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turbo failure (turbo wisemen help)

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Cesarlcase

10+ Year Contributor
261
5
Dec 29, 2009
lynbrook, New_York
Hey guys, just need a good solid answer. Had a turbo recently rebuilt, but it blew literally the next day. There is a possibility that the wastegate line disconnected from the compressor, but the turbo hasnt seen any boost over 9psi and wasn't driven hard at all since I'm breaking in my motor. So ultimately, what I'm asking is the failure of the turbo due to the rebuilder trying to make some quick money off of me using cheap parts and just building the turbo carelessly or can it actually be overspeed from 9lbs (which just sounds ridiculous?) Also,I have a wolf ecu which would stop boost at 17 psi.

P.S this same turbo before it was built went through a similar ordeal when the line that connects the wastegate burned on the turbo manifold...all that happened was fuel cut and a sudden halt of the car. Thanks for your input.
 
Any chance you can open her up and post pics? A lot can be said of failure from seeing the interior (seals/bearings/shaft). Since it's blown, won't change much to open it at this point anyway. A lot can happen, oil pressure problem, metal from engine and so on. I'm sure Justin can give you a good idea of the problem by what you posted, but seeing the interior damage (if any) will definitely help identifying the cause.

Also, when the turbo was rebuilt did the wheel spin freely? Was it a mix of used/new parts?

Just read you got it installed at a performance shop, any warranty? if so, don't open it and bring it to them first
 
what kind of turbo? need more details, oil feed size? oil return line size?

It's a t3/t40e .50 compressor .63 hotside. Not sure about the sizes and stuff, had the kit like for 2.5 years never had issues till recently when I figured I would get it built with the new motor. It's a eBay turbo. Plenty of oil to the turbo, wasn't starved of oil. I had it installed at a performance shop.
 
Any chance you can open her up and post pics? A lot can be said of failure from seeing the interior (seals/bearings/shaft). Since it's blown, won't change much to open it at this point anyway. A lot can happen, oil pressure problem, metal from engine and so on. I'm sure Justin can give you a good idea of the problem by what you posted, but seeing the interior damage (if any) will definitely help identifying the cause.

Also, when the turbo was rebuilt did the wheel spin freely? Was it a mix of used/new parts?

Just read you got it installed at a performance shop, any warranty? if so, don't open it and bring it to them first

Well, unfortunately, I can't open it up any time soon. But when it was opened up, no signs of lack of oil,no metal shavings, there was literally nothing there besides two round but "unfeelable" markings on the shaft. The turbo has plenty of shaft play and blows blue smoke.

Your turbo is blown. Buy a new turbo. "Lol" Relevant.

I already have a new turbo, thank you very much. just trying to get my money back from the shop that built my turbo.
 
Well, unfortunately, I can't open it up any time soon. But when it was opened up, no signs of lack of oil,no metal shavings, there was literally nothing there besides two round but "unfeelable" markings on the shaft. The turbo has plenty of shaft play and blows blue smoke.



I already have a new turbo, thank you very much. just trying to get my money back from the shop that built my turbo.


Sounds like the seals, Where are you feeding from and were you running a restrictor?
 
Sounds like the seals, Where are you feeding from and were you running a restrictor?

Yeah, I figured the seals... And It's from the oil filter. But it was checked for starvation none of that. But could all that happen from not having the wastegate connected and not running more than 9 pounds of boost? Because that's what the builder is claiming.
 
How were you running only 9psi with the wastegate line disconnected?

And Oil starvation isn't the issue, when feeding especially from the OFH you need to check oil pressure to the turbo to ensure its not getting too much oil. Too much will cause the seals to push the opposite way intended and therefore let oil through.
 
How were you running only 9psi with the wastegate line disconnected?

And Oil starvation isn't the issue, when feeding especially from the OFH you need to check oil pressure to the turbo to ensure its not getting too much oil. Too much will cause the seals to push the opposite way intended and therefore let oil through.

Yeah, but I didn't have that issue before and this is literally the same setup that I had for years. No as i boosted I would give push the pedal just enough to get it around 8-9 psi then let it go just to get a taste of the new motor than I would literally be done till I'm home. It's auto, in d It's simple to control the boost.
 
Most eBay turbos don't last Long. Some make it awhile and then need rebuilt. Sometimes the rebuilds don't hold up. I would say its time to look for another turbo. I wouldn't rebuild it again because In most cases you're wasting your time.
 
You built your motor? Have you recently removed your balance shafts? You nay be putting to much oil pressure to that Turbo if your not restricting it.
 
I removed the posts back and forth with a member who has an artificially high post count. Keep it on topic, y'all.
 
I agree with brian9397gsx, you are probably getting to much oil. I would rebuild it and put a restricter in the feed line or switch youre feed line to the head .
 
You built your motor? Have you recently removed your balance shafts? You nay be putting to much oil pressure to that Turbo if your not restricting it.

Yeah, I actually installed a 2.4 with the balance shaft deleted. Also, what size fitting would you guys recommend? And Im guessing to much oil pressure if that's the case would cause blue smoke, but that couldn't cause shaft play,right?
 
No, to much oil would just blow seals. Maybe you have a bad rebuild. As far as what size restrictor, you need to measure how much pressure u have at the turbo first .
 
You don't know what can go wrong with eBay turbos, which is why I generally don't trust them as far as I can throw them.

The entire turbo is most likely made with recycled materials. Put an eBay turbine housing outside in a rain storm and the next morning it will looks like it sat at the bottom of the ocean for the last 50 years. Do the same to a MHI turbine housing, not one spot of rust.

That being said, inferior metals wear quicker and become out of tolerance much faster. There may be nothing at all with the rebuild itself or the parts that were used, but if the sealing surface on the center housing becomes out-of-round or warped for some reason, the turbine seal will never do it's job...so even new internals will not provide a leak-proof seal.

Once the hot exhaust gases begin to leak into the center housing, the turbine-side journal is directly effected by extreme heat that it shouldn't be seeing under normal operation. This will burn off the oil as it enters the journal, resulting in a lack of lubrication in that journal. Continue to run a turbo this way and the bearings and shaft will heavily discolor from heat, and the bearings will wear rapidly.

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It's a t3/t40e .50 compressor .63 hotside. Not sure about the sizes and stuff, had the kit like for 2.5 years never had issues till recently when I figured I would get it built with the new motor. It's a eBay turbo. Plenty of oil to the turbo, wasn't starved of oil. I had it installed at a performance shop.

Chinese turbos are so cheap. All the 16g ones that i have seen, the center sections wear out worse than the bearings. Im clueless how they make a center section out of that cheap of metal to wear it will wear out from what should be normal shaft play and bearing wear. The only reason i will buy a chinese turbo is for the turbine housing. Everything else is trash in my opinion. They arent worth rebuilding. Some people ask me to rebuild chinese turbos and i just persuade them to have me build them any MHI turbo from scratch out of a 14b. In the long term people they will save money if they just buy a geniune turbo.
 
Im clueless how they make a center section out of that cheap of metal to wear it will wear out from what should be normal shaft play and bearing wear.
Simple: re-recycled brake rotors on their third go'round. Who knows what the hell is even in the metal composition after it's melted down and re-cast, but it surely doesn't contain the amount of nickel that the MHI housings do.

Steel so soft that it wears quicker than yellow-metal journal bearings which were designed to wear. It's what you're getting for $129 these days. LOL
 
Thanks guys, ultimately I made a huge mistake taking it to be rebuilt. The only thing is he said he would build it to work as if it was a brand name turbo... Learn from mistakes I guess. Still Wish we lived in Afghanistan, would of legally put a claymore in front of his door for Christmas. Thanks again guys for the feed back
 
Thanks guys, ultimately I made a huge mistake taking it to be rebuilt. The only thing is he said he would build it to work as if it was a brand name turbo... Learn from mistakes I guess. Still Wish we lived in Afghanistan, would of legally put a claymore in front of his door for Christmas. Thanks again guys for the feed back

You would put a claymore in front of someone's door over your own mistake? You bought an eBay garbage turbo, what did you expect?
 
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