How long can i run a bad turbo

[crusindregs]

I have a 99 gst and i just put on my BOV and I'm only pushing 14psi. When i got home after a test drive i noticed a good amount of white smoke from my exhaust and i have a feeling its the turbo.... I'm going to check it tomorrow for shaft play and i don't have the money at the moment to replace the turbo. How long do people run a bad turbo on their car for before replacing it? I don't want to do anymore damage.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

Are you sure it is white smoke? White smoke means that coolant is burning.. Have you done a compression test?

 

[Niteninja01]

It all depends. If it's in and out I wouldn't think that long, but up and down I think is less servere. And it also depend on how much play it has. I would baby the car and turn the boost down and try to keep it out of boost.

 

[95whitegst]

how long do you want to run it with the bad turbo though? are we talking a few days,weeks,months or what

 

[Only2G4Me]

Like 1993eclipseGS said, are you sure its oil smoke? You should check for shaft play in the turbo. With a blown turbo you're burning oil and coolant through the engine/exhaust. So running the bad turbo you risk running low on oil/coolant and causing some major engine damage. Also the longer you push the damaged turbo the less chance it will be salvageable if you want to rebuild it. I blew the stock T25 on my gs-t and burned two quarts of oil just driving to work and back. Needless to say I didn't drive on it anymore untill I rebuilt the turbo. To answer your question, it really isn't a good idea to drive on a blown turbo at all. If you think you can tackle the job yourself, a rebuild kit for the T25 is around $80 or so. Good luck.

 

[crusindregs]

Thanks guys I'm not 100% sure its oil or coolant or if the turbo is bad i haven't taken my intake off to check the play but i was reading a lot of threads and many people said they were blowing out white smoke when their turbo started to go. As for rebuilding it, how hard and what special tools are needed to rebuild the turbo because I'm considering just upgrading to a 16G.

i also don't think it has a compression problem because it runs perfectly fine with all its power. However i will be doing a compression check once i disable the clutch switch its a pain in the butt because its so deep in there that its hard to get your hands in it to disconnect it does anyone know a shortcut of disabling the clutch safety switch?

 

[Bluefire16]

Personally i woudl be afraid of up and down more then in and out...### with the up and down the fins are moving and going to hit the wall, then they are going to chip and get busted, then metal shavings go into your engine and BOOM! Just me thought......

 

[ballersixty9]

the soobner you can replace it the better.

 

[GSXeclipsePSI]

Worst case you blow up the internals of the turbo. Some pieces make it into the cold side of your turbo and sucked/blown into your motor so you weight the chances.

I have personally cracked 2 stock T25s back in the day. Received 1 cracked one from a junkyard and they cracked in the hot side almost same places in all 3 and I decided to go to a 16g right away just for confront. I too was leaking coolant and at a high rate. If you turbo starts sounding like a supercharger... REPLACE asap or park it til fixed.

 

[DSM1G90]

Disconnect the WG linkage from the boost controller and use the linkage to hold the WG open. This disables the turbo. Just take it easy on the throttle til you get the turbo replaced.

-DSM

 

[crusindregs]

This blows i just checked and i have both horizontal and lateral play but the lateral play is a little worse. I'm now looking into getting the big 16g most likely from ebay. Anyone ever have bad luck with ebay turbos even tho their new and sellers have great reputation? What is the setup about keeping my WG open i dont have a boost controller im running the stock setup still. Hopefully ill order the turbo in a week or so and should arrive in another week.

 

[jjm96gst]

This blows i just checked and i have both horizontal and lateral play but the lateral play is a little worse. I'm now looking into getting the big 16g most likely from ebay. Anyone ever have bad luck with ebay turbos even tho their new and sellers have great reputation? What is the setup about keeping my WG open i dont have a boost controller im running the stock setup still. Hopefully ill order the turbo in a week or so and should arrive in another week.

It's a hit and miss with the Ebay turbo. I would just maybe look on here on the classifieds and see if you can find a nice used one. Maybe get a T28 or something so that it will be a direct bolt on. It would really suck if you spend all that money on an ebay turbo and then it goes bad on you. (then you back were you started) There are plenty of guys that do run ebay turbos on here and are doing fine but it's a roll of the dice. And remember if you get a 16g you will also need the j pipe. Good luck

 

[2gGSXEclipse]

and the 16g install kit for the oil lines and such

 

[DSM1G90]

What is the setup about keeping my WG open i dont have a boost controller im running the stock setup still.

Sorry, had brainfreeze when I posted this. Meant to say Wastegate Actuator.
Disconnect the actuator linkage from the WG, find a length of wire (coathanger wire does great) to loop in the WG lever to hold the WG open.

 

[kqodprez]

Sorry to hear about the turbo crusin. Since you don't have any mods posted in your public profile I would find a nice 14b for around 100 bucks and replace it with that. That would be WAY more reliable then chancing an egay evo16gt. Or better yet rebuild or find another t25! Now if money wasn't an issue then I'd suggest you grab a true E316g, 650's, walbro, afpr, safc, boost controller and gauge and logging software. If you are going to go a lil bigger just make sure to do it right....

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

Should be fine for awhile (month-ish) IF you stay out of boost. I roasted my 14b and drove with it for 2 months with occasional boosting and it's still in one piece in the junk pile at the shop, put up a hell of a smokescreen though. Ditto on what the other guys are saying, white is coolant. If the turbo is dead, it'll only smoke under boost, I had no smoke at idle or under no-boost.

 

[jjm96gst]

and the 16g install kit for the oil lines and such

Oh yes thanks I forgot to put that up

 

[DSMDriver69]

look at it this way. A week after i found out my t25 was gone I installed a 14b. After i took off the t25 i realized it had alot of shaft play and the compressor wheel was about to break off. If I had let it stay on i could have had alot more problems. Its just a question of how much you care about your motor.

 

[crusindregs]

Yeah I hope i dont get screwed but the kit comes with all the lines and im also getting a j pipe for a pretty decent price over all, im gonna baby the car until i get this sorted out to prevent anymore damage and expense. I'm going to take all of your advice and look into another 14b or rebuild kit even tho i want an upgrade or a 25t.

i was also looking at a 20g that wasnt much more but I'm afraid of the turbo lag which i definately do not want.

 

[97_JDM_GSX]

yea i drove my car for like 1month with a blown T25 sounded like a supercharger, still pulled, you could hear me coming down the block, when i took it apart alot of shaft play, chipped, bent fins. suprised it was still running

 

[voyageur]

Ok, I drove my car for a few months with a bad 14b. I'm pretty sure the seal went bad and had a lot of coaked up bearings. Eventually, the turbo froze up, quit smoking, and ran better. When I removed it, it had no shaft play or movement of anykind so there was really no worry about the turbine blowing up. If it was still spooling up I would have been more worried. I ended up getting a 16g from craigs list for $80 thats worked fine.

 

[crusindregs]

What modifications do i need to make to install a t3t4?