Turbo trash

[DalyDrvr]

The turbo on my 89 Toyota Supra destroyed a bronze bushing contaminating the engine with fragments. What can I do to clean the trash out of the engine without disassembly?

 

[AV8R]

Daly, you might drain the engine oil through a coffee filter and try to get an idea of the number and sizes of particles that were shed. Then cut the filter can, remove the paper element and trim off the end caps, and unfold the media and look for particles. The bushing residue, if you find any, will be non-magnetic, while secondary ferrous wear particles, from say the crankshaft journals, will be magnetic; hopefully you won't find any of those. Lastly, pull a valve cover and see if you find particles hiding in the low spots. This should give you some idea of the extent of contamination and particle sizes.

If you find severe/extensive contamination, say a teaspoon or more of particles and evidence of circulation,, and the engine seems to be generating secondary wear material, a judgement call may be necessary to weigh the risk of more extensive bearing, crank and camshaft damage vs. the cost of an engine refresh. At the minimum, monitoring oil analysis and very importantly frequent filter media checks should be performed. Good luck!

 

[DalyDrvr]

Thanks for your advice. I cut the filter open and unfolded the pleats. I found a considerable amount, but nothing close to a teaspoon full. Eyeballing the damage to the thrust bearing plate in the turbo I'm guessing there is still a lot of bronze trapped in the engine.
Today I ran the motor for a few minutes then removed the line to the (new) turbo and directed it into a funnel with toilet paper in it then dry motored the engine until it was full. I only found one very small particle in the TP.
I'm thinking some kind of flush treatment followed by a solvent soaking (pour it in and wait; no circulation through the engine) of the oil pan to rinse out the trash. Any ideas anyone?

 

[AV8R]

Daly, sounds like your situation may not be too bad. As for flushing out the particles, every time I have tried to do that I've gotten into trouble. If you are worried about junk in the pan, it's best to remove the pan for a good scrubbing. However, my feeling is that you'll be fine if you just flush the engine with some cheap oil a couple of times, and continue to check the oil filter each time until you get clean paper. While you are doing that, check a sample on the dipstick in bright, direct sunlight. Small metallic particles really stand out. By the way, what was the ratio of bronze/iron in the particles you found in the filter? The fine bronze particles will embed in the bearings without damaging the crankshaft if there aren't too many of them.