood tonight and started checking things. Compound piping came off, and I checked both turbos for shaft play or any signs of failure. They both spin over smoothly, and have minimal oil leakage (tiny little bit of build up on the sealing flanges but the pipe ID has no fluid residue.
I checked all boots, the only ones suspect are the intercooler boots, but then again I sincerely doubt that a torn boot would handle any pressure, let alone 23lbs.
Then I noticed the air filter. It was caked in dust and oil. It's an AFE Pro-Dry S with a prefilter bag on it. The bag gets taken off periodically and washed, but this time I noticed that the filter element, which is usually pretty close to off-white, was straight black. A few months ago I installed a vibrant catch can with an atmospheric filter vent. I installed it next to the passenger battery (between the head and the battery), and I'm guessing that oil vapor has been leaching from the vent through to the filter and clogging it slowly.
Here's my question. I cleaned the filter thoroughly with soap/water and will let it dry overnight, but best I notice the filter doesn't allow much fluid to pass through it, except on the very end of the cone. Does anyone think an air filter can get that clogged, to the point where it would restrict airflow and prevent boost from building? From experience I would think you'd hear/feel the filter vacuuming under load, then release when the load is reduced suddenly.
Either way, new filter and pre-filter on the way, and I'll be removing the catch can tomorrow and relocating it to under the driver-side fender. Lesson learned.
