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I am stuck on the side of the road on an interstate trip and need help ASAP!

I am driving a school bus (converted). 2004 Thomas Freightliner, Mercedes-Benz engine and Cummins transmission.

After about 2.5 hours of driving (elevation gain), I heard some strange sounds coming from the passenger side of the engine compartment. Looking in the rear view mirror, I noticed some white smoke.

After pulling off and sitting for a couple minutes, I started up the engine again and pulled into the highway. I noticed immediately that the bus had a hard time accelerating, and that I was seeing more white smoke coming out of exhaust. No smoke coming from engine compartment.

I have now been waiting for 20 mins for the engine to cool down, and in 10 mins I will add some coolant that I (fortunately) brought with me. My hope is that this will fix the issue.

However I wanted to check with this group. Any concerns? Anything I should try or consider? Thank you for the help!!

John Sweet
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1 Answers1

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Considering you can't accelerate, it sounds like you may have lost your turbocharger. With excess fuel not being burned due to lack of turbo input, smoke will ensue. Excess fuel not being burned will show as white-ish exhaust. If you can (briefly) smell the exhaust, you can tell whether it's a sweet smell (coolant leaking into cylinders) or an oily smell/feel, which would be unburned fuel. All of this is a guess based on your description, but in either case, it's not good. Driving it further can and will cause more damage to the engine.

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
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