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I have a 31 ft. Boston Whaler sportfish with twin 1989 Cummins 6BTA5.9M engines. Engines have about 1750 hours. 250HP, CPL 953. Three years ago I had a turbo seize up which was replaced by a Cummins tech. A year after that one, the other turbo did the same thing. Cummins tech replaced that one as well. Both failures occurred after a winter in storage. The boat is always laid up for winter for about 5 months. Before starting the engines in the spring, I disconnect the fuel solenoid valves and crank the engines over until I get good oil pressure. Then reconnect wire and start engines before the boat is launched. On the way home from the boatyard this spring, all seemed well until I got out to open water and tried to accelerate…..no boost…all I got was a lot of black smoke. idled the boat home, removed the K&N air cleaners….and yup, both turbos are seized up.
Because of the cost, I’m doing this job myself. I’ve always been good about maintenance. oil changes every year, only use fleetguard oil filters, and Cummins blue oil (Valvoline). The boat is by no means abused….typically 65-75 hours a season (wish it was more). I cannot understand why this would happen. I know quite a few Cummins guys as I work in the transportation industry and deal with Cummins service and engineering depts. regularly. Talking to all the guys I know has only come up with one idea that seems to make some sense. The oil feed lines to the turbo possibly breaking down and partially clogging the oil feed to the turbos. The lines were original, stainless steel braided hoses. Needless to say I’m putting new ones on with this repair.
Repair is going slow as I work full time but I’m getting there. I did find some issues with the exhaust elbows so I’m having them done as well. No signs of water leakage to the turbo however. Turbos are sooted up a bit but other than that, no visual signs of damage. Compressor side looks fine. Also replacing all injectors as I’ve noticed a bit more smoke than I used to see and also some fuel in the exhaust water while idling at the dock.
Sorry for the long winded story but has anyone ever heard of this happening? Any ideas on why something like this could/would happen? Lastly and most importantly, any suggestions on how I can prevent it from happening again? Hard questions to answer I understand, but figured someone out there may have had something similar happen. Looking forward to seeing your replies. thanks!
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