You’d never think a split rubber hose could write off an engine — but that’s exactly what came close to happening here.
This white Kenworth had just come back from a job up north when the driver noticed a turbo fault code pop up on the dash. He did the right thing — called us and brought it in.
What we found was a plastic intake pipe that had cracked on the dirt roads. That split had let red dust flow straight into the intake — bypassing the filters and heading directly into the engine and turbo.
The result? The turbo propeller was completely destroyed. Chewed, warped, and unbalanced from ingesting fine grit at high speed.
The bigger worry? That same dust may have entered the engine itself, accelerating wear on internal components. We replaced the turbo, air filter, intake pipe, and oil filter — and took an oil sample so we can monitor wear over time.
It’s a simple but brutal lesson:
A $100 hose could have cost this customer an $80,000 engine.
If you’ve been out bush or clocking up red dirt miles, get your hoses and filters checked. We’ll help you catch the small stuff before it becomes something bigger.
