how to tell if turbo is shot?

[mitsubishimanic]

ok i lookd at a ton of thread and got no clear answer how to tell if a turbo is spent manly a 14b. i checked for shaft ply it moves very little up and down. any thing else i should check, any noises it might make, tell tale signs any thing, car blows white smoke out of exhaust. just did the head gasket and new arp bolts tightened in correct sequences. looking into if it might be my turbo. any input would be awesome.

 

[Muddy9069]

When I got my eclipse the turbo had a blown oil seal. Would billow smoke out the tailpipe when the turbo kicked in. One thing you can check is pull off any of the hoses between your turbo and intake. If there is oil in the hoses you probably have a blown oil seal.

Scott

 

[Absit]

Did you re-torque the head studs after a warmup?

 

[jimbob_843]

My turbo started to get noticably louder while spooling up. Never smoked, minimal shaft play, then over a short time developed some in-out play(no help from engine break in). It wore the turbo thrust collar enough to make my oil look metalic. Just pull it off and check it out to be safe.

 

[racerx4g64s]

Is it still making boost?

 

[dave99gst]

your supposed to check for in/out shaft play...some up/down is normal.

what exactly is the problem?

 

[FLASH1970]

I'd retighten the arp studs. Did you check the deck surfaces for flatness when you did the hg?

 

[BigBeans]

I'd retighten the arp studs. Did you check the deck surfaces for flatness when you did the hg?

Never a bad idea, but it's highly unlikely to be the cause if the HG was installed properly and the deck/head are flat.

I've driven my car for awhile at 25+ psi (including 2 hours of dyno torture) without re-torquing the head studs after install, and never pushed coolant.

 

[mitsubishimanic]

i re torqued the head yes and the head was flat took it to a machine shop just to check. theres is some oil in the intake side. it blows white smoke under boost out of the exhaust not so much at an idle. my oil looks fine. it blew white smoke before i did the head gasket seine then it hasn't gotten worse or better. ill check for in and out play today. would a going bad turbo make any weird noises

My turbo started to get noticably louder while spooling up. Never smoked, minimal shaft play, then over a short time developed some in-out play(no help from engine break in). It wore the turbo thrust collar enough to make my oil look metalic. Just pull it off and check it out to be safe.

i have noticed it has been loud latly spooling.

 

[JusMX141]

If your car's a 1990 and has never had valve seals and the turbo is original as well, I'd say it's either the valve seals or the turbine seal leaking.

 

[mitsubishimanic]

ya every thing is original i bought the car a lil f**ked up for 500 trying to restore it and save a dsm.

any more signs would be awesome. any weird sounds. could water get in the oil or what would cause turbo to blow white smoke.

 

[mitsubishimanic]

any one have any other thoughts just looking for ideas to watch for.

 

[dsm44130]

ive rebuilt a hand full off turbos if you have shaft play and smoke ide assume your hot side seal is blown or not seated properly , cause of which could be a bad c-clip holding the bearing in place or an edge worn bearing either way ide fix that

two sides of a turbo, intake and ex

 

[Calan]

I think it's a little odd that you are seeing "white" smoke right after changing the HG. (Does it smell like coolant?).

I would do a leak down test, to be sure your HG isn't the culprit.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/338152-compression-leak-down-testing.html