No Air filter! Engine Damage?

[bigskypc50]

Greetings everyone, am really worried about my bus. I was doing normal Preventive Maintenance on my bus and was checking my air filter. Pulled it out and it looked brand new. Thought that was odd after 1700 miles. Turns out the shop in New Mexico installed the wrong air filer, the filter they used was about half an inch too short and was not making good contact with the top of the filter housing and they totally did not even install an inner filter. So for 1700 miles I have been feeding unfiltered air into my bus. Luckily most of that millage was on paved roads with maybe 100-200 miles on dirt roads.

Whats you guys think? Is there high chance of Engine/Turbo/Air compressor damaged or don't sweat it too much.

[peteg59]

Its a good thing you caught that relatively early, as there's really no way for anyone on line to tell you for certain if there is any resulting internal damage done. You could do a compression test on the engine, but that would not tell you of any turbo or other component issues.

If it was me and it still runs good, I'd put the correct parts in and run it.
And probably scratch that last shop off my list...

[JackE]

Originally Posted by peteg59

If it was me and it still runs good, I'd put the correct parts in and run it. And probably scratch that last shop off my list...

I agree here. There isn't much you can do at this point, damage, if any, is already done. I have driven many a farm truck that didn't have any air filter, for years. They do eventually die, but it takes a while.

[Booyah45828]

I agree with the others above. What's done is done, you might as well correct it and then continue to drive it as is.

If it's an FE, the damage might be minimal to non-existent. An RE would be a different story with the engine in the back. Do your best to clean the intake and turbo tubing, Maybe hose out and then blow out the intercooler if you're feeling ambitious.

But like I said, the damage, if there is any, is already done.

[bigskypc50]

Thanks guys ya sadly what is done is done.. still preforming well.. it’s a front engine flat nose, air intake is ahead of front tires. Faceing to under the body. So that’s hopeful to hear might not be much damage.

[CHEESE_WAGON]

1700 miles? PFFFFT. Put the correct filter in and keep on stroking. 17,000 miles? Meh... MAYBE in the long term. 170,000 miles without proper filtration would be more of a worry. I honestly think a DT466 would laugh at this if it could.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not downplaying your concerns, and it's certainly better to have the proper filter than take chances. However, I think you caught it well in time. 1700 miles shouldn't hurt much, if anything. Especially if you're not traveling dusty roads or sitting in a dust bowl with a lot of wind. Remember, the hood (body in your case) is there to protect the engine from the elements, and keeps a lot out. The filter is there for what the hood can't stop.

There might possibly be some minor repercussions from the turbocharger down the line, but I doubt it with less than 2,000 miles.

[Iceni John]

If you're still worried, pull an oil sample and have it tested for silicates, then you'll know for sure if your engine's dusted. If it comes back with anything abnormal, do a compression and leakdown test. Does it have less power than normal, or is it harder to start than usual, or does it smoke more than normal? At the very least, I would change the oil and oil filter now.

John

[bigskypc50]

Got the new air filter installed, here is a shot of the old (wrong) vs new. Old is on the left new is on the right.

The new one is a tight fit it needed the help of a jack to compress that foam seal around the top.

This has been two years ago (09-11-18 ), so I have changed the oil since then.