In this article, we’ll explain why you should keep your turbo clean, how you can clean it, and list some of the best turbo cleaners available on the market. Why You Should Keep Your Turbo Clean Firstly no smoke, starting in the mornings and accelerating away on the motorway are smoke free. The acceleration from 50-70 MPH is stronger even carrying a heavy passenger load, you can certainly notice the difference! It’s also a great idea to give your blow-off valve a clean from time to time too. If you are hearing more turbo flutter than usual, this may be the cause. The Revive worked great!!!! My Duramax boosts better and doesn't smoke as bad and also fuel economy increased dramatically. Thanks To start the process I wanted to make sure my turbo vanes were actually moving so I reached behind the motor and pushed the turbo actuator by hand. It moved free enough but I could tell there was a good amount of gunk in there.

Spray cleaners work slightly differently to pour-in additives, in that they are not added into the fuel tank but directly into the turbo via the inlet pipework. These solutions are sprayed through the inlet hose, after the filter and sensors, allowing it direct access to the turbocharger. Over time this will create a poor seal on the valve seats and increase friction on the valve stems and ultimately add to increased unburnt and recycled air contamination creating further carbon build-up. My daily is just your basic MK4 TDI. It serves me well but doesn’t get all of the love and attention that it should because I would rather spend my time working on VWDiesel and dreaming up cool new projects. For example I have 2 American Racing wheels on the car that were on it when I got it, a factory 5 spoke wheel, and a factory spare because I have been meaning to get a set of Audi Fat Fives thrown on it for several weeks now. Such is the life of a mechanics car. Made and tested in Britain, Ecomotive’s additive line has been steadily growing since the company’s beginnings in 2010. Ecomotive operate with very modern business aims, to reduce their environmental impact, improve safety and highly research all products before manufacture. The aim of all their products is to enable customers to better maintain their vehicle and achieve optimum performance and fuel economy. It calls for a more involved procedure compared to other turbo cleaners on this list, requiring you to warm up the engine then spray the throttle body repeatedly until the bottle is empty, revving it to a specific RPM, letting the engine idle, rest, then driving it for up to 10 minutes at highway speeds.I thought I'd drop you a line to let you know how my Audi A3 2.0tdi is doing since having some issues with the turbo over boosting etc. After treating the engine & turbo with the Revive product the over boosting issues have stopped altogether and the engine now seems both quieter and smoother.

Since VW introduced the ALH motor in 98 with the New Beetle and 99.5 With the Jetta/Golf the VNT or Variable Nozzle Turbo (also called Variable Vane Turbo) we have had issues with carbon buildup in our engines and turbos. The normal route to take care of the problem, such as on a mk4, is to take the turbo off of the vehicle, take it apart, and then clean the carbon buildup out of the vanes by hand. I have done this process numerous times and it is a pain. Removing the bolts that keep the turbo together can be nearly impossible. Last but by no means least, Forte’s products promise no lesser results than those of its rivals. Forte have been working with engineers, mechanics and automotive specialists in the UK for over 40 years, aiming their products squarely at people who care about their vehicles. Thanks to this industry experience, the company offers a wide range of products, specifically tailored to make them easy to use and effective. Think of it this way. You will happily spend a little extra for more data on your phone, a nicer bottle of wine and that slightly plusher sofa. Turbo cleaners simply aim to improve the driving experience of your vehicle. They will maintain its efficiency and reliability, whilst also saving you from expensive repairs in the future. For such a small outlay, there really is a lot to gain and not a lot to lose.Avoid this headache by using the CRC cleaner, helping ensure the valves and/or turbo do not become bogged down with carbon and other debris. This can be an issue for intake valves due to recirculated air entering the chamber, this unburnt and contaminated fuel mixture tends to gather on the valve stems and seats.

While it is arguably the most complicated treatment on this list, involving more steps that are very specific, it helps clean both the intake valves and turbo of a GDI engine, which is crucial. Both intake valves and turbos are expensive, and replacing either is going to be costly. Turbo cleaning products are found in many varieties, the most common and widely available being pour-in or spray additives. Both can be used at home, without lots of specialist tools or knowledge. This can potentially save owners thousands on garage services, without the car leaving the driveway. Turbo Cleaning Pour-in Fuel Additive Suitable for all diesel engines and those that run biodiesel blends up to B30. Forte recommends using at regular service intervals to remove existing build ups and prevent future issues occurring or to treat existing symptoms when they arise. Revive is a safe water based, non toxic, non corrosive and non flammable fluid, using technology developed and used for the cleaning and maintenance of aviation jet engines, power station turbines, large marine diesel engines and now automotive engines.

Technical Data

The first of the pour-in additives featured here comes from a firm based in the Netherlands, JLM lubricants. The company is just a decade old but, their use of high-quality testing and serious research is making a big impact on the fuel additive market. Professional level products for the regular consumers are what JLM specialise in, resulting in products such as their diesel turbo cleaner. Pour-in turbo cleaners work by adding the contents into the fuel tank, to mix with the diesel inside. This mixture will pass through the fuel system and engine before finding its way to the turbo. Improvement in performance and fuel economy should be noticeable almost immediately, as well as preventing issues with further build up if applied at regular intervals, as recommended by the manufacturers. The above products provide a lot of good options depending on the type of engine you have and the amount of effort required.

We could see the actuator rod of the turbo moving but obviously the vanes were jammed. On running Revive through the system I was pleased to have an exhaust extractor coupled as the amount of smoke that instantly poured out of it we would have been well fumigated. Upon completion a road test and it was like a different vehicle it would accelerate well and drive as well as a new one. Spray Revive in 3 doses of 250ml into the intake, 1st with the engine running at 2200 RPM, next at 1800 RPM, stop the engine for 3 minutes, re-start the engine then finally at 2000 RPM.If you are concerned about how the chemicals you use to clean/service your vehicle impact the environment, go with one of the Revive kits. Their formula is water-based and non-toxic, as well as biodegradable, so you can rest assured you are not causing undue harm to the environment when using it. Easy to use - no direct access to the turbo needed, simply spray into the inlet after the air filter.