Turbo Wash

[Russell]

Is turbo wash recommended for Cummins engines too?

[jleonard]

Yes, that or a home made cleaner will clean any intake system, esp needed with a sea water cooled aftercooler. The cold water makes the oily intake mist condenseand it sticks to the inner walls reducing airflow, also sticks to the turbo impeller blades. Every few years that buildup needs to be cleaned out.
The home made formula is described a few posts up.
You can read about it on boatdiesel.com as well.

[ScubaPete]

Thanks Capt Paul...If the drain is out of the after cooler when running...wouldnt you get a lot of raw water being pumped out? Cant wait to try this in the spring..

I haven't tried a turbo wash yet, but I'm sure he's talking about removing the condensate drain plug from the AIR SIDE of the aftercooler, not a drain on the raw water side.

[sweetwater]

Thanks Scuba Pete, don't think I have seen that drain... Gotta take a look.

[Capt Paul]

Jleonard and Scuba Pete.

Yes , it definately woud be the condensate drain, it was just spitting out condensation and even some of the turbo wash. its on the bottom of the aftercooler almost in line with the turbo intake looks like a zinc . Look at page 44 of the operations manaul, which you can download from this site here: download/file.php?id=402

[Russell]

JLeonard, I know you are pretty knowledgeable about Cummins engines but I want to make sure about spraying soap water in the air intake. It seems crazy to me and my engine shop manual does not mention it. I suppose it will get vaporized during combustion. The aftercooler on my engine has coolant rather than sea water but it still seems that a wash might have some benefit after 2400 hours. Should I do it?

[jleonard]

I did mine, it was also the jacket cooled version. They talk about doing this all the time on www.boatdiesel.com
Think of a pickup truck (like the one I had for 9 years) with a Cummins 6BT running 70 mph behind a tractor trailer on a rainy day. Trust me my engine would be sucking in more water than you can ever spray in with a spray bottle.
Those were always the days the truck would run like a scalded ape.
Performance truck guys run water injection for more power. (they actually prefer windshield washer fluid)