Turbo pics

Robski97

Robski97

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2007
1,828
North Bellmore, NY
Boat Info
44DA
Engines
Cummins QSC 8.3's
I alittle bit ago someone posted some pics of there turbos. As I become more comfortable with my motors , Im poking around more looking for stuff going bad. I cant tell u how many loose and missing bolts i found. Loctite is the only way to go. Anyway I pulled my air seps and took some pics . I noticed alot of the blk paint on the housing was gone and rusted. Has anyone resprayed this ? also when looking at the turbos.... what am i looking for ?? nothing obvious jumped out.... ( broken blade, bent blade body parts ) there was no soot, or anything that didnt look normal. So was curious is anyone had pictures of there turbos before and after a issue. One thing I started and appears to be a never ending task is keeping up with the rust. I sanded and painted my tail off today. There are dozens of spots i cant even get too..... ( below the heads )

Anyway just figured Id ask...


All the best guys


Rob
 
You should ask to see pictures of their turbos or they're not going to go there.
 
Rob,

The Walker Airseps are powder coated and not painted. If you are losing the powder coating, I'd be concerned that their may be salt moist air, or salt water drips, leaking on to the unit. I had that issue with my port side airsep. I identified the leak, repaired the leak, and then replaced the complete airsep unit..not cheap..about on boat dollar ($1K)

Are you noticing the corrosion on both air seps?

I noticed that the powder coating was flaking off the airsep, both inside and out. Before the turbos could ingest the flakes I replaced.
 
Dom,
I did have a heatexhcnger failure in the begining of last season. WAter everywhere.....

other then that bilge has been dry. I took turbo pics but no air sep pics... ill do that next weekend .

Rob
 
Heres a few pics of the powder coating peeling from my airseps.....

P7120287.jpg


P7120290.jpg
 
The airseps are not painted, they are powder coated. Prep is very important here, as you don't want the paint/powder coating flaking off and the turbo ingesting the flakes.
I personally wouldn't paint, but that's not a technical recommendation. There is a place in NJ, and I'm sure by you in NY, that powder coats. Try searching on the net.
 
I had/have NO rust on my turbos.

Does both turbos have the same issue?
 
Rob- the rust and the flaking powder coat are issues that need to be dealt with. You might want to check your boost pressure and compare it to spec. The QSM had a known issue with air filter screens breaking loose and traveling through the turbo. Of course, I thought mine would be different, but I was wrong. My turbo didn't look that much different that yours and my boost was off from 77in Hg to 68in Hg. Though there was no discernable difference in performance, my EGT was elevated about 150 degrees. I ended up replacing my intakes with Walker's Engineering and replacing the turbo and cleaning the HE.

My point is that the nicks on the throat and blades of the turbo were minimal.... hard to see even. You could just feel them. There was no performance loss at all. Had it not been for the data available from the engine electronics, I would never have known...... BUT, the elevated EGT temps could have caused some more serious damage had I let it go.

Find the source of the rust and fix the powder coat. The turbos don't like ANYTHING but air.
 
Those look like nicks and deposits on the vanes. Both of which slow the blower down, which reduces boost. You need to have an expert examine them, but to me, it looks like you need a new turbo.

Best regards,
Frank
 
Robski97 said:
I cant tell u how many loose and missing bolts i found.
Click to expand...

I've never heard of that with Cummins.... must be a unique problem with your engines...

Your turbos look like they have had salt water on them. Aluminum and salt water don't get along well and causes pitting and powder coat will just flake off as the Aluminum oxidizes (on your Airsep).
 
Last season my after cooler failed. sprayed the entire ER with salt water.... .... so this could be the source . ( very good catch Gary ) wonder why the cummins guys havent said a thing about this ... they have only been all over the boat . Piss's yea off... Guys thanx for help

Rob
 
Re: AirSep Filters

What to check?

Okay, first some paint/coating that is flaking on the exterior of the Airsep can be touched up with a epoxy enamel no problem.

On the inside of the airsep unit you need to inspect carefully with a flash light looking for peeling paint, foam sound deading material in the venturi material failure (this may show pocking, missing gaps, or chunks gone. These Airseps are infamous for the foam going to chucks that hit the turbo blades at high speed and can mean adios turbo blades! The loss of paint/coating inside the Airsep housing in such a wide area is very problematic. The aluminium is corroding.

If your last oil analysis showed high levels of salt, then you are looking at some upstream damage from salt spray in the ER. If the After cooler was aerosoling salt water over time, the that is the source and on the port engine it is just inches from the Airsep in take!

None the less, check for salt water leaks everywhere in the rawwater side of the cooling system. Check the hose clamps, elbow AND the Strong Seal on the packing gland for leaking. (When the shaft is running in a puddle of water, spray can be slung everwhere and cause a lot of corrosion and yes, aersol salt into the Airsep.

Lots of corrosion generally means lots of water or un bonded major components.:wow:

Your Airsep(s) maybe "toast" because you can't just paint the interiors of the units. But fix the problem before replacement. May need to replace. Do them both and order a spare filter element to have on hand "JIC".:smt101

Check the turbo temp while running at 85% and compare to spec if it runs to hot, you have trouble inside the turbo and you now know why. BUT the unit can be serviced so don't give up on it without a fight.:smt100

Unfortunatley you may have some after cooler vanes clogged by the paint chips that made it to the cooler. But the internal temp of the Turbo probably vaporized the paint and foam (I hope).

The amount of missing paint probably means more trouble somewhere.:smt089
 
Last edited:
I was just being sarcastic about the bolts vibrating off... If you search for the word "bolts" with me as the author, you'll see some significant issues I had with bolts vibrating off/breaking on my intake manifold. I wrote a nice letter (it was nice and I'm not being sarcastic) to cummins about the issues and didn't even receive a response to my letter... How's that for customer satisfaction.

Anyway... I fixed the stuff on my nickel... as usual. The engines I have run great... it's just the surrounding support that needs work.
 
Rob,
I am guessing the Aftercooler was covered under warranty? This seems like clear damage resulting from the aftercooler failure, which in turn allowed the Holset Turbo to ingest saltwater, resulting in the corrosion visible in the picture and the potential downstream damage Chad alludes to. If this is specific to the engine where the Aftercooler failed, then I'd say it is time for a heart to heart with Cummins, with a concurrent call to Sea Ray. If your dealer's service manager has a good relationship with Cummins then he may be of use in the discussion as well. My Cs had significant warranty protection to 300 hours, and residual protection on major components to 600 hours. I do not recall all the items covered (owners manual is on the boat) but this will not be an inexpensive repair, and if the Aftercooler was the culprit, perhaps Cummins will step up to the plate.

regards
Skip
 
Gary I remember the ... " king kongs vibrator "

thanx for info... sending pics off to my cummns guy....

Keep yea posted.... and I thought having a broken faucet was my big isssue of the spring.... HECK!!!!


Rob
 
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