Turbo Actuator

Well, it happened 600 miles from home towing the fifth wheel . On comes the CEL , still running , but very sluggish. I was almost to Flagstaff, AZ , on I-17. Only choice , got it to a dealer , diagnosed bad actuator , they checked the codes , actuator replaced . I wished I’d asked which ones . I still can , the service writer wanted to hear back from me , on how it was running after I got back on the road with the fifth wheel .

Truck is running great again , I’ll hook up again here in Camp Verde , AZ. , and give it another shot going home in the morning. It was quite an ordeal , luckily we were with friends that were still in Camp Verde , one of them came to Flagstaff, and towed the fifth wheel back to the RV park we had been staying at .

My question, is there anything to keep those actuators healthy? I always run in tow haul, and EB on . It’s not a grocery getter , it tows a fairly heavy fifth wheel . Doesn’t get run around town very much . I was told there at the dealership they see a lot of bad actuators .I’ve read about them on forums , looks to be more common then I realized .

 

You're doing what you can already to keep it healthy.
These actuators seem to be very much luck of the draw, some don't fail, some do.
You were EXTREMELY LUCKY to be able to get yours replaced so easily, many dealers don't have any and can't get any.
There is a company making an aftermarket version, called City Diesel, and they are more robustly made, but even they have had some electronics failures on some of them.
The actuators live in an extremely harsh environment, hanging off the side of the turbo that sees very high temps. They are water cooled, but that isn't always enough.

 

I was lucky , this was Monday when it happened, they said they try to keep at least one in stock if possible , but they didn’t have any , but had one coming Tuesday . I left the truck , and it did show up late Tuesday, got it in the shop Wednesday morning , was done around 11 am. Picked it up that afternoon ran it back to RV park , ran great . Will see how it goes tomorrow, got a 600 mile trip home with the fifth wheel .

For what it’s worth ,I have to say Planet Ram Chrysler in Flagstaff, AZ. took good care of me , they were a busy place , but then knew my dilemma , and was very accommodating. The service writer told me a couple times , they had a very competent diesel mechanic , that had been working on these diesels for 11 years . Time will tell . This is the third dealership I have had to deal with being away from home , and I have to say they were all great , much better then what I keep hearing on these forums . I can say the dealer I bought the truck from leaves a bit to be desired.
Although the several recalls I’ve had on this truck , they seemed to do a good job on them .

 

On a further note , you are right , I was lucky .They did say those actuators were getting hard to come by . Even if they found one from another dealer most of the time they wouldn’t part with them .

 

The only other suggestion I could make for future actuator, as well as turbo, longevity is to always cool the turbo down a little before shutting the engine down. When you stop after towing, let the engine idle for a few minutes, 3-5, and a minute or two when coming in hot off the highway when bobtailing.

 

Thanks, that I do , from others here as well as reading it in the manual . I did the same with my old 7.3 Powerstroke. I was a little disappointed, if that’s right choice of words, but realize it’s seems these actuators failing is not a rare occurrence. Can’t complain , it’s been pretty reliable up until now . Hope that continues with the new actuator.

 

Sorry, but "bobtailing"? How about just "not towing". It's a pickup and you're not a truck driver....

 

I use the term “BobTail” and like to do so.

So how much did they charge to RnR the actuator?

I was lucky mine started going out while we were staying on our RV lot. Also lucky it died while under warranty.

How many miles on this truck?

I just had a thought, I better check my coolant level.

 

I call it as I please, and don't conform to please you.

 

Ron , how about you tell me what the cost was for yours, and I will see if I got bent over worse I realize you have 8 years of warranty. I got 6 months to go before this truck is 8 years old , I’m banking even with this actuator repair out of my pocket ,I got six months to go , and if so with no more repairs , I will make money not paying for 8 years of warranty. I will for sure let you know I do know one thing I won’t have to pay any more for an actuator for awhile it’s got a warranty.

 

I was lucky....my failure was kind of intermittent. There were only of couple of instances where it quite working, then the next time I drove it, it was fine. Since this issue was already on my radar (thanks to TDR), I was able to replace it before it completely failed, and I was able to take the time to do it inexpensively (around $300).

 

You were lucky , 600 miles from home is not the best situation to be in , I couldn’t do much other then what I did .

 

Well, your situation could have been MUCH, MUCH WORSE!
Many have had them fail while away from home, and no local dealer could find a new actuator, or their own behind with both hands and a road map. Some of these dealer shops are really pathetic, but it seems like you found a good one.

 

I agree , not complaining. As said I got pretty lucky all the way around. Getting my fifth wheel back to the RV park , the time it took to get repaired . Worked out well . Let’s just see how the work is , I’m hooking up here in a few minutes , and hitting the road .

 

I doubt you'll have any more actuator issues.

 

Just talked to them This really won't help you but they said the invoice shows $3,987 for the Actuator and a total bill of $4,208 to replace it.

I do know the City Diesel is almost $900 so if you paid $2,500 you got a deal???

 

I must of got a deal $2200

 

I hope not , because now just outside Page,AZ got another CEL this one is P0402 EGR flow excessive detected , so now what , no dealers around ?? Had a parts store hook it up to read the code .

 

See if the store can clear it for you.
That is not a code that will keep the truck from driving.
Then you really should look into getting a code reader for yourself.

 

I had them clear it , and went another 275 miles to another RV park for the night , ran great , CEL never came back on . I did call the dealership where the actuator was fixed , told them the code , and they said I need an EGR cleaning , that’s where I questioned him , saying as far as I know 2014’s do not require EGR cleaning, he said there was a chance I could go to the limp mode , well here I am 275 miles later . My question is what is the code intended for ? PO402