B16G - Professional Balance and Rebuild?

[pgt1996]

To all,

I recently purchased a B16G turbo and it has enough in and out shaft play to have caused the compressor to rub on the compressor housing. This is clearly evident in the pictures posted in the link below.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/moawdtsi/my_photos

The individual from whom I purchased said has noted that the turbo is a low mileage turbo (approx 10K) and the seals are good and does not need a rebuild, simply, the compressor wheel might need some tightening. My questions follow; please correct me if I am wrong in my thinking how this works. Thanks, -Tim

I have not tightened anything, since I do not wish to change the balance of anything, but unless the compressor wheel is somehow loose from the shaft, which it is not, it will not turn or move independent of the shaft. Tightening the compressor shaft nut will not do anything since the spring plate bushing + the thrust bearing bushing + the compressor wheel should be a solid assembly up against the raised section in the shaft, acting as a stop. The thing that would cause shaft play is if the spring plate was not doing its job holding the spring plate bushing tight enough (to prevent excessive shaft play) against the thrust bearing with a force directed towards the center of the turbo.

Assuming this is a problem with the spring plate, and everything else is okay, could the spring plate just be replaced? The compressor wheel does not “seem” like it has much material missing, but I would guess it probably does not take much to reduce the efficiency of a turbo since tolerances are fairly tight for a purpose. Also there could probably be some balancing issues to now with some material removed from the compressor wheel. Would the wheel have to be replaced as well and the whole assembly then be professionally balanced?

 

[anconover]

It depends how much material is missing. If its chewed up, youll probly want to replace it. And buy the rebuild kit, itll have everything you need unless there was something special that was damaged.

And if you want the turbo to last, have it balanced. Many just mark everything before dissasembly and slap it back together. I really dont agree with doing that if the turbo is expected to last.

The easiest thing to do would be send it to FP or someone to be done. They can balance it etc. But ill tell you now, if theyres any visible mark on the compressor wheel, your going to be replacing it no doubt.