hey guys, just an observation Ive made in the few short years Ive had a turbocharger strapped to my car. Im sure many of us have seen, even brand new turbos have there center section rust, alot of the time it rusts badly and is hard to miss in a nice looking engine bay. Ive had 4-5 turbos, chinese, garrett and holset, all rusted.

My setup last year, brand new garrett turbo, after I took the turbo blanket off this offseason, I noticed I had a small exhaust leak, which put carbon on the center section on the bottom of the turbo, after wiping it off, NO RUST!

My idea is to simply make the turbo "dirty", Id rather a little black grease than rust. Id like to give it a skim coat of this 3000* brake grease, nothing sloppy, just like putting vaseline on your lips. Except your lips dont glow red hot, but I believe this grease would take the temps



Has anyone tried something like this? Maybe its weird but I hate the look of rust and dont mind a little black grease inbetween the housings were my hands wont touch. I only need the center section, as my exhaust housing is coated, but Im sure this may work on the exhaust housing aswell

Opinions?

 

Give it a shot. Just remember, the cartridge and any other iron-alloys will start to rust even when in a non-climate controlled environment. Its mainly oxidation. But it seems like a novel idea. let us know how it goes.

 

FWIW I used high temp paint on the cast iron side of mine. I step baked it in an oven after 3-4 coats and it hasn't rusted in the 5+ years it's been sitting in with the rest of the parts I've been acquiring over the year

 

I just feel the grease may work as the area that was coverred in carbon soot looked factory fresh after I wiped it away. And the only thing I can think of that will take the heat other than expensive coatings is this extreme high temp grease (Im not big on sending parts out of my possession anymore)

Spray paint will definitely flake off of the exhaust housing after a few cherry red cycles, especially in my case with a turbo blanket. Ive had no success using what I believe is the highest temp paint sold in aerosol, the VHT Flameproof rated to 1700*, followed the heat curing to the word, still flaked. It does hold up on downpipes though.

The grease is more for the center section in my application, all the little nooks and heat fins between the housings and around the feed/drain. Since my hands dont really need to touch that during any normal maintenance I dont think it would pose any problems that way.

I just dont wanna see a rusty turbo when everything else is well kept looking

 

In theory it makes sense. The grease will form a barrier against oxygen. I noticed this too on other engine parts though

 

VHT Flame proof paint 8 bucks and turbo won't rust at all and the paint holds up to the extreme heat.

 

When applied properly and slowly heat cycled. But it doesn't always work.

 

Or just hide the rust with a turbo blanket like the rest of us.

 

I'm sorry to hear that. Sounds like you've had a bad experience with that. I can assure you, not everyone is like that.

 

Turbo blanket FTW. She likes to be cozy anyway, makes her more efficient. Although we all like a dirty girl every now and then... wait what are we talking about?

 

I do run a turbo blanket, but rust bothers me for some reason.

I used a small craft brush to thinly brush it over the center section as much as I could, guess I'll keep an eye on it for a few days to see how its holding up to the heat

That little packet in my picture is only a buck at autozone to

 

Ceramic coated center section FTW!

 

Should be interesting to see how it works.
You are basically seasoning it like a cast iron pan, but with brake grease instead of lard.

 

And by slowly applying and heat cycling you mean like I did. Spray a **** ton of it on in multiple layers and let it rip. It doesn't need to be applied or broken in in any special way I've been painting my pipes and turbo housings with VHT flame proof for years and it holds up VERY well just putting it on in multiple coats the way you should with any spray on paint and letting it dry.

 

Ya I am confident it will work, the grease burning away is my only slight concern, we will see if that 3000* degree temp rating is true. I just have never heard of anyone doing anything similar, or if there was a less messy way to make the protective layer.

Coated center section will most likely be on my next charger, not going to send my daily turbo out though, just working with what Ive got

 

good one
I sprayed mine periodically with WD-40 at first... it didn't rust

 

Ive got that Permatex grease packet ! Good stuff, its PURPLE grease if you havent used it yet

 

We put oil on guns to prevent rust, should work on a turbo also. Good idea though, I never thought of doing that.

 

The theory is sound but you're forgetting one thing, brakes don't get that hot.

a street car will do well to see brake rotor temps over 1000F, hell our Brembo GTs on our 600hp, 3200lb road course car don't get above 1600F and that's on a fast course with a professional driver(Andy Pilgrim) behind the wheel, braking from 180mph down to 30mph, caliper and pad temps were much much lower (although the front calipers did get hot enough to turn the Brembo logos from white to yellow)

under wot EGTs will climb above 1800F, enough to make the turbine housing glow bright orange. the CHRA is exposed to that degree of heat through radiation and convection as well... while it says it's good up to 3000F I wouldn't trust it, there are compounds in that grease that could easy combust with repeated exposure to temps that high, not to mention the grease in direct contact with the turbine housing and CHRA will form a solid carbonized shell of ****.

not saying it won't work for what you want but I would be concerned, there are better ways to prevent corrosion (namely ceramic coatings)

not trying to rain on your parade but it is something to consider

 

Im kind of counting on the cocoon of **** to protect it from the elements and rust

I was skeptical of the temp rating aswell since it was such overkill for brakes. But Permatex has never done me wrong.

I havent been on the highway with the car yet, but so far these last few days it hasnt cooked off or smoked at all actually so I think it may fit the bill for what Im going for here.

I really hate rust

 

2 months running everday, grease never cooked off or even changed color. Looks like its going to work just perfect for the long haul

 

Good to hear. Glad you found a solution that works.