siezed turbo

[luckydave215]

Last time I ran the boat we cruised at 1075 rpm for a few hours, all was well.
Coming back in I went to run her up the last few miles as I usually do and the starboard engine didn't want to spool up and blew a bunch of black smoke.
Hmmm, must be a turbo. So today I removed the air cleaners to get access, the inboard turbo spins freely, the outboard turbo seemed stuck. To see if it was just carbon build up I applied a socket to the shaft nut, 10-ish ft lbs didn't turn it.
I bought these turbos factory new (not remans) less than 200 hours ago......meh...!

 

[sixty]

Siezed could be a few things but with putting that pressure on the shaft it should have rotated unless there is a foreign object stuck in one if the turbines. I would pull it off and take it appart to find the damage and hopefully cause. If its clear just replace the damaged parts and rebuild. It's pretty simple to rebuild a turbo, especially dry turbos. If its a seized shaft therest a good chance there is a blockage in the oil feed. Typically this won't seize the turbo solid like you are describing.

 

[oceanjake]

I knew a guy once that this happened to frequently. He always sprayed wd40 in there and worked it back and forth and eventually it would work free. I don’t recommend this. I’m just saying that I’ve seen it done. If you can pull the turbo yourself you can have a shop rebuild it for $500 or so.

 

[Avenger]

Seems odd that it would go 200 hrs if it had a lubrication problem. Lack of lubrication tends to make them go bang. Shaft and bearing seizures are not the norm. Also, what kind of shape is the exhaust elbow in? They can cause exhaust housings to rot and the scale can jam the turbine blades. Although that usually happens when they're sitting. Or, as sixty said, foreign object.

 

[luckydave215]

The mixing section - "exhaust elbow" - is three feet away and about two feet lower than the turbo. Anything is possible though.
However, due to crazy business adventures taking up all my time the engines hadn't been run in a few months.

 

[sixty]

After reading your description again my guess is the turbo has been seized for awhile.

At any rate it all has to come appart to be diagnosed and fixed. Sounds like your exhaust is the same as mine and there is no real easy way for water to get back up from the elbow to corrode the turbo which barring water from the engine points to foreign object or lubrication issue.

Where are you slipped? Ill be in SD this weekend and might have time to drop by and take a look.

 

[luckydave215]

I'm at the Kona Kai, slip E-29.
PM me for a phone number.

 

[luckydave215]

I'll pull the turbo as soon as I have time, I've been crazy busy.

 

[Bob Bradley]

Any chance you might have dropped foreign matter (like a washer or nut) down the exhaust riser when you replaced the turbo? I found this in mine the last time I pulled my turbos...



Yea, its a Craftsman 3/8 ratchet.

 

[luckydave215]

Anything is possible, but the engines have been run for 200+hours on these turbos, with plenty of time at 2100 to dislodge foreign objects before now.
I did't change them the last time, a highly respected Detroit specialist did. It's coming off Thursday, so we'll see.

 

[luckydave215]

It's funny, before I "retired" I did all my own mechanical work, now I don't have the time.
How did that happen?

 

[Avenger]

Every person I know who is retired wonders how they ever found the time to go to work.

 

[SEVEN]

I can’t wait to feel that feeling. Six months to go.

 

[luckydave215]

Every person I know who is retired wonders how they ever found the time to go to work.

True this! No longer having an excuse not to attack the honey-do list really cuts into your time.
And in my case all the issues I have been putting off on the family rental property empire came all at once.
I replaced 22 garages and patios, replaced the electric panels and tented for termites on one property, roofed five buildings, built a retaining wall and renewed the paving on another, re did all the gas and electric (from scratch) on..er...under a large mobile home park, then my mom passed last year so I got on refurbishing that house to sell (closed last Friday - Yay!).
In addition, the owner of the project where my engineering business is located decided to sell and the new owners want to re-position the project as a high end millenial oriented wheat grass/safe room type of high tech facility so I am in the finishing stages of relocating that whole mess (offices, machinery, lab, etc).
It's hard to find the time to use the boat and still race sports cars and ride my motorcycles. Oh, and race RC cars on Wednesday nights.
I need a nap.....

 

[rsmith]

Sticking turbos happen quite a bit in aircraft engines that aren’t used frequently mechanics often pull the oil lines and soak the bearings with mouse milk to dissolve the coking and rust in the bearings. I owned a Cessna 340A for 24 years the norm was to allow the engines to operate at Idle for 5 minutes before shutdown to make sure the turbos were cooled down and the oil in the bearings didn’t coke. I bought the plane new in 1984 from Southwest Skyways in Torrance Ca and ran the first set of engines and turbos 400 hours past TBO.

 

[luckydave215]

To no one's surprise, the turbo is "welded" to the manifold.
Application of penetrating spooge has been done, now to let it sit a few days and try again.
If that deosn't work, next I'll try heat. But how much heat will it take for something that runs red hot in operation?

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Every person I know who is retired wonders how they ever found the time to go to work.

Friend of mine, pediatrician, so looked forward to retiring--hunt'n, fish'n, hang'n out at the gun club ... His wife looked forward to winning yard of the month (every month according to my friend). His retirement lasted about two months.

 

[luckydave215]

The turbo was jammed by carbon on the hot side. The guy I got the rebuilt one from - "Detroits Only" highly respected in SoCal - looked at it and said "push the levers up more often and for longer periods"
Ok....

 

[RonNP]

Craig Stange at Detroits Only is the best Detroit Diesel mechanic I've ever met. If he said push em up for longer, I'd do it

 

[luckydave215]

Craig Stange at Detroits Only is the best Detroit Diesel mechanic I've ever met

Agreed.
He said as soon as I get the boat running to run her at 1800-1900 for at least two hours.
Maybe I'll go out and chase some of the bluefin that have been hanging around Cortez Bank lately, and run all the way. It's only fuel.....