galant89eric

ok i have a MHI turbo from an old volvo 740. i was taking the old coolent and oil lines off, inspecting and such when i noticed inside the turbos oil return line there was some sludge. like old oil buildup and such. i grabbed my flashlight and a small screwdriver to see if it was loose. it came out not a lot but enough for me to wonder, mabe a 1/4 tsp. full is this normal?.. the turbo feels smooth hardly any play either way. so all in all it seems to be a great first turbo. i have plans later on to add a 16g compressor wheel/housing if it doesnt satisfy my need for boost. thanks

red devil

i wouldnt take that as a good thing, look for another turbo. that sludge could potentially plug and your screwed.. that tells you someone didnt let their engine run a little while after it was used, and or that they did any frequent oil changes... hardly* any play? do it does have play? if your just starting get yourself somethign else..

idiot-stick

what the hell are you noobs talking about? STFU. If there isnt much shaft play, you're probably good to go. If the oil were contaminated enough it would have worn the bearing and thus created a fair amount of shaft play.

galant89eric

when i say hardly any shaft play i mean next to none very very little. this turbo was a freebie anyways. im for sure going to keep looking around. i still may run it after i try to flush it out a bit. although it does have that stupid bov built in on the compressor side, which i would block off if i use it. thanks for the comments

ifly87

If you're scared try and flush it out a little but I wouldnt worry. maybe slosh some seafoam in there.

b18.

There should be play, just not out of spec, which is a couple thousandths.

Shoot some degreaser into the housing, take it all apart and soak it if you feel so compelled.

Simple green is some good ----, just make sure to wash it after with a non-polar organic solvent, like acetone, preferably with a low boiling point.

Skaterdudz02

Clean the bitch out. Use some solvent/cleaner. Inspect. Put it on your car and be happy.

Toysrme

having a minor amount is unavoidable, but that sounds excessive. seafoam it and start using a real manly oil. 5w/10w-40-50. don't use a 30 unless it's a tuff manly synthetic oil.


if the bearings are fine, the turbo is fine. your turbo is fine.

crx2211

It's normal for a used turbo. Since Volvos run low boost and last forever it's safe to assume you have a high mileage turbo. As long as it's not hard chunks of coked material coming out of your center section then it's fine. As long as it spins freely with no drag or noise then you're fine too. Of course that's with both lateral and end play in spec.

I would NOT recommend taking the turbo apart and cleaning it. Turbos spin at incredibly high rpm's like 100-200k, and when you take the turbo apart you take it out of balance. It's a pretty surefire way to guarantee your turbo will fail prematurely. Then again, a dynamic balance is only about $60 and a cleaned turbo is way underrated. Hell, 1/2 the time a failed Mitsu turbo is the direct result of coking and once you clean it up, stick new journal bearings and a shaft seal in it's as good as new. That's with a true balance not the "scribe" backyard bullshit technique.

Also, good luck just popping in a 16g compressor wheel rofl. If yours is off a Volvo it's probably a TD04L 14T, 16T, or even a TD04HL 15g-7. If it's a 15g then the 16g wheel would be the easiest as the center section is already set-up for a "G" series wheel. You'd still have to have the center section and compressor housing machined for the larger wheel and also re-balanced though. If it's a "T" series turbo then installing a "G" series compressor wheel may or may not be possible. I know the "G" series compressor wheels are convex whereas the "B" series wheels are flat bottomed, but IDK about a "T" series wheel.

If your CHRA is set-up for a flat compressor wheel and you want to install a convex wheel in it then you'll run into all sorts of problems even with machining. In my experience Mitsu hybrids smaller than a 20G are rather pointless as they cost more to do than just outright buying a 16g. A 16g is only $150-$300 used and it's got the bigger TD05H turbine wheel and 7cm turbine housing, not to mention more efficient cooling capabilities at higher boost levels (over 400whp capable in E3 configuration), so you may as well just get the whole thing and sell your Volvo turbo to recoup the purchase price. Good luck whatever you decide to do.