My turbo blew..Why?

[Dready]

So..I just installed my 14b turbo no shaft play what so ever on Fri..

Everything was going dandy..i have it set on 11lbs of boost and was enjoying life..

Today Tuesday i here a rattling noise coming from the turbo..take the intake off and i have no up and down shaftplay but A LOT of in and out.

What Happened?

What would cause this to happen..


Insufficent oil supply?

Insufficent Coolant Supply?

Just Bad luck?


Pleas Help

 

[97 4G63]

Old turbo most likely.
Did you use an install kit for it?

 

[Dready]

The turbo was brand new rebuilt..with no shaftplay in either direction.

Yes i used an install kit.

 

[grantman10]

Who was it rebuilt by? Did you check after to see if the oil lines look hooked up right? Lack of coolant would not have done this.

 

[Dready]

Lack of oil would cause extreme in/out shaftplay?

I bought it from a member on here that said it was brandnew rebuilt.

 

[gorf]

did you prime the turbo with oil before starting the car?

 

[Dready]

yes primed it about 10-12 false starts....cranked it but wouldnt let it turn over 10-12 times

 

[codyw]

Just because he said its new doesnt mean it is. When you installed the turbo did you turn the car over with the feed line disconnected to make sure the oil line is supplying oil? I always set the line in a bottle and turn it over for a few seconds and make sure im getting oil. My guess with your problem is that it was oil starved for a bit.

 

[grantman10]

Lack of oil would cause extreme in/out shaftplay?

I bought it from a member on here that said it was brandnew rebuilt.

Well, indirectly. Without oil the excessive heat could have done a number on the internals of the turbo. I don't know a lot about how journal bearings work.

The other possibility is that the turbo wasn't rebuilt properly. As long as you are sure you hooked it up properly i would try to get a hold of the person you bought it from, see where he had it rebuilt, or how he rebuilt it.

 

[Dready]

Well, I guess I will get it rebuilt and buy a brand new perfect oil feed line. I guess it wasn't getting enough oil? Its just a real downer, the install wasnt cake walk, but should be easier now that all the bolts are broken free.

 

[Locke]

Improper lubrication will lead to a bad thrust bearing in a hurry, which will cause excessive coaxial shaft movement.

 

[grantman10]

Yea, turbo install, and replacements dont rank very high on my fun list. Good Luck

 

[Dready]

So just to make sure... were all 98% positive it was either a bad turbo or a bad oil feed line, correct?

 

[grantman10]

So just to make sure... were all 98% positive it was either a bad turbo or a bad oil feed line, correct?

thats where my vote is. I cant figure it being anything else if the compressor fins are still fine and you didnt suck anything in.

 

[z24frank]

I agree also with it being a bad turbo.Hopefully there is a warannty on it.

 

[Dready]

Warranty on a 14b...ha!!

 

[kenamond]

FYI journal bearings - including our turbo thrust bearings - work by separating two pieces of metal by a film of oil. The oil acts like the balls in ball-bearings. In theory, the two metal parts never touch...and aren't supposed to touch...and aren't designed to withstand touching. So if you have no oil, a very critical piece is missing (like not having any of the balls in a ball-bearing).

If you can't get any help from the guy who sold this to you, I'd atleast pull it apart and see what happened. Tearing apart a turbo is more fun than watching Wheel of Fortune anyway . Go look at the 14b rebuild site on VFAQ Site - Visual Frequently Answered Questions to find out how to do this...you might find that you just want to rebuild your 14b for about $80 (well, that's how much a reputable-but-still-inexpensive T25 rebuild kit costs, so I'm guessing a 14b wouldn't be much different, cost-wise). Check out that article before you take anything apart or you miss a crucial step.

 

[Dready]

Yea im gonna get it rebuilt..thanks guys

 

[JusMX141]

The turbo was brand new rebuilt..with no shaftplay in either direction.

No it wasn't. The seller totally lied about that one.

I had the job of rebuilding the turbo in question after it blew on Dready's car. The internals on the 14B were coked with burnt oil as if the turbo had about 100k of daily-driven miles on it. I'm not saying it was poorly cared-for, it was obviously tight when he got it. The thrust plate, journal bearings, turbine shaft, oil collar, and oil shield all had burnt oil stuck to them that you'd NEVER seen from a turbo with 4 days of drive time.

What actually brought this turbo to it's demise was a loose compressor wheel nut. It's one of the older (49178-01010) 14B's that has a right-hand threaded compressor nut, and apparently it came loose. You can guarantee it won't come loose now!

 

[95redturboawd]

By chance did this guy say it was brand new rebuilt and had only been in his car for a few minutes while it was idling?

 

[webconnect]

Eek. My compressor nut on my t25 came off and totaled my turbo. Now that is a constant fear. I am even afraid to check my new s16g to see if the nut is on tight, because I don't want to break loose the nut.

 

[JusMX141]

By chance did this guy say it was brand new rebuilt and had only been in his car for a few minutes while it was idling?

I've rebuilt a couple hundred turbos- I know what oil coking looks like and what causes it....idling does not cause oil coking because the turbo never gets hot enough to burn and stick to the turbo's internals.

I also know what a freshly-rebuilt turbo looks like, and this one hadn't been touched in quite some time.

The nut simply came loose.....so after I rebuilt the turbo I used a fair amount of red Loctite on the shaft and torqued the nut to 100 in/lbs.

 

[JusMX141]

Eek. My compressor nut on my t25 came off and totaled my turbo. Now that is a constant fear. I am even afraid to check my new s16g to see if the nut is on tight, because I don't want to break loose the nut.

It wouldn't hurt to back the nut off a few threads and put a few drops of red Loctite on the shaft then retorque it for piece of mind. I know for a fact that new Mitsu turbos do NOT have loctite on the compressor nuts, but then again most new Mitsu turbos have left-hand threads on the shaft to keep the nut from working it's way loose during normal operation.

I use red Loctite on ALL of my rebuilds, whether the shaft is left- or right-hand threaded.

 

[webconnect]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[giovanniv]

i would also go with the turbo was no good to begin with......