Cleaning turbo charger

[Nebu]

Fellow enthusiasts

I have bought a turbo cleaning kit for my 2007 D4D Toyota Avensis (122000 miles done).

I bought "Power Maxed Diesel Turbo Cleaning Kit" from euro car parts.

As per the instrutions, i can clean the turbo without removing it. 

My question here is 

If i introduce the cleaning liquids/sprays into the turbo, what will happen to the grime and the cleaning liquid? Does it get drained into the exhaust?

Where does it go?

I do some simple DIY tasks on my car like changing oil, cleaning egr valve etc. Any help on how to proceed with this job?

Thanks a bunch.

Cheers , Nebu

[paul9]

I don't know if the kit would have much effect on the exhaust side of the turbo, as most of the cleaning liquid would likely burn up as extra fuel in the cylinders. That said, anything breaking loose from the hot side should go out through the exhaust system as soot and ash. Hopefully it won't clog or destroy your catalytic convertor. If you at capable and keen, it would be better to remove and manually clean the turbo. Look at a few YouTube videos on the subject before you decide to pick up your tools, though. It looks like a bit of a pain to remove and refit, but not too terrible.

Edited May 16, 2019 by paul9
Spelling.

[avetoy]

I think paul9 is right; no cleaning liquid will do the trick. If you really think your turbo needs cleaning, you have to remove it. 

122000 miles is not so much yet... mine 2,0 D4D has run 340000 km soon and turbo sounds fine!

Only liquids which may have some effect are those for injectors (STP, Forte,...) 

[Nebu]

Thanks Paul9 and Avetoy.

I am a bit worried to take off the turbo because it seem like a big job. I havent see any error or eml lights about turbo. Its just that when i took my EGR to clean yesterday i saw a ton of soot in it and hence i thought, what might be the situation inside turbo. I have cleaned my EGR couple of times before in the last 100000 km that i drove.

@avetoy : What are the good injector fluids for me to use? I usually add  "Redex Diesel Treatment" to my full tank of Diesel. Most of the time i use super diesel.

 

Thanks a bunch guys.

[avetoy]

I don´t know much about those injector cleaning fluids... maybe that Redex is as good as the others. I use sometimes just  two stroke oil. 1 dl mixed with full tank and that´s it. 2-stroke oil lubricates injectors as well as other, more expensive stuff.

 

 

[Kennycab]

I recently changed the turbo on my 2007 2.0 D4D as it had failed. It took me 3 hours to remove and 3 hours to fit the replacement including changing the engine oil and filter, and the fuel filter. It is a fiddly job and you need a good range of tools to get to all the hard to reach nuts and bolts.

[avetoy]

Well done Kenny!

Could you tell us how the turbo had failed please?

[Kennycab]

The bearings failed causing excessive movement in the shaft, and the exhaust turbine wheel touching the exhaust housing resulting in a blade snapping off and pinging it's way down the exhaust pipe. Luckily I was near home so managed to limp back, screeching noise, no power and increasing noise when revved up told me it was the turbo gone as have had it before on a vectra.

[avetoy]

I´m surprised why so "young" turbo fails...

When I was younger I tuned up old Carina with turbo. I tested several different blowers and they all were older than this. Never had any problems with bearings. Must have been defective bearings from the beginning?

Anyway, it´s good that everything is ok now! Thanks for telling!

[Nebu]

Well done Kenny. I am not as brave as you. Nor do i have all the tools required. I have parked my thoughts for the time being.

[Avalon]

Historically the 'it can't survive the combustion process' logic was correct, it's not quite so black and white as of a few years ago. Either way premium diesel should mean that the issues associated with sticking vanes/control ring aren't a problem anyway.

[paul9]

I put some turbo cleaning fluid in the tank last week and can't tell any difference, although my turbo seems to be mostly well behaved.

[Avalon]

I had issues with buildup on the control ring/vanes a few years back at around 96.7k, occasionally it would drop to limp mode with P1251 logged and actuator was stiff to move, usually only a problem on a particular stretch of road where it gets steep and you drop a gear, vanes go from open to closed and the it doesn't and can't make boost you feel the hesitation. I tried BG244 and it did nothing obvious for me other than increase mpg, I gave AR6400D a go at 108k.5, nothing obvious at all. 3 weeks later Costco opened up fuel on it's local site selling premium diesel for less than supermarket diesel at 110k, so I started running it and within a tank the problem was pretty much gone. I ran for two years with zero issues like that, but a change in driving pattern means I didn't drive past Costco for a few months and the RAV was relegated to tip runs and holiday use and fed supermarket fuel, 2,000 miles later the same problem occurs.

This time I listened to friends in the trade, grabbed two bottles of Forte TDC at £12.50 each from my local factor and as per the instructions added both to a full tank if you have had an issue - this gives you time to consider your lifestyle choices and the pro's/con's of 'I told you so' vs. not buying a new turbo fitting kit/oil changes/hours of your life on a Saturday afternoon splitting/cleaning/reassembling the turbo 😄 By this stage I had been able to drop it into limp mode more or less at will, sure enough after 15 miles it did just that. Obviously not a great start, but also too early to do any significant good. Within 50 miles it was back to 'normal', the hesitation that preceded limp mode was gone. By 150 miles it felt smoother to spool up the turbo and was pulling as well as it's ever done in the last 120k i've driven it. Having run the tank through to reserve, I shoved £10 of BP regular yesterday at 132.9 (ouch) and then necked it at Costco for 123.7 later that day, at 9.2p/ltr difference between Costco Premium and BP regular i'd rather drive the extra few miles to Costco and hopefully run without issue for another few years and save money. Trying to be objective, the BG244 is not marketed as a turbo cleaner, so my expectations were probably unrealistic, the AR6400D is, and at £33.11 for two bottles it's not exactly cheap and didn't do anything obvious, 2 bottles of Forte is £25 and did exactly what it said on the bottle within 50 miles, I know what i'd buy again.

[Kennycab]

I had a look at the failed turbo last night and found the lever that operates the control ring and vanes hardly moves so would suspect that has caused it to fail over a period of time. The car used to suffer from hesitation above 3000rpm but this has gone since fitting the replacement turbo. I checked the movement of the lever on the replacement and it seemed ok before fitting it. Is there a spec that defines how far this should move and how to set the adjusting screw ? Would be interesting to check the replacement against a spec.

I will disassemble the old one some time this week and post pics etc.

Car was hardly ever run on supermarket fuel, mostly Esso regular or BP / Texaco with occasional Costco premium or V Power / Ultimate

[Avalon]

All I can say is the difference in pressure required was noticeable in my case, I struggled to move it prior to treatment to the point it was physically uncomfortable, but it did move. After treatment it was stiff, but I could move it with less force, doing so 10 or so times was uncomfortable. Realistically without measuring the pull force required that's not much use.

[Nebu]

to get around this problem, nowadays i am using vpower or bp premium fuel and i also the Redex diesel fuel treatment with every tank full. 

[Avalon]

4 hours ago, Nebu said:

to get around this problem, nowadays i am using vpower or bp premium fuel and i also the Redex diesel fuel treatment with every tank full. 

I agree with the first part, better fuel seems - in my personal experience - to mitigate the issue, Reddex is a fuel system cleaner (the blue £2 stuff from Asda etc.), i'd prefer something with 2EHN in for a cleaner burn, but if it works for you, then that's all that really matters - clean the EGR though, it's a very easy/quick job.