Turbo rubbing internal heat shield, what to do?

[O_16581_72452_5]

Hi, allow me to introduce myself since i haven't yet.

My name is Chris, i'm the owner of a 1995 Honda Civic EX with a Mitsubishi Starion turbocharger. I rebuilt this turbo myself a few days ago and installed it on the car tonight, the problem is, after the turbo heats, it's rubbing the internal heatsheild on the exhaust side turbine causing me to not be able to create boost.

Am i safe running the turbo without the shield or should i look for an alternative?

 

[loreak]

Check and make sure your alignment notch is seating right, its gotta seat perfect, and there cant be anything inside the exhaust housing for it to get jammed on. Cuz when it seats all the way down that little shield presses on the inside of the exhaust housing and holds it from the turbine. So if its not seated all the way thats why it would rub. I had mine apart and put it back together and that little knob wasnt going in all the way and then i had a little gunk on the inside of the exhaust housing where that heat shield rests and it was causing it to rub slightly, i cleaned it and made sure it was seating right and tightened the vclamp up good and it stopped rubbing.

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

I sanded the lip and seated it very tightly.

There's also the issue of my exhaust housing having a small bump in it. I believe someone may have braze welded a crack, i believe it may also be sticking on that.

Edit: Would running without that heat shield be safe?

 

[pneumo]

Don't remove the heatshield. It's there to keep the bearings cool and prevent oil in the bearings from burning, which would leave carbon deposits in the bearings. Not good.

Did the heatshield rub before you rebuilt the turbo? Did you notice if the parts in the rebuild kit were any different from the stock parts?

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

Don't remove the heatshield. It's there to keep the bearings cool and prevent oil in the bearings from burning, which would leave carbon deposits in the bearings. Not good.

Did the heatshield rub before you rebuilt the turbo? Did you notice if the parts in the rebuild kit were any different from the stock parts?

I believe the heatshield did rub, the turbo has always been stiff. I'm going to grind the heatshield today and the back of the exhaust turbine to see if i can't get room. It's all i can think to do.

 

[pneumo]

While you're in there, look for rub marks on all parts. If the turbine wheel rubs on the heatshield, there has to be something either pulling the turbine wheel in closer to the heatshield, or pushing the heatshield out. Check the wheels for trueness, make sure they don't wobble, look for uneven wear on the bearing surface of the shaft. A strong light will reveal the finer details that might not show up under normal lighting. Good luck, and I hope you find/fix the problem.

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

While you're in there, look for rub marks on all parts. If the turbine wheel rubs on the heatshield, there has to be something either pulling the turbine wheel in closer to the heatshield, or pushing the heatshield out. Check the wheels for trueness, make sure they don't wobble, look for uneven wear on the bearing surface of the shaft. A strong light will reveal the finer details that might not show up under normal lighting. Good luck, and I hope you find/fix the problem.

I'll figure something out, i mainly posted this in hopes of someone saying "remove the dammed thing". Appearently it's more important than that.

 

[O_16581_72452_5]

Problem solved, a friend of mine helping to rebuild the turbo pushed the shaft in too far. I fixed that this evening.

10psi in a Civic is fun.