Sticking Turbo Vanes and 2 Stroke Oil

**SeanC** · 3rd March 2024, 08:24 PM

About 50,000km ago on the highway the D3 lost most of its power. I limped home, plugged in the GAP tool. Boost pressure actuator fault. Did a lap around the block and the actuator wasnÂ’t moving. YouTube was my friend I found a video on freeing the actuator. I got by with freeing the actuator regularly for about 35,000kms.

I bought a boat of about 3 ton. It started faulting occasionally sometimes with reduced performance sometimes not. It started to happen more regularly. I did a decarb treatment. It didn’t stop the faults but they weren’t causing performance loss. More recently it started faulting every trip like clockwork. To the boat ramp and on the way home. No amount of freeing the actuator helped.

I started thinking it was time for a new turbo. I came across a post on the South African D3 site. Supposedly 2 stroke oil in the fuel had a number of benefits. One being lubricating the turbo vanes. Some theorised that it may clog injectors but people who were actually using it had no problems. I thought it was snake oil but I gave it a go. 0ne litre of low ash mineral 2SO per tank for the first 4 tanks and then 300ml per tank from there on.

I am halfway through my 4th tank. Been on 5 fishing trips. Hasn’t faulted once. Before the 2SO that would have been 10 faults. All trips to the same boat ramp. So surprisingly it works. I did not expect that.

**DiscoDB** · 5th March 2024, 02:26 PM

Good that it appears to be working for you. Will be interesting to get an update if the actuator fault does reappear.

**Davetd5** · 8th March 2024, 10:12 PM

I was inspired to give it a go on our beast, and behold it works! A litre of Penrite Greenkeepers 2so in a full tank Wednesday night and it was good the next day. MrsD3 had been struggling with a sluggish D3 for about 4 months, the symptoms were very similar to yours, it was faulting every few weeks, then days, then every day and then permanently the last two weeks. Code for turbo actuator kept coming up, the great local indi Peter Brown suggested a new turbo was needed based on his experience (he knows I do my own mechanical work, so he had no reason to say otherwise). She drove it work yesterday (Thursday) after I put the 2so in the night before. Last night when she got home I cleared the codes and from the moment I gave the actuator a wiggle with the disco3UK wire tool it felt like it had more stroke in it, and i could feel the vanes opening and closing. After a few doses of inox lanolin and about 200 wiggles I started it up and bam, full power back!
MrsD3 drove it today and then tonight we went for a drive in the hills to pick up another bicycle for our son's Malvern Star collection, and it's been faultless.
I'll keep an eye on it, its been suggested that the turbo vane ring might wear a groove in the housing that causes the vanes to catch and stick. I reckon it may have been gunked up and affected by MrsD3's too smooth and gentle driving style and the fact that she's been letting it idle for 15 mins every morning before she leaves for work.
Thanks for the tip!
Dave

**shack** · 9th March 2024, 08:08 AM

I'm guessing this is all thanks to Mr HgBosch?

I've been using 2 stroke oil for quite a few years myself.

I'm aware of the for and against arguments of it working, but we have had turbo faults over the journey that have disappeared after a couple of tanks treated with it.

At the worst it probably can't do any harm, so why not?

**PerthDisco** · 9th March 2024, 01:57 PM

I just can’t understand how this would help the turbo unless the 2S oil goes out the exhaust unburnt but the exhaust side is fixed vanes and the intake combustion air side has VVT am I not getting something?

I definitely see the benefit of freeing up the actuator mechanism.

**DiscoJeffster** · 9th March 2024, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by PerthDisco

I just can’t understand how this would help the turbo unless the 2S oil goes out the exhaust unburnt but the exhaust side is fixed vanes and the intake combustion air side has VVT am I not getting something?

I definitely see the benefit of freeing up the actuator mechanism.

Exhaust has VVT. The 2S does come out “wetter” / more lubricated which is why it can help.
I did some googling and it seems to be quite common for VVT turbos across various brands.

**PerthDisco** · 9th March 2024, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by shack

I'm guessing this is all thanks to Mr HgBosch?

I've been using 2 stroke oil for quite a few years myself.

I'm aware of the for and against arguments of it working, but we have had turbo faults over the journey that have disappeared after a couple of tanks treated with it.

At the worst it probably can't do any harm, so why not?

I can’t see any downside to giving it a go at the 1:80 ratio suggested

**shack** · 9th March 2024, 03:15 PM

Yeah the vanes are on the exhaust side, I've got one I'm meant to pull down, I'll post some pics when I get time (that's a joke, I'll never get time to do it).

**DiscoDB** · 9th March 2024, 05:32 PM

If you pick the right two stroke oil you are also effectively giving it a dose of injector cleaner or decarboniser.

Some two stroke oils are made with 10-30% the same solvents as used as the cleaning agents like that found in Penrite Diesel Injector Cleaner, or FTC Decarbonizer.

The fuel additives are typically just more concentrated.

**DiscoDB** · 11th March 2024, 12:09 PM

Just adding to my post above. Did some digging into SDS’s to see what the primary components are in various two stroke oils, fuel additives, and even for interest some engine oil flush products.

Most two stroke oils are a base oil blend with kerosene. The same kerosenes used as the primary component of most diesel injector cleaners.

Some oils use a more aggressive naphtha solvent which is also used in diesel injector cleaners, as well as carbon removal and engine flush products.

If you were to alternate between Penrite’s fully synthetic MC-2 (or even Castrol Activ 2T) and then the part synthetic MC-2 two stroke oils, you are effectively giving the system a dose of Penrite Diesel Injector Cleaner. The only missing additive is a small dose of a metal deactivator which claims to reduce gummy residues from forming.

Castrol Act>evo 2T is the oil which is often recommended on the Disco3.co.uk forum, but is not available in Australia. The closest would be Activ 2T but this potentially has a lower kerosene content. Which could be a good thing as Kerosene reduces lubricity.

If using plain “garden” variety two stroke oils these tend to just be mineral base oil with minimal other additives (<10% kerosene). I have not added as these are generally not a low ash oil, and may not burn as cleanly.

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