CBS Diesel& Auto Repair 804-441-0284
Soot-covered turbocharger compressor wheel

Service 02

Diesel Diagnostics

A relative compression test and a look inside the cylinder before a single part is ordered.

Testing comes first

A misfire, a knock or a hard start can come from half a dozen places. A relative compression test shows which cylinder is down and by how much, on screen, before anything comes apart. It is the difference between a repair and a shopping list.

Relative compression test on the scan tool showing per-cylinder results and mean cranking RPM

Then the borescope goes in

If a cylinder reads low, the camera goes in. Scoring, deposits, coolant wash and metal debris all show up on screen — what is actually in there, rather than what it might be.

Borescope image looking inside a diesel cylinder bore
Borescope image showing deposits and damage inside a diesel cylinder
Borescope image showing metal debris inside a diesel engine

What that finds

Turbochargers with the compressor wheel shattered. Intake manifolds packed solid with carbon. Manifolds rusted through. These are jobs that came in as a noise or a loss of power — and left as a known, fixed fault.

Garrett turbocharger with a destroyed compressor wheel found during diagnosis
Fragments of a shattered turbocharger compressor wheel on the bench
Intake manifold caked with carbon and soot, removed from a diesel engine

Covered here

What this includes.

If what you need is next to this list rather than on it, call the shop and ask — the answer is usually yes.

  • Relative compression testing
  • In-cylinder borescope inspection
  • Turbocharger failure diagnosis
  • Intake and EGR carbon inspection
  • Drivability and no-start faults
  • Findings talked through before parts
A Silverado and a Ford F-350 Platinum parked between the lifts at CBS Diesel

Book the truck in

Tell us what it’s doing. We’ll tell you what it is.

The quickest way in is a phone call — describe the symptom and find out what testing it needs and when the truck can come in.

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