Bent Turbo Compressor Blades

[TalonJohn94]

This is an EVO III 16g, does it look like the compressor blades are bent?

Although they all seem to be the same shape as each other, it looks as though they are bent into a hook, and have a different curvature.

The shaft play is very little, maybe slightly more than when I installed it, which was less than 10k miles ago. Before I took off the intake, it boosted the same as when installed.

I bought from Slowboy, relocated the oil feed - so it should be under warranty, but I want to know if it is in fact damaged.

Please let me know what you think.

 

[carwizard1]

They look bent to me. They should all be facing in the same direction.

 

[Mike1992]

Yep thats turbo's bent. Start shopping for a new one. And no it wont be covered under warranty, it looks like it ate something and bent all the outer fins.

 

[CanadianTSi]

That thing is mangled, obviously there is some huge shaft play allowing the blades to smack into the housing.

 

[TalonJohn94]

man, that really sucks... as a college student, I saved a long time to pay the $650 for this turbo - and I BARELY used it. Also, it has very little shaft play right now. I don't know what could have got sucked up - my intake was never loose, I still have the stock airbox even.

I guess my only other question is should I get it rebuilt or replace it?
I mean this one was ported and modified for 34mm wastegate by SlowBoy - so can you just get a new shaft installed for a couple hundred dollars?

Lastly, if it still boosts fine (or as good as I know it to) - can I still run it without any ill effects?

BTW, I appreciate the response, albeit not what I wanted to hear.

It really doesn't have much shaft play at all.

 

[TalonJohn94]

The only other possibly relevant information I can think of is that I saw was slight oil seepage coming out of the intake tube/compressor from looking under the turbo, which I thought was blowby.

Could this have been a sign of blown turbo seal or something?

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

wow that looks beat up! definitely keep us updated on how things go, good luck

 

[TalonJohn94]

It sounds like Nate from SlowBoy is willing to look at it, and determine if I can get away with just a new shaft.

I'll have to wait and see, but I'm hoping the facts that there is still very little shaft play and that there was no scoring in the compressor housing - means that it is salvagable. I really wish I can still use the PORTED/34mmWG exhaust side of the turbo.

It also looks like used 14b's are very affordable these days, so that can hold me over during inspection and I can drive it to winter storage. I hate having to 'downgrade' but I probably have no choice. we'll see..

 

[blvngd86]

cant you just buy a new wheel? now would be a good time to put a 20g wheel in

 

[TalonJohn94]

I don't know yet. I've been told that whatever bent the compressor blades could have put undue stress on the center bearing, etc,.. to the point where it may be beyond repair.

 

[TalonJohn94]

I haven't driven the car much since this issue - due to different problems. I still can't figure out what would have caused this.

Actually sucked something in through the intake?
Oil starvation somehow?

Anyone had this kind of problem?
How much play comes with the EVOIII 16g from the vendor?

 

[twinty]

I seen a 16g exactly like that before. Turns out the installer put the rubber spacer back on the intake side with the stock 1g intake tube and it sucked it in and bent all the fins...(the 16g has a slightly bigger intake than the 14b and doesnt need the rubber spacer) Check your lower intercooler hose for rubber pieces I bet they will all be there....Sorry to see this again.....

As for repair, because it was a piece of rubber and not something hard the shaft was fine in my friends case and he just had to pay for a new wheel and a rebalance..Good luck.

 

[TalonJohn94]

i will check it out

 

[LessIsMore]

I seen a 16g exactly like that before. Turns out the installer put the rubber spacer back on the intake side with the stock 1g intake tube and it sucked it in and bent all the fins.

My stock 14b bit the dust this way also. Looked just like the 16g in the photo above. Never did find any remains of that rubber spacer.

I drove with my turbo this way for a while, eventually it went way out of balance and started rubbing against the comp. housing. Tons of shaft play as a result and dumped oil into the exhaust housing.

 

[ITSME4G63]

bent as shit, sounds like a supercharger, dont it?

 

[Defiant]

Nine months and you've not noodled this out yet? It's mechanical. Something fell into the intake. It wasn't oil supply, and the housing can't exert that kind of force on the blades- the turbine would just not spin.

 

[TalonJohn94]

Nine months and you've not noodled this out yet? It's mechanical. Something fell into the intake. It wasn't oil supply, and the housing can't exert that kind of force on the blades- the turbine would just not spin.

Up until about 3 weeks ago, I had spent the better part of the year working on clutch disengagement problems, this isn't my daily driver - and I am a full time student in winter and summer.

But anyways, I'll probably be pulling it this weekend - and sending it to slowboy to see what they can do.

 

[MrBoxx]

It's mechanical. Something fell into the intake. It wasn't oil supply, and the housing can't exert that kind of force on the blades- the turbine would just not spin.

Do you mean the resistance the compressor housing would have on the compressor blades would stop the turbo from spinning instead of simply bending the compressor blades over? I don't know. Judging from his pictures, it looks like something may have fallen into the intake, but without pulling the housing off and looking at the rest of the fins, it's hard to tell.

For example, here's my extreme case of turbo (T25) death:

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Of course, this damage was caused by serious shaft play, but I think it's clear to see that the turbine will still spin even if the compressor blades are hitting the housing as well as rubbing the base of the center section. I could have mistaken what you meant, though, Defiant.

 

[Defiant]

Your nice, clear pics show obvious overheating and melting of the blades, whereas the fuzzy, worse-than-cheap-cellphone pics seem to show mechanically bent blades.... if my memory is good enough from before looking at them blinded me.

 

[TalonJohn94]

Your nice, clear pics show obvious overheating and melting of the blades, whereas the fuzzy, worse-than-cheap-cellphone pics seem to show mechanically bent blades.... if my memory is good enough from before looking at them blinded me.

Sorry about the fuzzy pics - I think it was because I had to resize them.

Anyways, I pulled off the intake tube on Wednesday and...

The turbo was exactly how it was when I took those pics.
It had little to no shaft play like it was new.
The compressor housing wasn't scored/scratched at all. (although the blades are very close)
So I am going to send it to Slowboy on Monday and see what they say / what they can do. I still don't know what "spacer" people are talking about on the 1G intake tube.

 

[T9S1i]

Let me explain the "spacer" for ya.
(dont quote me on numbers, throw the right ones in if you feel fit)

Say the 14b inlet is 2 3/4". The 16g inlet is 2 7/8".
The intake pipe (rubber snorkel) where it bolts onto the turbo is 2 7/8". If you are going to clamp it onto the 14b you need a piece of rubber say 2 3/4" that goes inbetween the turbo inlet and the intake pipe. (This is kind of a ghetto reducer, but it works. If you ever need to connect a 2.5" upper ic pipe to your stock i/c then you can use the supplied 2.5" coupler and cut a piece of stock rubber piping off to keep inbetween the coupler and i/c outlet.)
IF you try to clamp it down to the 14b inlet, your clamp will most likely bottom out and you wont have a tight fit against the turbo inlet. This will cause a post maf/pre turbo intake leak....not good for obvious reasons.
Now if you are going to bolt your stock snorkle intake onto a 16g sized turbo, the spacer inbetween the intake and turbo isnt needed, since they are the same size. You can hog down the clamp and it will fit nice and snug.

If you put the intake on with the spacer and 16g (besides the little "step" designed into the intake pipe) you could possibly tighten the clamp enough to force the spacer to slide into the intake path. Ive seen it happen on upper i/c pipes that had oilly couplers. ONce you boost and that motor is moving air, you better bet that anything in the intake pipe will go right through the compressor blades, most likely damaging them.
This explains the spacer and what Twinty was talkin about.

Hope this helps.

 

[MrBoxx]

Your nice, clear pics show obvious overheating and melting of the blades, whereas the fuzzy, worse-than-cheap-cellphone pics seem to show mechanically bent blades.... if my memory is good enough from before looking at them blinded me.

I see what you mean now. I never thought of the effect of friction and heat on the fins. I just assumed that the way the fins bent in a contour that mimicked the compressor housing, that it was just the housing bending the fins over and scraping pieces of them away. I'll have to take a closer look at it now.

 

[Cesar]

Let me explain the "spacer" for ya.
(dont quote me on numbers, throw the right ones in if you feel fit)

Say the 14b inlet is 2 3/4". The 16g inlet is 2 7/8".
The intake pipe (rubber snorkel) where it bolts onto the turbo is 2 7/8". If you are going to clamp it onto the 14b you need a piece of rubber say 2 3/4" that goes inbetween the turbo inlet and the intake pipe. (This is kind of a ghetto reducer, but it works. If you ever need to connect a 2.5" upper ic pipe to your stock i/c then you can use the supplied 2.5" coupler and cut a piece of stock rubber piping off to keep inbetween the coupler and i/c outlet.)
IF you try to clamp it down to the 14b inlet, your clamp will most likely bottom out and you wont have a tight fit against the turbo inlet. This will cause a post maf/pre turbo intake leak....not good for obvious reasons.
Now if you are going to bolt your stock snorkle intake onto a 16g sized turbo, the spacer inbetween the intake and turbo isnt needed, since they are the same size. You can hog down the clamp and it will fit nice and snug.

If you put the intake on with the spacer and 16g (besides the little "step" designed into the intake pipe) you could possibly tighten the clamp enough to force the spacer to slide into the intake path. Ive seen it happen on upper i/c pipes that had oilly couplers. ONce you boost and that motor is moving air, you better bet that anything in the intake pipe will go right through the compressor blades, most likely damaging them.
This explains the spacer and what Twinty was talkin about.

Hope this helps.

what is the part number for this spacer???

 

[T9S1i]

I dont think there is a part #. All it is, is a step inbetween two sizes that dont fit.

Say you have a 3" intake with a 2.5" inlet turbo. The ID of your coupler for your intake will be 3" (to fit around the intake pipe) so in order to get a snug fit, you take a piece of rubber hose with a 2.5" ID and its probably 1/4" or so thick, so the OD will be 2.75, then you can clamp your 3" coupler onto the now 2.75" OD turbo inlet.

make sense? you are just putting a piece of hose/rubber/coupler to increase the OD of the inlet so that you can clamp a pipe that is too big to your turbo/ic pipes/whatever you have to, and be able to get a nice seal without hogging down the coupler too far.