Recon turbo charger at home or expert needed?

Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007 at 20:51

F4Phantom

My turbo seals are letting a little oil into the air cooler and engine. It needs a reco kit, I am being told its around $500 to $800 for a basic no problems rebuild and up to $1500 for any machining or other probs that arise. So the question is, can you do your own rebuild kit?

The bearings are self leveling oil floating, the turbo is eay to get out, then in, are there any issues or am I way off the mark requiring expert work and tools etc.. Thanks and does anyone have a trusted turbo guy in melb at a good price?
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AnswerID: 225697   Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007 at 21:20

Member - Robert (WA) replied:

Hi F4PHhantom
have a look at the intake pipe between the air cleaner and the turbo and if there is oil there
it will be coming from the engine breather pipe
mine has only done 80000km and it sucks oil from the engine into the turbo
good luck
Robert
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FollowupID: 486602   Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007 at 21:34

F4Phantom posted:

yeah I checked today, there is plenty of oil, all through the intercooler too, its no biggie I will clean it all out but the turbo needs to be redone. Mine has done under 200k so its not old but turbos are under a lot of stress.
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FollowupID: 486692   Submitted: Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007 at 12:26

Patrol22 posted:

Yep had this same problem myself and thought I was up for a turbo rebuild. Took the vehicle to Queanbeyan Diesel and they picked the problem straight away - installed a 'catch can' to take all the oil mist out of the pipe and voila....no more oil gathering in the turbo. One thing though - have to remember to empty the can periodically as it fills (about 200mls) in 10000km. Only need a very small amount of oil in this breather pipe for it to gather in the turbo.
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AnswerID: 225700   Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007 at 21:26

Exploder replied:

Having never pulled a turbo apart before I can only offer general advise

First up I would not do it without a service manual to suet you turbo, Pulling something apart is easy, pulling it apart without damaging anything and getting it back together rite is the hard part.

You may think you have done it rite but there will be little booby traps that will catch you out.

I.E some bolts may need to be removed at different times even if they are all attached to the same thing, compressor/ turbine alignment. Toque settings, I am 90% sure the thing will need to be rebalanced.

Try a google search about rebuilding the turbo you have, could get lucky and find all the information you need.

Cheers.
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FollowupID: 486603   Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007 at 21:36

F4Phantom posted:

Yeah I think you are right about the balancing, I think you actually need to machine a special area with extra material designed for balancing. Other than that tho I cant see it being that hard.

I have been reading a lot and some people have actually done it at home without balancing.
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AnswerID: 225706   Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007 at 21:37

Eric Experience replied:

F4phantom.
I agree with Robert, if you do have a leaking seal it is most likely due to a balance problem, the seals are designed to last a long time but if the blades have a small ding and get out of balance the shaft may leak. If this is the cause then replacing the seal wont fix it. If the oil loss is not enough to require top ups between changes I suggest you leave it alone or get it balanced by a pro. Eric.
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FollowupID: 486606   Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007 at 21:45

F4Phantom posted:

Ok thanks for that, I assumed the seals would have a rough life but you could be right about the balance, it does not have any tiny metal fragments anywhere mixed in the oil so I dont think the baldes have hit the housing. Also I was of the understanding that the bearings are supposed to have some movement as they float in oil. I can move the impeller about a mill without too much trouble so this could be a problem. Oil loss is nothing in terms of having to top it up, but as I say, there is lots of oil in the air pipes.
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AnswerID: 225735   Submitted: Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007 at 00:14

Member - Robert (WA) replied:

Hi F4Phantom
to see if the turbo or the breather is your oil problem
remove the oil breather from the air cleaner (block hole on the air cleaner)
run breather hose into a clear bottle and clean turbo pipe from air cleaner and pipe from turbo to the engine and see how much oil you you get and what side of turbo you get the oil
This a good test to see if the turbo seals are leaking
Robert
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AnswerID: 225739   Submitted: Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007 at 01:24

Chris & Debbie replied:

Turbo's are actually quite easy to rebuild, just as long as you give it a good inspection for any damage after disassembly and cleaning.
To insure you do not have any balance problems just mark the impeller in relation to the turbine shaft, a centre punch will do, before you undo the impeller retaining nut.
If you do find a problem you have not lost anything except a bit of your time, because you can just throw it together again and get yourself a new or exchange.

Chris
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AnswerID: 225753   Submitted: Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007 at 08:24

aka replied:

Try rotomaster in campbellfield behind the gokart track GERARD is o.k. aka
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AnswerID: 225766   Submitted: Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007 at 10:16

Member - Matt Mu (Perth-WA) replied:

F4 from experience the oil in the intake is nearly always blowby from the engine breather pipe!!! You said your self that there is plenty of oil BEFORE the turbo!

I would be fitting an oil filter/strainer in the breather waaaay before I rebuild the turbo...let the oil clean itself out of the system and then ascertain whether you need a rebuild.

Goodluck

Matt.

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AnswerID: 225792   Submitted: Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007 at 12:34

F4Phantom replied:

I am starting to think I may get out of this cheap. So that I understand this oil catch thing please confirm that I have it right.

There is a 15mm rubber tube coming from the engine which should blow air, because of emissions they run it back into the air stream for recombusion, it carries some oil in it from the engine, it gets into the air system and causes oil in the turbo, and black smoke. In this case I will run it into a container and catch it.

The next quesiton is, how do I elimiate this possibility and show that this tube is or is not the problem - I hope it is.

Thanks
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AnswerID: 225840   Submitted: Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007 at 16:10

whyallacookie replied:

Easy, remove the air intake hose feeding in to the turbo (From air filter to turbo). If that is clean but the hose between the turbo and intercooler has oil then the seals are leaking. If the hose from the airfilter is oily, clean it up, fit the catchcan, clean up the turbo to intercooler hose then run for 500-1000km. Remove hoses and check again. As the catchcan has been collecting oil from the engine any oil in the hose is coming from the seals.

You could have a bit of both
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