Any way to inspect cylinder bores without removing heads?

**peterjj** · 23rd June 2022, 07:54 AM

My L320 with 3.6tdv8 has a dead turbo. The impeller shaft has snapped and though there is no damage to the turbo casing the inlet side impeller has damage. So I am thinking there is a foreign object in the the inlet system somewhere.
Before I spend money I don't have on new turbo I figure I should check no other damage has been done to the engine, including pulling off and cleaning the whole inlet system. My fear is something may have gotten all the way to the cylinders. Is there any way to check the cylinder bores without pulling off the heads? Like has anyone had success with an inspection camera down injector or glow-plug holes?
I have a hoist so body has been lifted off, not as difficult as it may sound. Even then it is still a bugger removing the turbos as it is very tight around there. So I can have access to the heads if necessary but am trying to keep costs down and gaskets etc add up in price.

**shack** · 23rd June 2022, 08:17 AM

The first thing to do would be to check if anything from the turbo is actually "missing".

Secondly the intercooler often provides reasonable levels of "turbo detritus straining" so hopefully anything that has broken off would be big enough and be caught, as to whether you can find it and clean the intercooler out.... Well that's another matter.

**davros** · 23rd June 2022, 09:34 PM

I’ve bought a cheap endoscope that whilst it takes getting used to, does work- may do the job!

Endoscope USB Inspection Camera Waterproof WiFi Borescope for iPhone Android PC | eBay

It does have its own light and I’ve used it to inspect inside an empty fuel tank. One thing is that it doesn’t have “up” and “down” so the camera may well be “upside down” and it takes awhile to figure out what the heck you’re looking at!

**davros** · 23rd June 2022, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by shack

The first thing to do would be to check if anything from the turbo is actually "missing".

Secondly the intercooler often provides reasonable levels of "turbo detritus straining" so hopefully anything that has broken off would be big enough and be caught, as to whether you can find it and clean the intercooler out.... Well that's another matter.

Yes. Whilst inspecting the bore has its place, if it looks good, any missing bits of turbo are gonna need to be found!

**peterjj** · 24th June 2022, 08:44 AM

Definitely pulling off all intake and making sure clean. Including the intercooler. Hopefully the intercooler has caught anything. Haven't found anything yet. Or any way for something to get in.PXL_20220621_044955083.jpg
I do need to check the engine though. It would be a waste to spend money on turbo then find the cylinders need rebore.

**peterjj** · 15th July 2022, 11:10 AM

Needed an extra small borescope to get in the injector holes. Most borescope\endoscopes are 8mm diameter and the injector holes are just over 7mm.

All the cylinders have little flakes of metal like this pic from a borescope cylindergunk1.jpg
Some have sludge like this cylindergunk2.jpg. Engine has been sitting for a few months and only turned over by hand just now to get the borescope in.

The bores don't really seem scratched though. Maybe the metal looking flakes dropped off the injectors when I removed them because there is nothing like that in the intake.

Think I'll have to pull heads off to inspect better. :-(

Engine was reconditioned only 30,000km ago. Disappointed.

**Discosux** · 15th July 2022, 12:53 PM

I'd be pulling the intercooler and flushing it and keeping the flushing medium for inspection. If there's no metal in what comes out of the IC - I wouldn't worry about the bore scope photos - could just be an optical thing.

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