Attacking the turbo

[Dieselman]

After reading Jimmys' issues with smoke and cleaning out his intercooler I decided to give mine a clean. Outside dirty, inside clean. No oil at all.

Whilst at it I thought I would give the turbo a mild operation and gas flow the intake housing. Apparently this should give greater gas flow without having to raise the boost, due to the air not causing back pressure in the turbo.

Tools required: A few spanners and sockets, screwdriver, wet & dry paper, polish and elbow power.

I am pleased I carried this out as the car is definately more responsive with less effort and smoke output is invisible unless I floor the car form standstill.

The picture quality is not great but you will get the idea.

Intercooler clogged with leaves and dirt

Intercooler removed

Intercooler with shroud removed. More grit and dirt.

Air filter after 4000 miles

Getting to the turbo

Turbo housing off

Turbo housing

Turbo after sand and polish

Inside turbo housing. see the shine

 

[GrahamC230K]

Wow!

GOt any close ups of the turbo fins?

Were they in good condition?

 

[Dieselman]

Sorry no close ups but i can assure you everything was in perfect condition. The turbo impellar is made up of two sets of blades at different pitches.
The pic. is shakey because I was holding the worklight as well as camera, but amongst the blurr you can just see the two blade effect.

 

[GRAV888]

Nice work.
I don't think I could do all that polishing.
How long did it take you?

 

[Dieselman]

The backplate didn't need polishing, just a clean and wax, likewise the horn in the housing.
Sanding the housing casting and outlet was a real pain though because the steel horn covers most of the air duct and you can only just get your fingers in, oh and the edge of the horn has stamping burrs until sanded off.

It took a few hours from start to finish but most of that was stripping bumper, intercooler, ducting etc. If I did it again I would be a lot quicker because I was being too cautious taking the turbo to bits.

The sanding took a while because I didn't have coarse enough wet & dry to hand.

 

[jimmy]

Nice job, looks like your turbo is a bit easier to get to than mine. Interesting that you have no oil at all inside the inlet side. After about 2000 miles after cleaning mine, there is a very slight evidence of oil inside the pipes again. I have been assured by mechanics that it is normal for turbo diesels with an EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system to have this.

I wonder if I should be worried?

Was the turbo housing quite rough before you started? Were the turbo fins clean? Would they benefit from a clean too?

 

[Dieselman]

Originally posted by jimmy
Nice job, looks like your turbo is a bit easier to get to than mine. Interesting that you have no oil at all inside the inlet side. After about 2000 miles after cleaning mine, there is a very slight evidence of oil inside the pipes again. I have been assured by mechanics that it is normal for turbo diesels with an EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system to have this.

I wonder if I should be worried?

Was the turbo housing quite rough before you started? Were the turbo fins clean? Would they benefit from a clean too?

Jimmy

there was a trace of oil in the pipe into the intercooler and some leading up to the mainfold, but not enough to cause a drip as I worked on the turbo /intercooler.
Oil in the intake is not unusual as the breather exits into the intake.

If you have oil in the inlet manifold and running back into the ducting then this is also normal. It's really a matter of quantity.

I gave the turbo impeller a dust off but thought I would leave it alone as it spins really fast.