Jammed turbo please help asap

[ken06]

Long story short i just installed Dejon UICP blow thru with a gm maft. I have roughly tuned the translator. Car was running fine and really pulling hard. However on my way home the car would stop building boost. Under WOT it would go from vacuum to about neutral pressure and then stop building. However there is no bogging or "hitting a wall" it just stops building boost and continues to SLOWLY accelerate at 0 psi with no spooling or whistling noises. I didn't notice any obvious blown off couplers. So the turbo is working but i wonder if this is a fuel problem with the translator, a boost leak, blown off vacuum hose?? Sorry for such a stupid post before I have done a good inspection but it is 1am and i have to work 8-6 the next two days and am leaving for a road trip friday though i may not be driving anymore thanks.

Edit: also my Boost controller is T-d off the BOV line so if it was a major leak wouldn't the turbo just keep spinning itself to death?

 

[groundlogic21]

Maybe you're compressor wheel is jacked

 

[ken06]

Sorry to bump but i just removed my intake and there was a piece of rubber wedge between the compressor wheel and the housing. It got jammed in there and stopped the turbo from spinning. I pulled it out and now the wheel freely spins without shaft play. I am too afraid to start my car for fear of the blades breaking apart and winding up in my engine. If my turbo got jammed is it broken on the exhaust side or could the exhaust gasses have passed by the fins without damage? In another words what am I looking at here?

 

[kenamond]

Sorry to bump but i just removed my intake and there was a piece of rubber wedge between the compressor wheel and the housing. It got jammed in there and stopped the turbo from spinning. I pulled it out and now the wheel freely spins without shaft play. I am too afraid to start my car for fear of the blades breaking apart and winding up in my engine. If my turbo got jammed is it broken on the exhaust side or could the exhaust gasses have passed by the fins without damage? In another words what am I looking at here?

Did the rubber piece look like it had been chewed up badly as if the compressor was haulin' ass when the rubber hit it? Or does it look like it could've been pulled in there when the compressor was going slow?

Is there any visible sign of damage to the compressor wheel (bent, cracked, etc.)?

Does the wheel seem to spin true?

 

[ken06]

Well the rubber piece had a few cuts in it so it looked like it slowly stopped it. Wheel spins without shaft movement and seems true. Only problem is one of the blades appears to be slightly bent like the second row of blades is closer to the front than the others. however I have been driving the car today and did 12psi for 20 seconds straight so i guess it is still well enough balanced. Hopefully this won't affect the longevity of the turbo. Talk about a freak incident. Thanks for the help

 

[MrBoxx]

Keep monitoring the turbo for shaft play. Checking once or twice a month shouldn't be too hard, since it only takes a few minutes to yank the intake pipe and wiggle the compressor wheel. If the turbo was thrown a little off balance, it may not show signs of bearing/seal failure now, but could in the future.

 

[ken06]

Keep monitoring the turbo for shaft play. Checking once or twice a month shouldn't be too hard, since it only takes a few minutes to yank the intake pipe and wiggle the compressor wheel. If the turbo was thrown a little off balance, it may not show signs of bearing/seal failure now, but could in the future.

Hey thanks for the advice and that is a really good point that it very well may be on its way to its demise but as long as I can make it last 5k miles or so I'll be set for an upgrade next summer. I've got a 300 mile road trip this weekend so I'll take a look after I get back to make sure all is well.

On a side note I am not positive what or where the mysterious soft plastic piece came from. There is a number on it and from the pattern on it and a plastic string inside the filter I am led to assume that it came off of the KN Filter. Possibly a manufacturing defect when taking the piece out of the mold that was on the inside that I somehow overlooked when installing. But it is so large I don't see how that would be possible. Weird though that it got sucked into the turbo after an hour and a half of driving. So it was attached to something but what I do not know.

 

[kenamond]

Hey thanks for the advice and that is a really good point that it very well may be on its way to its demise but as long as I can make it last 5k miles or so I'll be set for an upgrade next summer. I've got a 300 mile road trip this weekend so I'll take a look after I get back to make sure all is well.

On a side note I am not positive what or where the mysterious soft plastic piece came from. There is a number on it and from the pattern on it and a plastic string inside the filter I am led to assume that it came off of the KN Filter. Possibly a manufacturing defect when taking the piece out of the mold that was on the inside that I somehow overlooked when installing. But it is so large I don't see how that would be possible. Weird though that it got sucked into the turbo after an hour and a half of driving. So it was attached to something but what I do not know.

Keep it. If it was a manufacturing defect of K&N and you're under warranty, you might have some legal rights in the matter. Just a thought.