How do I clean and lube my turbo???

[donniej]

I just got a Garrett T3 turbo that I'm going to make a little jet engine with... It's in pretty nice shape but could use a cleaning. I have a 1 gallon parts cleaner bucket, is it safe to submerge it in the parts cleaner for a day or two? I'm a little concerned that there may be rubber/plastic seals in it and I don't want to melt them.

After I clean it up, what oil do you reccomend? I'll be using a high pressure fuel injection pump (40ish lbs) to run 1 or 2 quarts of oil through it, any recomendations on what weight to use would be appreciated.----------------------------
Don Wilson
North East Philly
84 533 powered by many 535's
Kids, don't try this at home...

[Sweeney 635 Twin Turbo]

a seal between the compressor scroll and the backing plate. Just make sure the oil gallies don't get obstructed.
Just use motor oil... that's what they were designed to use.

[TurboBimmer]

For cleaning, I suggest you disassemble it first. There is a seal on the compressor housing, and a carbon seal on the turbine shaft.
Also, when I did my T3, just let soak the parts for 2 days in carburator cleaner was not enough. I had to wire brush (on a bench ginder) the turbine shaft to remove cooked carbon deposit, so I suggest that you take it appart for cleaning.

For lubrification. When reassembling, coat the moving parts, shaft and bearings with motor oil. When you are ready to start your engine, or in your case, your jet engine, rise the pressure in the oiling system to pre lube the bearings and make sure your oil lines are empty of air. That will give a chance to the bearings.

Michel.

[jasonx]

I would not bother to clean the turbo for this application. Just check for excessive axial shaft play. And make sure you copy a good flame tube or you will lose some body parts. I have made the same setup using a turbo off of a MTU 396 diesel engine. I fired it with propane with good success until I got overzealous with the fueling and proceeded to vaporize the housing and compressor wheel. The final shaft speed before failure was 104,000 rpm. The unit was designed for 74,000. It was however very cool and sounded like a wounded LM2500 used in some boats I have dealt with. As for oiling the center section, I used a 110 motor and pump assembly used to transfer oil. You can get something cheap from Grainger or find something used at a swap meet or bone yard. The pump flowed 5 gallons a minute @ 20psi. Fun stuff. Not to preach again but please be extremely carefull. One piece is still permanently stuck in a concrete block.

Chris