20g EBAY TURBO GLOWING RED

[shay4g63]

Okay, first off I told my buddy ebay=scary shit. but he was in need of a turbo to just get to work and back being in rough times.

So he bought a 20g ebay turbo for 250$ and slammed it in.

he has 550cc injectors, 20g, fmic, and a safc and boost gauge. thats it.

so we are driving home one night.. and he is slowing down for a red and notices it flick green so in first he goes and we take off*he is scared to pull his car past 5500rpm*
So we get going down the road and we go to pass a semi.. put it in 3rd get HALF way down the semi and he goes from 17psi down to 3psi in a snap of a finger.. then he can't even build any boost.. So we pull over.. like wtf..

pop the hood, first thing MANFIOLD,TURBO, AND DOWN PIPE ALL RED LIKE BRIGHT., Then we notice no coolant? Thats odd he has NEVER had coolant problems and JUST rebuilt the motor... compression 2 days before this was 167 accross the board. so he is SWEARING up a storm that he blew his head gasket and his life is over and what not.

So we get it towed.. the next day we check the turbo, It has some shaft play but less then my holset that runs fine. Okay?

Now we check compression.. wow it's the pretty close as 3 days ago 163 accross the board.
oh and the time we did the compression test it was a cold motor

Did this ebay turbo just shit on him? I haven't checked his cat yet and his timing seems to be bang on, maybe 3-4 degree's retarded.

Any idea's..

 

[92AWDHX40]

Lots of information on why not to buy ebay turbos, he could have saved up and got a decent 16g rebuilt unless he was dead set on a 20g, but idk what to tell him but go get another real turbo.

 

[DiamondStar90]

Okay, first off I told my buddy ebay=scary shit. but he was in need of a turbo to just get to work and back being in rough times.

So he bought a 20g ebay turbo for 250$ and slammed it in.

he has 550cc injectors, 20g, fmic, and a safc and boost gauge. thats it.

so we are driving home one night.. and he is slowing down for a red and notices it flick green so in first he goes and we take off*he is scared to pull his car past 5500rpm*
So we get going down the road and we go to pass a semi.. put it in 3rd get HALF way down the semi and he goes from 17psi down to 3psi in a snap of a finger.. then he can't even build any boost.. So we pull over.. like wtf..

pop the hood, first thing MANFIOLD,TURBO, AND DOWN PIPE ALL RED LIKE BRIGHT., Then we notice no coolant? Thats odd he has NEVER had coolant problems and JUST rebuilt the motor... compression 2 days before this was 167 accross the board. so he is SWEARING up a storm that he blew his head gasket and his life is over and what not.

So we get it towed.. the next day we check the turbo, It has some shaft play but less then my holset that runs fine. Okay?

Now we check compression.. wow it's the pretty close as 3 days ago 163 accross the board.
oh and the time we did the compression test it was a cold motor

Did this ebay turbo just shit on him? I haven't checked his cat yet and his timing seems to be bang on, maybe 3-4 degree's retarded.

Any idea's..

might wanna hook up an EGT gauge and see what it says and 550cc is too small for a 20g ...it will glow if your running lean

 

[Nasty Dream]

Without an upgraded fuel pump, maybe he had extreme lean conditions. Leaner is hotter, but I can't help anymore than that.

Kinda silly to run 17psi with those mods, IMO. But he probably knew that. Why isn't he a member here?

 

[bastarddsm]

might wanna just put the car back to stock and baby it, if it is his only wheels.

 

[4Lurker4]

Depending on how high the EGT's reached from leaning out, the turbine wheel could look like this right now

Excessive EGT's, too much backpressure, or turbine overspeeding will do this.

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It would be a good idea to check that as well, even if the turbo spins fairly well, the hot side might be caked.

 

[shay4g63]

funny thing is my wideband said he was always rich.. for a while at idle he was in the 10's!!!!.. and he had the pump rewired he just told me.
There is oil in the intake pipe and the some in the charing pipe, so he wasn't leaning out.. he always blew black smoke and smelt of gas BAD!.. no boost leaks either.

But even if his numbers are good with a cold compression won't they get better once the rings are hot and actually are fully sealed to the walls? Why would he loose all his coolant?

 

[RadDsm]

Rich AFRs and pulled timing are a combo for high EGTs, that could be why it was glowing red.

 

[ed1380]

Was the timing set correctly when the engine was rebuilt?

the manifold and turbo being red has nothing to do with it being an ebay turbo.

 

[kchaazz]

The glowing red is normal, but without an upgraded pump or at the very least, a rewired stocker, its possible to have run a little lean in the upper rpms. Id say at the very least there was some knock and timing may have been pulled low enough to get into some crazy high EGT's, as mentioned above. The most important thing to consider is the fact that the China- Bay turbos are well known to be made of inferior metals, which almost always leads to premature failure. Was the shaftplay you mentioned "side to side", or "in out" shaft play? If the latter is the case, all bets are off- the thrust bearing is gone and the turbo's done. If its side to side play, albeit minute, is there enough slop to allow the compressor wheel to grind against the cover??

If the shaft play is minimal, do a boost leak test- maybe you popped a hole in a coupler??

 

[shay4g63]

I've had my wideband hooked up to this car with my logger.. most counts of knock he got was 3 counts at 5000rpm.

Also wideband made him seem rich.. and the timing was only a couple of degree's off.. Just popped the turbo open and the exhaust housing and such is soaked and has oil all over it too.. I'm gonna guess the seals let go. also the the turbine is catching bad.. i mean my holset and my buddys gt35r catch come times when you spin it.. but this.. you spin it a 1/8 and it catchs DEAD STOP catch.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Yes inferior parts in that turbo, but how much shaft play? Whatever the case sounds like your 20g is
no longer, a 20g Sounds like its time to move on to a mhi. You told him ebay scary, i tried to tell my buddy the same but he didnt listen, his failed on him after he hit wot, less than 200 miles on his 16g ebay turbo.

Yep, im not surprised.

 

[5taR]

what turbo was on the car before the 20g?

 

[dondmon96]

I'm with 4Lurker4. Check the 'Hot Side' and see if you chucked a couple of fins, or melted them down.

 

[shay4g63]

shaft play as I said has less then my holset, my friends gt35r and such.. I have to rear muscle it to get any play.. we just poured water into the turbo water lines.. well he blew on it.. water came pouring out the exhaust turbine side haha.

okay I feel really dumb asking but better to ask then assume

Can someone tell me where the white marks on your cam shaft should be to be tdc and where the crank pull mark should be?

 

[ed1380]

well the chra cracked from all that heat. tell him to get a 14b for now. they're pretty cheap

 

[kchaazz]

shaft play as I said has less then my holset, my friends gt35r and such.. I have to rear muscle it to get any play.. we just poured water into the turbo water lines.. well he blew on it.. water came pouring out the exhaust turbine side haha.

okay I feel really dumb asking but better to ask then assume

Can someone tell me where the white marks on your cam shaft should be to be tdc and where the crank pull mark should be?

The white marks should be facing each other in the middle, between the cam gears, horizontally, with the dowel pins near the cam gear bolts facing UP. The mark on the harmonic balancer shall be on the "T" mark on the lower timing cover

 

[DSM Chase]

check the exhaust flex pipe it will collapse inside into the size of a quarter, while the outside still looking fine. Pretty shure that might have happened

 

[pj91gsx]

what turbo was on the car before the 20g?

Probably an embarrasing t25 which would be superior to an ebay turbo in some cases. Regardless it wont help solve his problem. Ebay turbos are balanced really weird and thats not their only flaw.

 

[shay4g63]

timing is dead on his car.. ignition timing is 4 degrees retarded

 

[Bouche Dag]

Keep it simple.

Check for boost leaks.

My rubber coupler split once and I had the same symptoms (have since upgraded to silicone of course!).

 

[shay4g63]

I'm putting my money on the turbo is just done.. it's ebay i told him to expect nothing

 

[pj91gsx]

timing is dead on his car.. ignition timing is 4 degrees retarded

Its supposed to be 5 degrees advanced.

 

[CrawlinZX14]

Turbo fried. And probably blew the seals on it thus the coolant into the exhaust turbine side. If he was on to much boost, I would likely bet the poor construction of it popped the seal and pissed all the coolant out. Then im sure the bearings started to fry and thus built up huge amounts of heat. I have only seen V8's make cherry red header tubes when boosted. I have made my 7m motor in my supra red, but not glowing. It was a dull red until I wrapped the header. I would say the turbo is nothing more than a 250 dollar paper weight now tho. U said there was little shaft play, but does it still spin smoothly? And with all that heat, do check the exhaust side as I would bet the fins have seen minor meltdown.

 

[Sam@RRE]

+1 timing should be 5degrees advanced. Retarded timing = mix burning late on the way out of the cylinder, thus high egt's. I would look into the knock sensor also, if its dead the car will get no timing advance at all, and increase EGT's to keep cylinder temps down.