98 v70r Advice needed quickly - forgotten paper towel in t

dkopfman · Post by **dkopfman** » 24 Jul 2015, 06:11

I had my intake apart last night, plugging the turbo intake tube as I always do with a paper towel, and dammit, decided it was more important to drink that 6th beer rather than remove the towel out before I started. it. The intercooler hose was sucking down and I couldn't fig out why and I woke up this morning remembering it, and found (most) of the paper towel lodged down against the turbo blades. MOstly in one piece and only a little bit has been chopped up into somewhere...???

1. Can I start the car with the turbo air intake and the pipe over the engine coming out of the turbo removed, to blow the bits of towel out?

2. I know it will start, but have I damaged my engine to the point of a turbo rebuild or complete teardown? Where did these shreds of high quality white paper towel go? Should I drain the oil I just changed right before doing this and use some kind of detergent to break down what small amount of paper got into the engine?

3. Any suggestions would be a great help before I start it this morning and possibly ruin my beloved R.

I'd rather not pull the turbo or any other things for a rebuild. thanks!

Post by **misha** » 24 Jul 2015, 06:27

If it is a quality towel paper it should be dissolved in oil...just like in water,or it will burn from the heat.

I doubt that it would make some damage,but i would wait to see some other opinions.

Post by **tryingbe** » 24 Jul 2015, 06:30

If I were you, remove the turbo from the car, remove the compressor housing with a big par of needle nose pliers, remove all trace of paper, reassemble.

Remove ALL intake pipings lead to the inter cooler, remove all paper. Check intercooler for paper.

Reinstall everything.

You would rather not pull the turbo or you would rather not damage anything? Choice is yours.

dkopfman · Post by **dkopfman** » 24 Jul 2015, 06:31

Thanks. It was only about 2-3 square inches and it wasn't a Brawny, just a med quality wal mart towel not too thick.

dkopfman · Post by **dkopfman** » 24 Jul 2015, 06:34

BTW the turbines still spin freely and I see threads of cotton in the over the engine pipe. thanks to all who have a constructive opinion on this.

Post by **abscate** » 24 Jul 2015, 06:37

The paper won't make it into the oil, it will get shredded by the turbo, sucked into the combustion chamber and get burned up either in the cylinders or in the cat.

IF

it makes it through the intercooler. I think the internal on the intercooler is fine enough it will effectively catch big pieces. If you think you got most of it I would start it up after vacuuming the hoses and turbo from both sides

Chances of being ok...99.9%

Sommerfeldt · Post by **Sommerfeldt** » 24 Jul 2015, 06:49

+1 on abscate's opinion. Had something similar happen to me the first time I had the hoses off the T5-R (not saying it's a "noob" thing to do at all...

), and the intercooler did indeed catch most of it (discovered when intercooler failed for other reasons not long after).
Clean hoses as best you can, get all the pieces that you can - basically do what you can, and burn the rest.

Like abscate says, chances of OK - 99,9%.

- S

PS; like someone said a while ago, our engines are far from operating room clean. Stuff gets in there, and it blows back out (mostly). While it's a good idea to keep things clean, as best you can, follow the HGTG advice: Don't Panic.

dkopfman · Post by **dkopfman** » 24 Jul 2015, 06:58

Thanks guys. Sure makes you feel like a noob! ha

Post by **cn90** » 24 Jul 2015, 07:59

If you want to catch all, then disconnect the turbo connection near the throttle housing, then jerry rig some tubing, use a garden blower (the machine used to blow leaves) and blow it in reverse.

Any bits and pieces lodged in the radiator portion (I call it radiator because it is a radiator, but you can call it "cooler") will be blown back. Make sure you disconnect both sides of the cooler, so the bits can fly out.

GL.

PS: Once done, pour that 7th bottle of beer into the intake to celebrate (NOT)...LOL.

Post by **FLXC90** » 24 Jul 2015, 12:35

So is the rule of thumb one beer per cylinder?
If I want the whole six pack I have to work on the XC90?