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Smoking Turbo

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Kmiller86

15+ Year Contributor
107
1
Dec 5, 2004
Hartalnd, Wisconsin
I have a scm 6152E (The ball bearing one) and it has only about 500 miles on it. About 100 miles ago it started to smoke from the bottom of the turbo. Found oil leak on valve cover gasket that got oil on the turbo and fixed that, but it still smokes.

I checked the lower intercooler pipe and there is no oil in it. There is no shaft-play. The turbo boosts fine up to 25psi.

There is no oil dripping anywhere. The only place that I see oil is on the bottom of the turbo. It is between the center section and the hot side of the turbo, right on the bolts. The oil is obvioulsy burnt and not liquid at all. I have cleand it but it still smokes.

Is this a sign of a blown turbo?

Thanks for your input.
 
I dont know. It is the one that came with it. It was from Slowboy Racing. I ruled that out as a problem because it came with one. Has Slowboy been known not to send the right restrictor?
Thanks
 
It is getting fed from the oil filter housing. It is the Buschar Racing feed line and I forget where the return line is from but it is big.
 
Make sure you have the right restrictor on the turbo and if its still smoking then feed the oil from the head. Ball bearing turbos dont need that much oil, most turbo companys reccomend a restrictor and feeding the turbo from the head for ball bearing turbos.
 
Ok I will check the restrictor size. If it is right I will move the feed line to the head. Do you think that I could have caused any severe damage?
Thanks
 
Kmiller86 said:
Ok I will check the restrictor size. If it is right I will move the feed line to the head. Do you think that I could have caused any severe damage?
Thanks
If there is no shaft play on the turbo, excessive oil supply/volume/pressure or defficiency in oil return capacity (caused by a kinked return line or excessive crankcase pressure) should be the directions you should look towards. Unlike standard bearings where oil is used for both lubricating and cooling, a BB turbo only uses oil for lubrication and should always be fed from the head location, preferably with a inline oil filter. I'm surprised that SBR did not mention this when they sold you the BB turbo, the filter location provides way too much volume/pressure for a BB turbo, especially if the balance shaft removed.

Here is a quote taken directly off the Forced Performance faq.
Forced Performance said:
Why do people say it's not good to get oil feed for the turbo off the cylinder head? Should I use a filter on my oil supply line to my turbo?
There are plenty of people who have oiled their turbo off the head and not had any problems, there are just as many if not more that have done it and had recurring turbo failure that was only vaguely described by the repair shop as "poor lubrication".
Oil pressure in the cylinder head on a stock 4G63 engine can be less than 5psi at times, while this may be enough oil for a factory 14b, T25 or even 20g it isn't enough to feed the high volume oil passages of the modified thrust setup in your FPGreen or FPRed model turbo. The Garrett severe duty 360 thrust setups also have an increased appetite for lubrication. Think twice before feeding either of these type turbos from the head.

Remember that you aren't just trying to keep some oil on the bearing, you are trying to float one piece of metal above another piece of metal on a pressurized film of oil, and at the same time keep the whole mess cool enough not to melt. A constant high volume stream of oil does just that, a measly trickle will send you back to the turbo shop.

One exception to this is the Ballistic Concepts Ball Bearing CHRA from Garrett. These turbochargers are totally different internally. Their operation is actually impeded by too much oil. It is fine to supply these turbos with oil from the head. In fact the oil line we offer comes from the head and features a .8mm orifice to restrict the oil flow to the turbo . These turbos require water cooling in the absence of the typical high volume of oil that would normally provide stable temperatures.

As far as filters go, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. You shouldn't need one in your oil line. Failures occur due to dirt/grit in the oil making it into the turbocharger. Failures also occur due to plugged filters. We have seen it both ways. If you are going to use a filter, check it often. The most important thing you can do to avoid oil contamination of you turbo is to THUROUGHLY wash everything more than once before assembling your engine. Avoid sandblasting anything that goes inside or onto the engine. Specifically avoid sandblasting your valve cover. If you suspect that the machine shop that did your valve job sandblasted your head then make sure you remove the 4 plugs from each end of the head that cover the ends of the oil gallies and wash the gallies out with HOT SOAPY WATER. If you do this you will be amazed at what comes out of your beautifully machined freshly rebuilt head.

If you think all that is a bunch of crap, at least spin the engine over to prime the oil system without the turbo attached so that anything in the gallies has a chance to flush out instead of flush into your new turbo.
 
Thank you OLDMAN. I talked to Slowboy on the phone when I bought the turbo and they said nothing about the feed coming from the head and not the filter housing. What micron filter should I get or what would you recomend.

Thanks.
 
Kmiller86 said:
Thank you OLDMAN. I talked to Slowboy on the phone when I bought the turbo and they said nothing about the feed coming from the head and not the filter housing. What micron filter should I get or what would you recomend.

Thanks.
You're welcome. SBR sells a SS feed line kit with an earl's inline filter specifially for BB turbos, look under their turbo accessorie's section and you will see.
 
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