water damage to a turbo
This isn't an arguement. Since you work on jet engines you would be a good person to ask.
When I was in the Army I did a deployment and often we secured the flightline for the airforce. They flew those planes in the rain with no problems. How did that not affect the turbine engines? One would think at high speeds with rain that they would ingest a large quantity of water. They were f16's if that makes any difference.
When I was in the Army I did a deployment and often we secured the flightline for the airforce. They flew those planes in the rain with no problems. How did that not affect the turbine engines? One would think at high speeds with rain that they would ingest a large quantity of water. They were f16's if that makes any difference.
Well that's what has me curious. How can a solid mass of water make it that high and through a filter without being distributed into smaller particles of water? It appears that the intake piping would have to be completely submersed to cause this (not splashed).
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Joined: Oct 2009
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From: Colorado Springs, CO
The big issue is not heat so much as the plain kinetic energy being dealt with.
Here is an example of what water to a compressor wheel can do, even in an atomized form:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4603668
Scroll about half way down.
If you start to look at the velocities of the tips of the compressor wheel blades at high speed and then the density of water, it can be a significant impact. We are talking about a peice of aluminum that has a very specific curvature moving at roughly Mach 1 in many cases.
Now with you not being at full boost and peak airflow RPM at the time, I really doubt that water damaged the blades, but it is possible.
Some people actually do water injection pre-turbo, but we do not recomended it and even those that do are very concerned with atomizing the water as much as possible to avoid large masses of water hitting the leading edges of the blades, and they use methanol as well, which is much more readily evaporated and also less dense.
Long story short, you can hurt a compressor wheel with water in certain circumstances. Not at all a certanty, but definitely a possibility.
Here is an example of what water to a compressor wheel can do, even in an atomized form:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4603668
Scroll about half way down.
If you start to look at the velocities of the tips of the compressor wheel blades at high speed and then the density of water, it can be a significant impact. We are talking about a peice of aluminum that has a very specific curvature moving at roughly Mach 1 in many cases.
Now with you not being at full boost and peak airflow RPM at the time, I really doubt that water damaged the blades, but it is possible.
Some people actually do water injection pre-turbo, but we do not recomended it and even those that do are very concerned with atomizing the water as much as possible to avoid large masses of water hitting the leading edges of the blades, and they use methanol as well, which is much more readily evaporated and also less dense.
Long story short, you can hurt a compressor wheel with water in certain circumstances. Not at all a certanty, but definitely a possibility.
But in the OP's case...the impeller wasn't going at 100,000rpm...It probably wasn't even going 1/10th that. I believe he was just driving normally when it happened ( this is how I read it ).
In the VW Vortex post, it shows how water could errode the compressor wheel...this is also common with people who leave the turbo without a filter and DUST errodes the compressor wheel. At 100,000rpm the impeller has SO MUCH ENERGY that just about anything could cause it to explode....but during regular driving you can pretty much put your finger in the compressor wheel and stop it from moving ( I've done it at idle...lol ).
In the VW Vortex post, it shows how water could errode the compressor wheel...this is also common with people who leave the turbo without a filter and DUST errodes the compressor wheel. At 100,000rpm the impeller has SO MUCH ENERGY that just about anything could cause it to explode....but during regular driving you can pretty much put your finger in the compressor wheel and stop it from moving ( I've done it at idle...lol ).
ya i bet you were tryin to slow down when you drove into the lake.
still interested to know more details about what happened. the air filter is above the bumper brace and thats a good 2.5 feet in the air. that would have to be completely submerged for a bit of time to draw water in past a hydrophobic filter.
still interested to know more details about what happened. the air filter is above the bumper brace and thats a good 2.5 feet in the air. that would have to be completely submerged for a bit of time to draw water in past a hydrophobic filter.
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 29
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From: Colorado Springs, CO
Bingo. I think something else might be at work in this case too. i dont rule water ut, but it looks unlikely.
Ever see that vid of the guy whos hand got sucked right into the inlet on a dyno pull? Yeeesh.
Ever see that vid of the guy whos hand got sucked right into the inlet on a dyno pull? Yeeesh.
But in the OP's case...the impeller wasn't going at 100,000rpm...It probably wasn't even going 1/10th that. I believe he was just driving normally when it happened ( this is how I read it ).
In the VW Vortex post, it shows how water could errode the compressor wheel...this is also common with people who leave the turbo without a filter and DUST errodes the compressor wheel. At 100,000rpm the impeller has SO MUCH ENERGY that just about anything could cause it to explode....but during regular driving you can pretty much put your finger in the compressor wheel and stop it from moving ( I've done it at idle...lol ).
In the VW Vortex post, it shows how water could errode the compressor wheel...this is also common with people who leave the turbo without a filter and DUST errodes the compressor wheel. At 100,000rpm the impeller has SO MUCH ENERGY that just about anything could cause it to explode....but during regular driving you can pretty much put your finger in the compressor wheel and stop it from moving ( I've done it at idle...lol ).
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Joined: Mar 2016
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From: Sacramento
I have a question for the tech gurus on the board. I recently had an unfortunate incident with a rather large puddle in the road and hydro locked my motor. The shop the car is at is telling me that the turbocharger is damaged because of the water passing through. I know the motor itself would have a hard time trying to compress water but, a turbo charger should do this with ease. I do not want to come to a blind disagreement with the person working on the car because he is obviously going to try and sell me a new turbo. They also say the turbo is not rebuildable due to this damage. It is a Garrett GT35R. What are your thoughts?
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