I once saw a Speedvision program on BMW's racing division and saw a turbo on one of their race cars. It was glowing red while they were dyno testing it. I was wondering if this could happen to our turbos too after a long, hard drive. Has anyone ever experienced this in their turbodiesel?


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'82 300D Turbo 215k miles

I really doubt it, but it may be possible. The incident you mentioned involved dyno testing. When an engine is subjected to dyno testing, whether engine or chassis, it is one of the few times when it actually develops it's maximum horsepower, in practical use even racing, the engine is not restrained. On a dyno it's like a dog tugging on a chain, that/s tied to a post, nothing gives. I think this is why you saw the turbo glowing red, it probably wasn't the only piece turning red either.

Larry

Diesels do not run that hard/hot to glow under normal circumsatnce. One of my race cars will glow red when I run it hard, but that is hot exhust from a 302 V8 with 425 hp.

CJ,

When a turbo diesel Cummins is put on a dyno and placed under load, developing max horsepower, the turbo housing turns red seemingly IMMEDIATELY, I've seen it with my own eyes. For a motor head it's a great experience. The sound, even with hearing protection is awesome, of course the sound is accentuated by the shaking floor beneath your feet.

Larry

Another point is that MB is only running 10psi boost. In the record setting version of the C111 running a 617.95 motor they were boosting to as high as 50psi if I remember correctly. I'll bet they glow (bg).

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Steve Brotherton
Owner 24 bay BSC
Bosch Master, ASE master L1
26 years MB technician

If we have the annual gathering at Commerce GA and have do the drag races as has been suggested, you can bet we'll all be upping our boost! We need to do it at night to add to the effect! We ought to add a brightest turbo award as well (Just kidding guys).

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Deezel
87 300TD, 160,000 miles
72 280SEL 4.5, 250,000 miles

Steve talked about the C111. I remember this car in Benz commercials in the late seventies to early eighties time period.

It was awesome standing next to this car in the MB Museum. I wore my wife out telling her what I knew about the car.

Sitting in front of the C111 is a streamliner that holds the world record for top speed on a public road. I can't remember the speed, I think it was something like 300MPH and was set on the AutoBahn south of Frankfurt many years ago. When I lived in Germany 30 years ago, I remember that stretch of AutoBahn being as rough as a cornfield. I wish I had paid more attention to the exact AutoBahn stretch and the year. I guess I'll have to do some research.

But I agree with Steve, I'll bet that turbo glowed.

Larry

Years ago I flew Piper Navajo/Chieftains which had turbocharged Lycomings, and at night the turbos would glow bright enough to illuminate the wing area. It was somewhat unnerving to look through the louvers in the cowling and see that turbo glowing bright cherry red. Currently I'm looking for a CLEAN W116 300SD, which are very hard to find.