Big Horn 06

I took off my air intake last week and noticed what looks like carbon on my turbo blades. What's the best way to clean it off? I have some sensor safe throttle body cleaner here for the gassers. I think it got from the time I had an oil gauze air filter in it some time back.

OOPS

If you have a carbon build up on the intake side of the turbo you have more to worry about then cleaning. Carbon on the intake side means somehow the exhaust gases are leaking into the intake side.

Big Horn 06

It's slight, on the tips of the blades. I'll go grab a pic.

Sur5er

Make sure your clamps are secure and that the air filtration system is intact.

etn550

Probably nothing to worry about.

A little bit of carbon is normal as long as it is not oily or wet.

If it has or ever had an air filter that is oiled that can cause a small build up of carbon on the wheel.

Do not spray anything combustible like cleaners or wd40 into the inlet. Vapors can collect in the intercooler downstream and cause a runaway engine on start up.

Best to disconnect the turbo air outlet pipe and block off the intercooler if a solvent based cleaner is used. Dry it out good before starting up.

It can be easy to damage the compressor wheel or chip or bend a blade. If the carbon is just a coating it does not affect anything.

If further investigation is needed it might be best to pull the whole turbo off and split off the housings on the bench. Then check if the oil seals are leaking on the backside of the wheels.