Cleaning out your turbo - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Scott98 · #1 10-20-2005, 04:06 PM

My dad took his '87 300SDL into the shop and the mechanics cleaned out his turbo by removing the air filter housing and spraying carburator cleaner directly into the turbo intake and letting the gunk blow out the exhaust. Has anyone heard about this?

Scott

superbeast1098 · #2 10-20-2005, 04:20 PM

Im sure that the carb cleaner would loosen up alot of the gunk and oil in the turbo, but Im not sure about the effects of it being run through a diesel engine.

1983/300CD · #3 10-20-2005, 04:26 PM

Seafoam spray works fine. The only risk is from getting too much in there too quickly and causing a runaway. Keep it within reason, and you'll be all right.

dieseldiehard · #4 10-20-2005, 04:39 PM

Was there some reason to do this? Ask the shop what they were trying to accomplish with carb cleaner in the turbo.

There is no reason to clean the turbo compressor side,oil gets in there thru the crancase vent line and is burned away.
However the turbo wastegate on the 603 engines can get clogged with carbon especially if the egr is working and the car is not driven hard often.
To clean the wastegate the turbo should be removed and cleaned on a bench. I would worry about carb cleaner raising the temp in the CAT if it has one, and damaging it, just like a rich running gasser can burn up the CAT. The CAT in the diesel is a little different than the ones on a gasser but they still operate at high temps.
Better talk with your mechanic and see if he has discovered something ! Cleaning the oil off the cylinder walls makes for bright shiny metal too, then it gets scored as a result!

That is why you should never use ether starting gas for a hard to start diesel.

1983/300CD · #5 10-20-2005, 04:55 PM

If anything, you're probably just removing some of the guck that the EGR put into the intake manifold.

Scott98 · #6 10-20-2005, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

Was there some reason to do this? Ask the shop what they were trying to accomplish with carb cleaner in the turbo.

There is no reason to clean the turbo compressor side,oil gets in there thru the crancase vent line and is burned away.
However the turbo wastegate on the 603 engines can get clogged with carbon especially if the egr is working and the car is not driven hard often.
To clean the wastegate the turbo should be removed and cleaned on a bench. I would worry about carb cleaner raising the temp in the CAT if it has one, and damaging it, just like a rich running gasser can burn up the CAT. The CAT in the diesel is a little different than the ones on a gasser but they still operate at high temps.
Better talk with your mechanic and see if he has discovered something ! Cleaning the oil off the cylinder walls makes for bright shiny metal too, then it gets scored as a result!

That is why you should never use ether starting gas for a hard to start diesel.

There was no reason to do this. He gets these small town rednecks who know nothing about Mercedes diesels to work on his car because they are cheap. I know, I would NEVER let them touch my car but that is the way my father is. I don't know why they did it other than the fact they thought it might do some good. The car didn't have any problems with the turbo before (nor does it now). I had just never heard about doing this before and was wondering if anyone here could provide some insight.

Scott

dieseldiehard · #7 10-20-2005, 05:13 PM

I'm glad you are honest about the mechanics. I didn't want to say that and possibly insult someone.
The fact is they possibly risked a runaway engine or damage to the cylinder walls by squirting carb cleaner into the turb intake.
The crossover pipe is easily removed and cleaned but the intake manifold is not. Even a squeaky clean intake system won't perform any better than the normal gunky ones unless something might be Sooo gunky as to become plugged up and I haven't seen that in a 603 engine (yet!)
Now that you are gaining some insight, why not find a good Indy that knows diesels, especially this engine, and convince your dad to use them next time?

Scott98 · #8 10-20-2005, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

Now that you are gaining some insight, why not find a good Indy that knows diesels, especially this engine, and convince your dad to use them next time?

Seriously, my dad is that cheap. If a dust cover boot gets torn, he would cover the tear with electrical tape. I've gotten angry so many times trying to explain to him that it's a Mercedes not a Chevy but he won't listen. I don't let it bother me anymore. It's his car and he can do whatever he wants to it. If my car goes into the shop, it does to a good indy. Thanks for your insights. I won't do it to my turbo.

Scott

dannym · #9 10-21-2005, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Seriously, my dad is that cheap. If a dust cover boot gets torn, he would cover the tear with electrical tape.

Electrical tape?? Sheeesh, everyone knows you use duct tape.

andmoon · #10 10-21-2005, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannym

Electrical tape?? Sheeesh, everyone knows you use duct tape.

That's so 90's!

I have moved up in life. Now the fix-all is Goop and/or 2 part epoxy.

boneheaddoctor · #11 10-21-2005, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott98

My dad took his '87 300SDL into the shop and the mechanics cleaned out his turbo by removing the air filter housing and spraying carburator cleaner directly into the turbo intake and letting the gunk blow out the exhaust. Has anyone heard about this?

Scott

Did they do that in conjunction with the required semi-annual greasing of the muffler bearings?

SD Blue · #12 10-21-2005, 11:10 AM

Well, cheap may cost him more in the long run. Let's see......carb cleaner @ shop rates......... $60/hr. for a totally unnecessary procedure. Incompetent spraying of a solvent in an area with high speed bearings and seals, possibly ruining the turbo....$350+. Possible damage to engine needing replacement.....$2000-3000+. Explosion and fire hazard of spraying such a volatile chemical in a high temp exhaust area.....property and personnel.....$500,000+. All it takes is Murphy's Law to occur one time. How cheap is incompetance?

stayalert · #13 10-21-2005, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

Did they do that in conjunction with the required semi-annual greasing of the muffler bearings?

Come you're kidding right? Bearings are so cheap you might as well just replace them.

#14 10-21-2005, 02:24 PM

When I was doing my initial EGR cleaning (before I had taken the intake off) I was trying to claen some of the crap out...I sprayed a bit of carb clean in to "moisten" the goo and then removed it with a dentist hook + paper towel.

Anywho, the carb clean that made it to the engine made the engine hit HARD when it started. Sounded like too big of an ether shot.

So be careful what you put in your intake