Turbo cleaning ?

[Capt. DQ]

Does somebody remember the correct mixture of Dawn & Water mixture for cleaning turbos?

DQ

[CaptPatrick]

Take 8 oz. of distilled water and stir in one oz. of Dawn diswashing liquid in a spray bottle......

With boat underway at high cruise, say 2400 RPM spray the contents of the bottle into the air intake (filter off) over a period of 3 or 4 minutes, then follow with 6 oz. of pure distilled water.

Works wonders on the turbo, aftercooler, valves, pistons, rings, etc. No, it won't hurt the engine.

[Skipper Dick]

Wouldn't you have to change the oil afterwards?

[In Memory of Vicroy]

No. The little bit of water blows right through the engine. This is Tony Athens' formula and he explained on boatdiesel that in a humid climate your engine ingests tens of gallons of water ah hour from the air when running with no ill effects. This is a technique that has been used on diesel engines since the dawn of time. Very, very effective.

UV

[Rawleigh]

And the solution goes in out of a pump bottle, correct? That way you don't get any slugs of solution going through the engine. Sort of like water injection!

[buzzk]

Could you do it at the dock by running up the engines or does the boat need to be underway?

[In Memory of Vicroy]

The boat needs to be underway in order to put full load on the engines and have them reach operating temp and spin the turbos. Works just as well on naturals too. Yes, I use a quart pump spray bottle, one for the Dawn/water and another for the pure water. Because when the boat is cruising at 24 kts with the motor boxes open there is a helluva lot of wind swirling around, you can't really use a mist, you have to use a stream....when the stream hits the turbo blades it makes a "hiss" like a snake...the engine does not miss a beat during this and there is no visible smoke, etc.

I used translucent pump bottles and measured out the Dawn/water and marked the bottles at 9 and 18 oz. and the pure water bottle at 6 & 12 to I could do both engines without having to stop and mix up some more. Hint - put about 2 extra oz. of water in each bottle before you start measuring & marking so you don't suck air when almost finished. Ask me how I figured this out......

With the Cummins, the stock paper air filters are terrible, especially in a humid climate. The S&B filters are a K&N type but better, with a much stronger neck. They cost about $75 when I got mine from Tony Athens a long time ago and he says to only clean them every 1,000 hours...The clean with the K&N kit and use the red K&N spray oil afterwards. I've never cleaned mine. With the paper fileters cosing $45 last I checked, the S&Bs pay for themselves in short order. They provide an obvious performance boost too, and the huge paper filters, while essential on a dump truck, ain't exactly needed in a boat.

UV

[Capt. DQ]

I Thank You and my Turbo's Thank You.

DQ

[Kevin]

This only cleans the air in side right? Or does it clean the exhaust side too? Noticable difference with econmy or performance or is it a preventative maintenance thing?

[In Memory of Vicroy]

Well, the soap goes all the way through the engine, so it cleans the exhaust side too I guess, unless its burnt up in the cylinders. Many people have reported vastly improved performance. I recall Bruce using the technique on a yacht in .....maybe Central America? with great results.

I was doing my Cummins about once a year til Katrina and since then don't think I have at all, need to.

UV

[Dug]

UV, "since the dawn of time"????

Nice pun!

Dug

[dougl33]

I guess it all depends on how dirty things were. I did mine a couple of years ago and didn't really notice anything. I pulled the turbos apart this winter and cleaned with brake cleaner also per T.Athens suggestions. Still no noticeable diff.

Took her out for the maiden voyage last Sunday. Cruised at 2400rpms and 24 knots and hit 30 knots on the pins (300hp 6BTA's).