Faulty Turbo Actuator (2018 RAM 2500 Cummins Diesel/36K miles)

[AKBear]

I brought my 2018 RAM 2500 CD in for service today due to the Engine Light on (36K miles). I was having no issues prior & was told that it could be "one of many" things that would cause the engine light to come on. So I made an appointment for service @ my local dealership. It was yesterday, when I encountered a very noticeable loss of power upon acceleration & even @ one point, thought I was going to "stall'! The engine light remained "on" but not "blinking". I thought maybe it was a faulty fuel sensor but when I brought it in for service this morning, I was informed that it was a faulty Turbo Actuator. So the Service Dept. replaced the actuator (thankfully I'm still under warranty) & I had a noticeable "increase" of power upon acceleration on the drive home!
I do want to add a note: prior to the engine light coming on, I noticed that my truck was not reaching my set "cruise control" speed as quickly as I thought it should. So I'm now wondering if this was an indicator that the actuator was starting to go bad? Any thoughts?

 

[mtnrider]

Unfortunately a common problem, The electronics in the actuator fail. A code reader would have revealed the issue, pretty handy to have one if your don't already.

.

 

[AKBear]

Thank ya! Yes, one of my coworkers told me about the code reader. I did stop @ an EXXON down the road (prior to my service appt) & they told me that their reader wouldn't read the Turbo Diesel (different set of codes)?

 

[smiley]

I brought my 2018 RAM 2500 CD in for service today due to the Engine Light on (36K miles). I was having no issues prior & was told that it could be "one of many" things that would cause the engine light to come on. So I made an appointment for service @ my local dealership. It was yesterday, when I encountered a very noticeable loss of power upon acceleration & even @ one point, thought I was going to "stall'! The engine light remained "on" but not "blinking". I thought maybe it was a faulty fuel sensor but when I brought it in for service this morning, I was informed that it was a faulty Turbo Actuator. So the Service Dept. replaced the actuator (thankfully I'm still under warranty) & I had a noticeable "increase" of power upon acceleration on the drive home!
I do want to add a note: prior to the engine light coming on, I noticed that my truck was not reaching my set "cruise control" speed as quickly as I thought it should. So I'm now wondering if this was an indicator that the actuator was starting to go bad? Any thoughts?

That makes sense. The actuator will move in or out allowing the turbo to make more power. So normally it can open and close based on needs. You probably couldn’t make enough boost any longer when it failed, your exhaust brake no longer would work correctly either. They make an aftermarket unit that you can get from Geno’s Garage that helps eliminate this week point. If you don’t care about exhaust brake you can go to a fixed turbo and tune it next time as well.