Appeal To The Dealer To Replace Short-Lived Turbo Charger

Dear Car Talk:

According to my Chevrolet service department, the turbo charger on my 2016 Silverado 2500 HD Duramax needs to be replaced due to excessive carbon buildup.

It only has 37,000 miles on it. Should I go with the new turbo charger costing almost $5,000 from the dealer, or do I go with a local diesel shop that can remove, clean, and replace it for about a quarter of the price?

Chevrolet can't tell me if a new turbo charger will be more resistant to carbon buildup or whether the same thing will happen to the new turbo.

I do pull a fifth-wheel trailer. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening in the future?

Thanks. -- Jerry

Condolences, Jerry. The first thing I'd do is talk to your dealer, or to Chevrolet, and ask them if they'd be willing to help you out here.

While your warranty has expired, a turbo charger shouldn't fail at 37,000 miles. That's ridiculous.

You should appeal to their sense of fairness and responsibility, and see if they'll pay for half, or at least make some meaningful contribution to the repair.

They may argue that you've been pulling a trailer, and that puts extra wear on the turbo. That's true, but you bought a diesel 2500 truck, which is designed to pull a trailer. If Chevrolet reduces the cost to where it's anywhere near the cost of a rebuild, I'd get the new turbo.

But if not, I'd do the rebuild for a quarter of the price. As you say, there's no guarantee that the new turbo will last more than 37,000 miles. And you can rebuild the turbo four times for the price of replacing it once.

In terms of preventing future failure, if your turbo was defective, there's nothing you could have done to prevent this. But in the old days, turbos would sometimes get choked up with oil if they weren't allowed to cool down sufficiently after hard use.

That problem was largely solved by synthetic oil and better manufacturing. But allowing the turbo to cool down after hard use can't hurt.

So, after pulling your trailer or doing any mountain climbing or hard driving, try letting the truck idle for a few minutes, before shutting it off. That'll allow the oil to circulate and cool off. Maybe that'll extend the life of your next turbo to 38,000 miles, Jerry. Good luck.

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