I've gone back to my stock air box after finding some grim and dirt on my turbo fins. My question is there a quick and easy way to clean the inside of a turbo and it's fines. This may sound dumb, but on my 01, I used a can of spray carb cleaner. It worked, but I'm not sure its a good idea.

I have used Carb Cleaner before.....just don't start it up till it all evaporates.[coffee]

Park it on a slight downhill slope and spray a little carb cleaner... should not hurt. Don't go crazy, that stuff drys out seals. A little wd 40 later probably would not hurt.


Or, you could do this...

http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad279/madhatDTR2/Preformance%20Diesel%20Dyno%20Day/th_sprayplus.jpg (http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/ad279/madhatDTR2/Preformance%20Diesel%20Dyno%20Day/?action=view&current=sprayplus.flv)

(I'm just kidding. Do not attempt this at home, it is very dangerous, and should not be attempted by anyone but trained professionals, or idiots with really good medical benefits/great life insurance.)

Somebody is gonna sue you when they do that one Mark!!! lol Dang it boy what were you thinking hah!!!




I've used deep creep seafoam before with a little rem oil after. Haven't had any adverse effects.

Guess I should put a disclaimer on that, huh? [laugh] I was taught by the best, tho... John P and Lloyd Mills taught me everything I know about spraying nos directly into a turbo on a dyno... ;) Besides, I was wearing PPE :rolleyes:

Thanks for the reply, when I cleaned my 01, I kept the engine running and sprayed short blast into and on the turbo fins, till the engine started to stall, just like if I were doing a carb on a gasser. After I got done I started thinking what if I got a build-up of the carb cleaner in the intercooler and it exploded. What if I damaged the bearing on the turbo. So I'm not sure if this is the way to good. But it did do a nice job.

Just leave it alone. It will not hurt anything.

If you just spray the fins/blades with carb cleaner,, where do you think it all goes? You're not cleaning it, you'rs just moving it all to one spot - the bottom of the turbine housing.

Just leave it alone until you can get in there and clean it properly.

If one cleans the turbo when it is still mounted, all the "stuff" could also get into your intercooler as well - lots of surface area in there. I'd leave it alone, unless it really was really bad to the point where it was not performing, but at that point I'd be taking it off to take to have it serviced. If you had no intercooler, using the right cleaner (whatever that is) "might" be ok.

Even so, many engines have the breather on the tappet cover plumbed into the intake. Engineers, believe it or not, design it this way so oil vapors get sucked into the turbo intake to be burned. Some guys will install oil "catch cans" to stop this, but the engineers regardless knew the fins would still get coated a bit - and without concern (which is my long-winded point). [dummy]

In additon, I think one has to consider how fast those blades are spinning. From turbo books I read the outer edge of the blades can break the sound barrier when a turbo is spooled. So the slightest bend or any other imbalance, and you're hooped! A good HD mechanic will tell you [director] to never even touch a blade with a bare finger for the chance of getting finger oils on it.

Interestingly enough, my brother's 6.7 engine light came on and gave a code to clean the turbo, for which the dodge dealerships do apparently have a procedure for. But on this engine, the turbo gets dirty from the EGR...a bit of a different story I suppose.

Thanks for all the advice Guy's, looks like I'll just leave it alone.

I would agree, why clean, but I rebuilt many a turbo, and touching with your fingers is not a sin.

I would agree, why clean, but I rebuilt many a turbo, and touching with your fingers is not a sin.

Thanks, this is very good to know because I'd be on my way to ----.

You are absolutely right it's not a sin...it's just best practice: don't touch it unless you have good reason to.

Like mama said, "You don't know where those hands have been!" [laugh]