Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Dirty Turbo

[Berrigan]

My buddy and I were looking at his 94 the other day and his turbo on the compressor side has a grayish film on the blades of the turbo. Loks like a combo of oil and dirt. Yes he runs a K+N. My question is will that hurt efficiency and or should it be cleaned off.

If it should be cleaned how do you do it and is balance a factor to consider.

Or do they just get grungy over time. Truck has 180K on it.



Thanks in advance for any ideas. Bill

 

[chrleb1]

depending on how much oil and dirt is on the turbines, it might cause a problem if it throughs it out of balance. But now you have to figure something else also. If your turbine blades look like that, then your intercooler could be coated also (less cooling capacity). Maybe you should just pull the tube going to the intercooler and see if it is coated also. If it is, maybe you should remove it all and then try and clean it out. Just a thought though.

 

[illflem]

As Charlie said biggest concern is a gooed up intercooler that won't transfer heat well and may even become restrictive. I personally wouldn't concern myself with cleaning the blades. Don't blame it entirely on the K&N, I've seen it happen with stock paper filters also. Could be a sight leak in the turbo oil seals.

 

[Ben Rumson]

Keep a close eye on the amount of oil that may continue to build up on the blades. Then, IFF you determine that the oil seals are going, you can fix it with a Turbo repair kit.



High Tech Turbo in Salt Lake City = $68 801-268-9721.



Also, Luke Stabnow (stabco@ricochet.net) sells the complete rebuild kit for the Holset on the 5. 9 Dodge for $47. 80. Holset part number 3545652. It has everything needed for a complete rebuild including the bearings.



Any good Cummins repair shop should be able to order you one with this part number.



Sounds like you're OK for now. Keep these numbers handy for when you determine that a rebuild is in order.



Hope this helps.



- Ben

 

[Gray 5.9]

I'm running the K&N filter also and noticed all the connections have a oily damp look to them. I checked the air box too the turbo and was dry as a bone, but found that when I done a clean white rag test to see if the turbo fins where dirty, and found grayish smut in the middle:--) . The fins don't seem to be hitting the housing though I do have a little play up and down, and no play in and out.

 

[BillGotthelf]

If you use some common sense you will realize that the amount of oil used to coat a oil/fabric air filter is about 2 tablespoons full. I ran K&N's on all my trucks before the BHAF and MegaCannon's. I usually cleaned them about every 30,000 miles and the filter minder never moved. Now factor in 5 or six air filter cleanings and even if all the oil from the filter were somehow sucked out into the intake system and evenly spread all through the intercooler, hoses and turbo, there could not possibly be any significant amount on the intercooler to restrict it's operation. I have seen the same dirty turbo blades on oil/fabric filters as paper filters.