Suspect failed primary turbo

[GorGasmSpecB]

So the other day I bolted on a new center section exhaust, fired up the car and let it run for a minute then gave it a few blips.

Then when I go and give it a run around the block I start getting an awesome smoke screen.

Now when I fire the car up from cold it takes 5 mins for the smoke to start appearing.

Yesterday I removed the primary turbo already and I don\'t really know if it\'s shagged. What would your opinion be?

Then, who would you recommend to rebuild these puppies, should I remove the secondary as well? A guy at work reckons he has a contact or two at Alltech so I might try them.

[Rosssub]

Primary leaking oil into exhaust. How does it spin? Any shaft play?

Good time to do Marky\'s Primary BB Core upgrade?

[GorGasmSpecB]

Seems to spin okay, only a slight amount of side to side play, no back and forwards play.

Refurb time I guess.

[Rosssub]

Any excessive oil in the turbo? Either side?

[lachlan]

it is a bush turbo so will always have play without oil pressure

[GorGasmSpecB]

Doesn\'t look like it no. I\'m assuming the secondary doesn\'t spin up at idle/low rpm load so it shouldn\'t be an issue. Idle is a bit of smoke, low rpm load = a fair bit of smoke.

Also found that the trans mount appears to be missing the two securing nuts underneath. That possibly explains the knocking on heavy throttle on/off lol. Why do people maintain cars so badly lol.

[Rosssub]

Doesn\'t sound like it\'s the Turbo. I had oil everywhere and the smoke filled the road under Boost. Is the smoke blue/grey? Is it running ok?

How many Kms? Worn Valve Stem Seals? Rings? Blow By Build up?

Maybe check your Plugs out, see if ones black?

[GorGasmSpecB]

I believe the smoke was a bluey gray yes. Under boost it was smoking quite a bit. Let off and put the clutch in and it dies away to not much smoke at all.

Car has done nearly 180km now.

[Rosssub]

Have you tried hitting Twin to see if the Secondary makes it worse? Your Primary sounds in better nick than mine and mines not smoking? (wasn\'t smoking) Plus you have no Oil in your Compressor or Downpipe.

How Oily is your TMIC?

I\'d check Spark Plugs out, if they all match then maybe pull the Secondary Downpipe and check for signs of Oil.

If one Plug is Black and the rest are Brown, then do a Compression/Leak down test? Checking HG/Rings/Valves/Seals etc

[GorGasmSpecB]

Well, put it all back together and went for a spin. No smoke on primary for quite a while. Hit secondary and it was smokey for about 15 minutes and then seemed to die away. Now after a pretty good run theres just a bit of smoke while idling and I can\'t really tell if there is much while boosting.

Maybe I will pull the secondary and have a look as well

[tebbyj]

Did you see if there was any oil in the tmic?

If it only started when you put a new section of exhaust on its most likely a turbo. When mine went i only had smoke on deceleration or engine braking down a hill but that got worse quick. It only takes a little bit of oil to make a lot of smoke, as in my case the intercooler and turbo housings had very little oil in them.

[GorGasmSpecB]

It\'s FMIC but doesn\'t appear to be much oil in there.

Perhaps I will just get them both refurbed, so I can stop worrying about them

[tebbyj]

Id say start with the primary (find someone wrecking a Low ks equivalent leggy if you want to save a fair bit) change that and if the problem persists then worry about the secondary.

From what i\'ve seen secondary tend to be okay just because they are only really used half as much depending on your driving of course haha

[Rosssub]

 tebbyj']

Id say start with the primary (find someone wrecking a Low ks equivalent leggy if you want to save a fair bit) change that and if the problem persists then worry about the secondary.

Or if you want to save even more money... Diagnose the fault and replace the broken bit.

Would suck to replace both Turbo\'s, then find it\'s smoking because of a Valve Stem Seal/Head/Ring/Blow By issue/Blocked Oil Return.

I\'d check Spark Plugs out, if they all match then maybe pull the Secondary Downpipe and check for signs of Oil.

If one Plug is Black and the rest are Brown, then do a Compression/Leak down test? Checking HG/Rings/Valves/Seals etc

[quote name='GorGasmSpecB said:

Well, put it all back together and went for a spin. No smoke on primary for quite a while. Hit secondary and it was smokey for about 15 minutes and then seemed to die away. Now after a pretty good run theres just a bit of smoke while idling and I can\'t really tell if there is much while boosting.

Maybe I will pull the secondary and have a look as well

That could point to the Secondary Leaking into Down Pipe side, (just starting) will get worse quick if it is. But because it\'s burnt off I\'d just leave it be. See if it gets any worse or happens again.

[lachlan]

what state is the breather system in ?

[GorGasmSpecB]

Thanks for the pointers guys.

I guess I will pull off the secondary and look for obvious leaks plus check out the PCV/breathers etc. Not sure if the turbos are super healthy, with the wastegate disconnected I can get 15/18 psi, not sure if it is supposed to boost more.

Still a little smokey last night. So many things to fix, so little time and money hehe.

[GorGasmSpecB]

So all of that appears to be for nothing. It may just have been a bunch of crap in the new exhaust system. It slowly went away and there is no more significant smoking.

At least I learn\'t how to remove the turbos

[B4 I was 250T]

 Rosssub said:

Primary leaking oil into exhaust. How does it spin? Any shaft play?

Good time to do Marky\'s Primary BB Core upgrade?

What's Markys BB Core upgrade?

[Rosssub]

VF27 CHRA into VF26:

http://www.subyclub.com/topic/5276-diy-convert-your-tt-primary-turbo-to-ball-bearing/

[Marky]

^^ That's doing it the hard way

All you need to do is put the VF27 core into the VF26 exhaust housing, rotate the VF27 front cover and make a bracket to mount the wastegate actuator and you're away.

Can be done with the exhaust housing still in place, I got mine on in an afternoon and the end result was it coming on boost like a diesel, is worth the trouble for sure - even with front mount on it came on boost muich faster than the stock setup and most importantly made lots of nice spooly uppy noises

[Rosssub]

 Marky said:

^^ That's doing it the hard way

All you need to do is put the VF27 core into the VF26 exhaust housing, rotate the VF27 front cover and make a bracket to mount the wastegate actuator and you're away.

Can be done with the exhaust housing still in place, I got mine on in an afternoon and the end result was it coming on boost like a diesel, is worth the trouble for sure - even with front mount on it came on boost muich faster than the stock setup and most importantly made lots of nice spooly uppy noises

But you need the VF26 cover on the VF27 CHRA,for the turbo outlet to be on top, (turbo-TMIC)? Or some tricky silicone pipe work between turbo and TMIC?

Also the VF27 cover has a 16mm waste gate outlet for the secondary relief valve, so won't fit the primary waste gate/boost control vac hoses easily.

[Marky]

Clock the housing, there's the piping sorted. I just went FMIC instead

Wastegate feed hose either just tap a new feed or use one off the manifold, or intercooler - only needs to be a pressure source. The old outlet for the pressure relief valve can just be capped off

I just see pulling the turbo apart and back together and wee bit of a "fingers crossed" maneuver is all