Scott Speirer wrote:

Thought I'd bounce my latest findings of the newsletter group concerning

my

turbocharger.

I had bought a '91 13B Turbo engine, which included the stock

turbocharger.  The

turbine was seized.  I dissassembled the turbocharger.  There were

white-colored

powder deposits all over the inside walls of the compressor housing.

The compressor

wheel was caked with these deposits.  After cleaning some of this stuff

with my

fingers, my skin was quite irritated.  No deposits were found in the

turbine wheel or

housing.  After cleaning off the stuff, the turbine assembly spun

freely.

I suspect the deposits were engine coolant residue.  There is a receeded

(sp?) disc

area in the compressor housing which is made for the base of the

compressor wheel to

fit into when installed.  The clearance is fairly tight when the

compressor wheel is

installed.  There were deposits in this receeded area, and I suspect the

water seal

around the turbine shaft failed and released coolant into the compressor

housing.

So, how well do you think engine coolant burns?  I think the water

component wouldn't

hurt, and as Leon has made light of, water injection is a great way to

raise the

detonation threshold for the charge mixture.  But, I wonder how the
antifreeze/antiboil chemicals behave in the combustion chamber?  I think

I'll be

taking apart my engine for a systematic inspection and cleaning.

Scott

The glycol ingestion should not be a problem.  In fact, Mazda used glycol
injection on some RX-7s (including the 1988 model in my garage) to improve
cold weather starting.  Don't know how or why this works but there is a
little tank for glycol on the firewall for this.   This is in addition to
the usual coolant overflow tank for the coolant system.

Tracy Crook
tcrook@rotaryaviation.com
www.rotaryaviation.com

 
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