Runaway after oven cleaner turbo clean

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Nyg1012

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Just used oven cleaner to clean the vanes on my 2001 JETTA ALH. Pulled off exhaust and filled exhaust side only with cleaner, worked the actuator back and forth until it was moving freely. Bolted everything together and started up the engine . Upon acceleration the engine ran away and I had to rip the intake hose off and block it off with a piece of wood to shut down. Total run away time probably 10 seconds. Pulled off top intercooler hose and no signs of oil, no play in turbo shaft. Anyone have any ideas as to how this happened? Engine has been very smoky with blue smoke since I bought it indicating it's burning oil but I still can't link that to the run away. Please help. I caught it on video just can't figure how to post it on here
 
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kooyajerms

kooyajerms

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Oh man, that was a perfect response. I know it all too well. You shut it down pretty well while holding onto your phone! Watched it a couple times, and i'm still laughing (empathetically)

I've had my own runaway that I couldn't stall and I lost that engine. 10-15 seconds of torture trying to throw it into 5th. a $150 used turbo that let the seals go cost me way too much.

I've never done the easy bake method (always give the turbos a work out) but this is exactly what I'd be scared of or the engine compressing all that "interesting" starter fluid.
 
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Nyg1012

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Luckily I hadn't put the clamp back on the intake tube yet! Not sure how the engine could of run on oven cleaner as the exhaust side and the compressor side should be totally separate unless the turbo is failing and it shows no signs of that. The car won't rev above 2500 again now which makes me think the vanes may be jammed up again although the actuator is moving relatively freely.
 
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stamp11127

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The sound and tach reminded me of my motorcycle days (Z1, H2-750) but isn't that scary
This is one of the videos we show to the new students. For those that watch it starts happening around the 2 minute mark. Notice the response by the different generations of mechanics...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbiNndfNNKI
 
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Seatman

Seatman

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See? This is why I KEEP the asv on my car! :D

No signs of oil cause you just burnt it all lol, I'd be wary of starting it again although I think it's unavoidable even if just for curiosity
 
UhOh

UhOh

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Oh, man, tough crowd here tonight! (I will watch the video later when I am able to sit down with a bowl of popcorn.)
 
turbobrick240

turbobrick240

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Nice vid! I'd say you caught/stopped the runaway before any serious engine damage was done. My guess is that the turbo had marginal seals before the oven cleaner, which digested what was left of the seals. Probably time for a new turbo.
 
H

hey_allen

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This is why I keep a CO2 extinguisher in my trunk, ever since buying my first diesel. (1982 Jetta 1.6l)

So far I haven't needed it, and have never used the extinguisher in anger (panic?) but have discharged one to cool a rack of soda while on a military grounds maintenance detail... Nice chilly soda in a 95 degree day, went over well with the whole team!
 
N

Nevada_TDI

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You don't say the amount of time that passed between the spraying of the cleaner and your starting the engine. There are other posts mentioning the propellant being flammable and the potential for trouble if the "fumes" have not all bled off. There is a post of someone who got in a hurry and sent a fireball up the intake pipe somehow and melted a bunch of stuff under the hood. Glad to know your engine didn't have a meltdown.
 
n1das

n1das

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Nyg1012 said:
Just used oven cleaner to clean the vanes on my 2001 JETTA ALH. Pulled off exhaust and filled exhaust side only with cleaner, worked the actuator back and forth until it was moving freely. Bolted everything together and started up the engine . Upon acceleration the engine ran away and I had to rip the intake hose off and block it off with a piece of wood to shut down. Total run away time probably 10 seconds. Pulled off intercooler hoses and no signs of oil, no play in turbo shaft. Anyone have any ideas as to how this happened? Engine has been very smoky with blue smoke since I bought it indicating it's burning oil but I still can't link that to the run away. Please help. I caught it on video just can't figure how to post it on here
Click to expand...
Interesting you had time to get it on video during the runaway unless you already had the video going before the runaway started. I haven't had a chance to watch the video yet.

It probably had failing turbo seals which finally let go and dumped oil into the intercooler. The IC may have already had a buildup of oil inside it which got sucked into the intake the first time you accelerated the engine.

Sorry to hear. Hopefully all it needs is a turbo.

Good luck.
 
turbovan+tdi

turbovan+tdi

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Why didn't you turn the car off? No ASV?

You probably avoided major damage but definetly check the turbo.
 
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IndigoBlueWagon

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The oven cleaner got it going, and if you didn't have a well functioning turbo for a while you probably had oil accumulated in the intercooler piping. So once it built boost it pulled in that oil and it was off to the races. Good thing you caught it so quickly. Hope it's OK. I'd check the timing belt just as a precaution and pull the valve cover to see if any lifters show signs of piston to valve contact. Valves float when revs get too high.
 
Vince Waldon

Vince Waldon

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IndigoBlueWagon said:
The oven cleaner got it going, and if you didn't have a well functioning turbo for a while you probably had oil accumulated in the intercooler piping. So once it built boost it pulled in that oil and it was off to the races.
Click to expand...
Would be my interwebs theory as well.
 
Nozzleman

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stamp11127 said:
The sound and tach reminded me of my motorcycle days (Z1, H2-750) but isn't that scary
This is one of the videos we show to the new students. For those that watch it starts happening around the 2 minute mark. Notice the response by the different generations of mechanics...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbiNndfNNKI
Click to expand...
Neighbor told the story of having an 8V Detroit run away. He threw a 4" or so thick Houston TX Yellow Pages on top of the intake and said a large portion of it made it out of the stack before they found the clip board.

When I first started my 5.9 Cummins, the rack stuck after sitting for years and it ran away. It is rather unnerving getting it shut down as that much heavy metal moves around that fast.
 
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Nyg1012

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I'm ordering a new stock turbo to get me by until my build starts. Removed top intercooler hose and the Intercooler and top piping appear to be oil free but as some of you suggested , what oil was in there was probably all sucked in and burned up. Luckily I had a piece of ply wood sitting there to throw over the intake hose. If I was doing this again I would definitely leave the exhaust off the turbo longer to allow fumes to dissipate. Never considered the seals being below average with no play in the shaft but I've proved its possible I suppose. Hope others learn from my trial and error lol
 
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Nyg1012

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Update. New stock turbo fitted. Inspected old turbo and the seals had indeed failed. I removed the intercooler and even though no signs of oil on top hose the thing was filled with oil , probably drained close to a quart out. Engine still very smoky even after 1/2 hour of run time. Will be hooking up the VCDS and checking out timing to see if it was thrown out by the extreme RPM during the runaway
 
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ketchup

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It took a week or so to fully clear oil from the exhaust when I had a turbo seal fail bad. I drove it hard to speed the process up and it began spitting flames. The looks i got from other road users was extraordinary.
 
devonutopia

devonutopia

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Nyg1012 said:
and checking out timing to see if it was thrown out by the extreme RPM during the runaway
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10 seconds bouncing on the limiter should do no real harm. Even with the oil rapidly running out in the sump it should be OK for that short space of time.

In the UK, cars are generally bounced off the limiters for about 4 or 5 seconds as part of the annual MOT test (emissions test)
 
kooyajerms

kooyajerms

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Runaways don't bounce off the limiter, the ecu is no longer in control. All you have is a low max rpm (5000)speedometer to go off of. Most times you are overspeeding, and overspeeding is way beyond the limiter. If we bounced off the limiter the whole time, the runaways wouldn't be a big deal except for the lubrication issues.
 
A

AlanZ

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I doubt anyone is still following this thread but if so ... I have a silly ass question. With turbo on work bench, could you block off the oil intake side and run a vacuum (Mighty Vac) on the "out" port to see if the system holds a vacuum? Purpose of test = test integrity of oil chamber. No vacuum then seals are leaking.
 
PakProtector

PakProtector

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And that is why there is an M4 bolt threaded into the lower tank of my IC. Comes out every oil change. Trivial oil follows it. If qty goes up, then some maint is going to be called for. murph says this will happen in winter when snow is on the ground of course...LOL

Douglas
 
9

97caron

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AlanZ said:
I doubt anyone is still following this thread but if so ... I have a silly ass question. With turbo on work bench, could you block off the oil intake side and run a vacuum (Mighty Vac) on the "out" port to see if the system holds a vacuum? Purpose of test = test integrity of oil chamber. No vacuum then seals are leaking.
Click to expand...
I doubt testing method would indicate seal integrity. These are mechanical seals and engine oil pressure provides the mechanical force ti provide. the seal.
 
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