busted turbo?

harley royce

Tuner
Points
162
Location
australia, geraldton
Car
stage2 r33 gtst
hey i was driving my 33 the other day on a fairly long cross country trip, had been driving for about three hours, i slowed for a round about and when i accelerated it started making a BAD, BAD noise, like a bearing gone in the turbo. it happened before so it got rebuilt. it had been working fine for three months before it went this second time.

the noise is coming from the bearing and sounds to me like its running dry
it idles fine and the exhaust sounds normal.
when given accelerator (not under load) it wont make boost,the boost gauge will rise to 0 and not go any further.
the noise getsworse as revs go up.

weve checked all the vaccum lines and intercooler piping (thats what we thought it mite be at first). it was all done at a reputable garage and i would hav thought it would have been flow checked? we cant think of anything else it could be,but if anyone else can think of anything else that would be awsome.:sad2:
 
First guess is the oil feed. But also what should your boost be running? If thats too high it can cause it to go. But from what you describe, it sounds like the oil feed or oil return pipe. So check your oil feeds and your oil pump ;)
 
I would also guess oil feed issues. What oil are you using? Do you have an oil pressure gauge?

Is there any evidence of sludge in the sump? If so do a full flush.

Did they properly balance the turbo when it was reconditioned? Was the turbo uprated?

Also do you let the engine and turbo cool down a bit before switching it off? This can be really bad for the turbo as the oil supply stops, the oil in the turbo burns away leaving the turbo spinning dry!
 
turbo was rebuilt and hi flowed. engine is always idled down after its worked hard, not always after easy drives.
using motul race oil, and yep it has apressure gauge but that read normal from what iv seen. guessing that the gauge is measured from else where and mite not even be affected if one line is blocked...
and were waiting to move house before we start pulling lines off and checking. trying to brain storm every possible malfunction first.
 
another question? lets just say the bearing is gone..... has any one rebuilt a turbo themselves? how hard is it? im keen to not spend alot on the turbo this time incase the problem dusnt get fixed by replacing the oil lines.
 
The best and easiest DIY check you can do is, take off the main Turbo inlet pipe. Then put your fingure into the turbo to touch the blade and then turn the blade. The blade will show you instantly if there is any play in the shaft/bearing. It should turn very smoothly if all is well so if there is anything wrong you will notice it quite easily.

If the bearings collapse, you are looking at monumental Turbo faliure and possible bottem end seizure. So go and uldo you turbo inlet pipe and check the internals out a.s.a.p. If all is ok there, then I definatly would suggest the oil feed and return and the oil pump.
 
by bottom end seizure u mean bits of compressor wheel smashing up pistons and valves? if the bearing is dry and causing a noise would that mean the bearing is already gone? if the bearing is still good but just running dry would it still spool up?
 
for lack of boost there could be a few problems,
1. turbo could be seized,
2. there couold be a leak from ure boost pipes, check they are fitted correctly.

wt actualy happened? was u driving when u lost boost?if so wt happened, did u hear anything different?

id suggest give it an oil change, if ure oil is really thin then drain it all and replace with new oil bt leave old filter on and run for 5-10 mins then drain oil and fit new filter and oil, check oil pump aswell,

check for play in the turbo by the fins to see if they move freely and dnt woble.
 
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waiting to movr in to new place before we start pulling it apart, asked a coupleof other people who know there nissans, were thinkng that the oil line is blocked, bearing has run dry and becase it has resistance it cant spin at its normal speeds... so its spining just fast enough to equalise the pressure but cos of the resistance cant spin fastenough to make any positive pressure. thats what were hoping any way, and that the bearing hasnt been damaged and damaged the turbo casing or anything.
we also heard of a trick to flush out the old oil, put a little metholated spirits in the oil and idle the enige for a minute or two just to circulate it, and then pull the sumpplug and it all runs out like water. leave it open for a bit (im guessing so any metho left evaporates) then flush some cheap oil thru before doing a good oil change with the motul.
 
It's a 205 with a 405 Mi16 2.0 16v engine conversion. This is basically the "Red Top" of the Pug world Sorry Petar, thought i'd answer that one as i'm online ;)
 
ok so any ways i hav managed at last to find time to dosome investigating, hav pulled off all the air tubing going to and from the turbo,its still got oil and water lines atached and is still mounted on the manifold. both wheels are intacked and it still spins freely. just with a noise. when i get more time im going to pull oil lines off and check them. and just tip a little oil in the oil feed hole where the eye bolt normally sits and see if the noise goes away.
 
still like a dry bearing, due to free spin and that there is nosign of oil leaking in the compressor side, im leaning more and more away from bearing being gone and more towards just dry, and its creating to much resistance to spin fast enough or is expanding to fast cos oil isnt cooling it and ceasing upor something along those lines.
 
Re: busted turbo?
The best and easiest DIY check you can do is, take off the main Turbo inlet pipe. Then put your fingure into the turbo to touch the blade and then turn the blade. The blade will show you instantly if there is any play in the shaft/bearing. It should turn very smoothly if all is well so if there is anything wrong you will notice it quite easily.

"If the bearings collapse, you are looking at monumental Turbo faliure and possible bottem end seizure. So go and uldo you turbo inlet pipe and check the internals out a.s.a.p. If all is ok there, then I definatly would suggest the oil feed and return and the oil pump."

Exactly what I would suggest.
__________________
 
the bearing hasnt collapsed, it still spins freely.... however we hav now pulled the turbo off,when we undid the oil return line a couple of ballbearings fell out............. damn.......so the turbo is now sitting on the kitchen table till i decide what to do. thinking of sending it back to the place that rebuilt and hi flowed it and trying to get it on warranty. not sure how it managed to break the bearing and leave the rest of the turbo totaly fine, done every check i can think of and theres nothing at all wrong except the bearing? hasnt even colllapsed and still spins.
 
and there was still wet oil in the turbo so im figuring that its not to do with the oil supply
iv never dealt with this kinda problem so if iv missed something please explain lol.
 
to update... turbo got rebuilt again, then started to make noise again... is going to go down to a specialised shop and get every thing checked thoroughly and proberly going to need yet another turbo. am going to proberly get a different brand start from the begining and work thru making sure it wont happen yet again. other than that it still drives good,just makes faint noise and waiting for it to break.
 
Perhaps it is out of balance slightly or substandard components were used. It does sound like a warranty issue to me.
 
nope no one else has touched it xcept the original company, i tryed to get warranty but cos it was diagnosed as oil starvation they didnt accept it. they gave me a decent discount tho.
 
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