LOL. Yep. Got those lifters Dman? Love ya man!

 

Silicone or other debris that makes its way through the feed line and into the feed orifice in the turbo can cause oil starvation. It doesn't take much with the high shaft speeds that turbos see.

Shutting the engine off (or it dieing) while the turbo is still spooled can also cause bearing issues.

Later,
Shane

 

Shane,

I totally respect your opinion on here, but having a -4 feed to the turbo, that would have to be one big ass piece of debris to clog the turbo up like that. I also drained the oil, and checked the filter, clean as can be.

As for letting the turbo cool down, after dyno pulls, and what little street driving I did, there is no doubt that I treated it right. I think SteedaJeff and Dan can attest to my paranoia.

- Chris

 

The message forum didn't exist when I bought my kit. I kept notes and wrote up the article after I received the kit.

Thanks,

Trent

 

i wonder how many people driving turbocharged vehicles even know about the idea of letting the car idle awhile before shutting it off. In fact I see lots of women these days drivng turbo diesel SUV's and i know a few that don't even wait for the glow plug light to go off before cranking. i doubt they sit in a parking place for several minutes after driving to let it cool down. yet these cars go 100K miles or more with longer than usual oil change intervals and not to mention everybody who uses a quick lube place. (they say you should crank the engine several times after an oil change on turbocharged engines). change the oil and your on your way..

now i'm not saying all those things won't help extend the life of the turbo, but come on!! 5000 miles is just not acceptable!

i've built several "hybrid" turbos mix/matching from different cars in my time and run them hard with no failure. never once had any of them rebalanced. and none of them have ever had any kind of filter device other than the factory set-up.

 

I understand where your coming from, I'm just working towards finding the problem. I wasn't referring to the -4 line being plugged. Most of the turbos have a small orifice or two at the bottom of the feed hole in the center section or in the feed fitting itself. These orifices are farely small (I haven't measured them, but I'd guess .060" or so). It doesn't take much for them to get clogged.

Many OEM turbos are water cooled so that they don't coke the oil if you drive around and don't let them cool before shutting the engine off. That's not the issue/situation that I was referring to. I was talking about being on the dyno/track at WOT with the turbo spinning 80-100K rpms and the engine dieing or being shut off. The impellar will continue to spin for quite a while, and it won't have any oil pressure, which can lead to premature bearing failures.

Thanks,
Shane

 

Yeah, like I said, no miracle cure, but good in that "what if" situation. Also, I think its important to mention again - most, if not all OEM turbo setups are either designed so that ONLY filtered oil hite the turbo, or they have a device specifically for this. Check out this link, just for example (all I could find with a quick google):
http://www.90gsx.com/eclipse/oil/

Jeff

Edit - Dman, sorry, thought you were talking about the oil filter setup. Still, the link I posted is interesting

 

And Chris makes fun of my turbo timer in the dually

Both cars are allowed to warm up and cool down....especially the mustang. I let it idle for at least 5min before driving when stone cold since the oil psi is too high at that point. Cool down is determined by the last 5-10min of driving conditions.

 

Spoke to Harry tonight.

All in all, it seems as though this was a problem I brought onto the turbo. Harry didn't just say "Oil contamination, Oil starvation, sorry your assed out". He spent two 30 minute phone calls with me to tell me what may have happened and why it may have happened. Though we both don't really know where this debris came from, but it's obvious that something is embedded in the thrust bearings. We talked about oil restrictors, when then are needed and when they aren't, oil drain systems, Crankcase pressures, and oil feed lines. He took the time to explain to me what causes things like this to happen, and how it can be prevented. Let me tell you something, everything I have ever heard about them can go right out the window, he was one of the best vendors I have ever worked with. He is sending me the bearings in the mail so I can see for myself, aside from the pictures, what is in the bearing.

Outcome:

Harry told me that the build date on the turbo was April of 2003, and even though I didn't provide him with a reciept (which he never asked for) he is going to warranty the Turbo. He wanted me to know that I was not recieving any special treatment, I am getting the same type of warranty anybody else would have gotten under their 1 year warranty. The cause of the failure seems to be mine, but he never really pointed the finger, he just told me that it's warrantied and they will take care of it..

Then he sold me a complete upgrade on the turbo, which he wants to see results from a direct upgrade from the T64E. The price was very reasonable, and I happily bought it. The wheel is going to be a 67 compressor wheel, with a 4" inlet, still "P" trim. Not sure the exact specs, but the bearings will be upgraded to their latest "Gtq" style bearings, which resist these kinds of problems. The only problem is the wheel is backordered, and I will be 2-3 weeks out. Oh well, worth the wait if you ask me.

So bottom line, If you ask the right questions, and talk to the right people, things get done right. Precision handled this issue with the respect and courtesy that most vendors should follow. Props to them..

I will keep you guys posted on the progress of the Turbo upgrade...Ughhhh.. Back to tuning again..

- Chris

 

Great news Chris....you can cruise shotgun with me until you're back on the road.

 

Thanks Pete.

 

Guess we gotta have the welder make a 4" inlet pipe.

 

I was thinking you would enjoy that.

 

All good!! Welcome to the 4" inlet club.

 

I feel so special.

 

hell yeah now you can run lower boost for the same hp? is that how it works with the larger turbos?

 

Not really sure how this turbo will work. But we will find out

 

Good deal,

I've always thought that 75% of people (customers) just want good comunications and not to be lied to, the other 25% won't be happy once something doesn't go perfectly no matter what you do.

I'm glad to see that you got it resolved and that they are doing it like they should. I assume since you are going to go ahead and do the upgrade that you will probably end up keeping the car? I know if I were in your shoes and dead set on selling it I would not be spending more money on it...

 

I posted this on another forum...

I have a plan for the car, and if, during those plans, the car sells, then so be it. But after I'm done with the "Plan" I'm sure I'll want to keep it..

I just bought a Wolfe bar for the car, gotta put the Sub-Frame connectors in, finish my rear end (which the parts are all sitting in the garage) and paint the front clip w/ new side skirts. Once that's all done, I'm SURE that will change my mind.

 

Ya know, Harry might be a little pissed if he ever get a chance to see your Ewok sporting a Turbonetics medalion!