Does this mean blown turbo seals or what? I just cannot figure it out!

[AbsoluteGTR]

Well i performed a boost leak test on the car again today at the jpipe and the boost went right up to 20psi, I wasnt able to listen for leaks because the tester kept blowing right off the j pipe. But I feel that there are NO boost leaks after the j-pipe. Also when driving the car will boost at 10 psi (according to boost gauge).

Heres the problem, when i tested at the turbo on a warm engine, I still had a good amount of blow-by. So i know the the air escaping the through the oil return line. The oil was bubbling when I opened the oil cap

Am I going to have to buy a new turbo. Can someone point be in the direction into fixing this problem.

The car is so insanely slow. It will take about 10 second to get to 40-45 mph.

Any help would be great. I have searched this site and tuners ALOT and I cannot find an answer. I will try to update as i go along.

[AbsoluteGTR]

ALSO teh turbo has ZERO shaft play and there is no smoke from my muffler at both idle and WOT.

So what is going on?

[AbsoluteGTR]

Alright well since I cant get any help, i might as well update:\

I drove the car again today and and I can feel the turbo kick in or atleast try to kick in. When in first gear and at about 40%-50% throttle, I can feel that the turbo is spooling at 3K RPM and I can feel the car gain speed, but it really isnt going anywhere....

Could my timing be off? I doubt this though because my compression is damn near perfect.

Any suggestion? HELP anyone?

[kjewer1]

Pressureize the system to 10 psi (so it doesnt blow the tester off) and note how long it takes to get back to zero. If it takes a good 20-30 seconds, odds are you don't have any major boost leaks. You may still have some smaller ones that don't open up until higher pressures, but they generally won't cause any major problems.

If the bubbling you are hearing is from air getting into the oil pan via the turbo drain line, it's not all that uncommon. The turbo isn't really meant to see 20 psi at the inlet and not have ~80 psi oil pressure on the other side of the seal to support it. Some turbos can hold the pressure with no oil pressure, others don't.

What turbo is on the car? How much preload is on the WGA? Has the flapper drifted to the side over time uncovering the WB hole? Is the turbine housing cracked enough to cause the flapper to not seal? Is the WGA bad? These are the things I would look into first.

[AbsoluteGTR]

The turbo on the car is a 14b. It has ZERo shaft play, and liek I said there is NO smoke at idle or at WOT. I will check out the wastegate, for a little bit I did think that the actuautor was the problem, but if it was then I would see close to no boost, right? I will still check it out though and also check for any crackings.

Could a lack of fuel be the problem?

I will update on the actuator situation.

Thanks Kevin!

[kjewer1]

I'm guessing it's going to be the turbine housing/WG problem. Very common on 14Bs since they have the 6cm housing that likes to crack all to shit. SOme cracks are normal and ok, but I'm betting yours are bad enough. It can make the turbo laggy, and limit peak boost, even with just a small shift in the seat or flapper. No shaft play or smoke seems to back this up. We'll see though, keep us posted.

Oh yeah, just in case you were not aware, you can pull the turbine housing off real quick without pulling the turbo. I used to be able to get mine off in 10 minutes once it was cool enough. Undo the bolts at the manifold to turbine housing, DP nuts, O2 sensor connector, and then the band clamp around the center section. Be careful not to damage the wheel when removing and installing the housing, pull it straight off.

[AbsoluteGTR]

Alright well I checked the wastegat are and 02 sonsor area and there are no cracks.

One thing I did notice is that I could not move the actuator arm for the life of me. Is it supposed to be this stiff? I know it is supposed to be more on the stiff side, then the loose side....but I couldnt move it at all.

What could be up?

[kjewer1]

Did you remove the turbine housing or just look at it from the outside? Hard to tell from your post.

The WGA should be very hard to move by hand, but not impossible. When they fail it's usually that they move too easy.

[clipse_thumper]

Yea, i had somewhat similar to the same prob but it was the actuator. you should see close to no boost if that rod came off the hook up point(don't know names if parts, sorry).my clip came off where they hooked up at. and it should be kinda stiff. i know i couldn't move mine and i had to struggle with it to budge but thats while it was still hooked up, when taken off it is alot easier to pull actuator down. good luck

[AbsoluteGTR]

No i didnt take off the turbine housing. Just havent had the time.

But if the actuator was cracked or not sealing...then I would be seeing no boost, correct? But like I said previously, I am hitting 10psi of boost at around 3.5K-4K RPM. And at 3K RPM I can feel the turbo start to spool and "TRY" to push the car.

I would understand where you two are coming from if I had no boost but my vacuum is at ~20 and my boost is at 10.

Any ideas?

Thanks again.

[gthompson97]

You said you have NO shaftplay right? Up, down, side to side, and in/out? I have a turbo right now that has zero shaftplay in any certain direction, but it moves like a SOB in and out. Moves enough that the blades are hitting the inside of the compressor housing and completely stopping the turbo (and ruining the blades/housing at the same time)

[AbsoluteGTR]

HAS ABSOLUTELY NO SHAFT PLAY! It does NOT move in and out at all. And when I spin the turbine, it spins smoothly without hitting the insides at all.

LIKE I SAID, their is no smoke too.

[kjewer1]

It's still most likely the flapper/seat. It has nothing to do with vacuum, and it would not cause zero boost unless it was hosed beyond belief. This is extremely common on 14bs due to the small turbine housing size (more heat=more cracks), the age of the turbo, and the angle of the flapper arm (allows flaper to slide down). You'll have to pull the housing to check.

[AbsoluteGTR]

Alright thanks kevin alot. Whenever I get the chance I will look into it.

Thanks