Are these scrapes bad in this Turbo?

[Wahoo]

Hi, i just bought a TA 60-1 Turbo, it has no shaft play, but it has these very small scrapes inside the turbine inlet housing. You can't even feel them with your finger nail. I was told by the seller the turbo was in a street car that was just for fun on the street, has about 5K miles on it, and wasn't raced.

The turbo seems fine to me, I don't know if maybe it sucked something small in and it did this or what, but like I said you can't even feel it with your finger. The turbo blades don't hit the housing at all, and the blades all look perfect other than what looks like paint on one?

Also you see the exhaust side has one bolt snapped off in it they didn't tell me about this....... I hope i can get it out easily.

pics.








Thoughts?

 

[Thumper]

Hi, i just bought a TA 60-1 Turbo, it has no shaft play, but it has these very small scrapes inside the turbine inlet housing. You can't even feel them with your finger nail. I was told by the seller the turbo was in a street car that was just for fun on the street, has about 5K miles on it, and wasn't raced.

The turbo seems fine to me, I don't know if maybe it sucked something small in and it did this or what, but like I said you can't even feel it with your finger. The turbo blades don't hit the housing at all, and the blades all look perfect other than what looks like paint on one?

Also you see the exhaust side has one bolt snapped off in it they didn't tell me about this....... I hope i can get it out easily.

pics.








Thoughts?

 

[Thumper]

It appears to be a ta61. The marks look like worn bearings or a balance problem. My concern is the chip in the secondary fin, take a real close look as that May effect balance. That has some serious porting on the waste gate hole. I hope you have a large puck. If not I would get a different housing and not worry about the broken bolt.

 

[Wahoo]

It appears to be a ta61. The marks look like worn bearings or a balance problem. My concern is the chip in the secondary fin, take a real close look as that May effect balance. That has some serious porting on the waste gate hole. I hope you have a large puck. If not I would get a different housing and not worry about the broken bolt.

Wouldn't I feel shaft play if the bearings were bad?

So this turbo has issues is what you're saying? I shouldn't run it in its current state?

 

[bison]

That wheel contact doesn't look ok to me.

 

[Thumper]

Maybe something got in there and forced the wheel a bit and caused the wheel to wedge and chip. To me that wheel has contacted the housing for some reason. I do not know for sure but I would send it to be checked IMHO.

 

[626gn]

The wastegate hole looks huge. Like Thumper said, your puck will need to be larger for it to work. I have a plate that might help if you don't have a large enough puck and don't want to get a new exhaust housing.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Least painful solution: get your money back.

 

[TurboDave]

You won't find a puck large enough to cover that hole as it is all the way out to where the down pipe mounts. It's obviously made for an external gate. You'll need a new turbine housing if you want to use an internal gate.

OH, BTW. NO, NONE, NADA housing contact can be tolerated.

 

[Wahoo]

I'm going to contact the seller later today to discuss the findings, I don't think he knew of it or if it was a problem.

 

[Nick Micale]

Years ago I learned a valuable lesson about buying a used turbo, especially if I cannot personally inspect it and have to take the word of the owner.

Most sellers are well-meaning, but they are not qualified to determe exactly what the turbo size is, and certainly condition is based upon any wheel movement if their description is accurate or not?

I consider most used turbos as cores, and value them as such.

If it is represented as in very good shape with NO issues, and is priced accordingly, I will purchase it if it is verified by an expert.

I would have it shipped to a turbo expert, like Bison or Limit Engineering, to determine the exact size and condition.

If it checks out good and as represented, I pay the seller first, and then the vendor for his work and shipping to me.

In case of an issue such as any repair needed, we can negotiate that and move on with the sale. If not, the seller can have the turbo returned and shipping is on them.

The seller may object to my plan which is his option, and I move on as the turbo is probably not as represented.

 

[TurboDave]

Years ago I learned a valuable lesson about buying a used turbo, especially if I cannot personally inspect it and have to take the word of the owner.

Most sellers are well-meaning, but they are not qualified to determe exactly what the turbo size is, and certainly condition is based upon any wheel movement if their description is accurate or not?

I consider most used turbos as cores, and value them as such.

If it is represented as in very good shape with NO issues, and is priced accordingly, I will purchase it if it is verified by an expert.

I would have it shipped to a turbo expert, like Bison or Limit Engineering, to determine the exact size and condition.

If it checks out good and as represented, I pay the seller first, and then the vendor for his work and shipping to me.

In case of an issue such as any repair needed, we can negotiate that and move on with the sale. If not, the seller can have the turbo returned and shipping is on them.

The seller may object to my plan which is his option, and I move on as the turbo is probably not as represented.

Outstanding advice!

 

[Wahoo]

I spoke with the seller and he will work with me to repair the turbo if it does have a problem, so I will be sending it to someone who is an expert on the task at hand.

 

[626gn]

That's encouraging. Does that include taking care of the large wastgate hole problem as well? Send it to Bison. No nonsense straight shooter.

 

[Wahoo]

That's encouraging. Does that include taking care of the large wastgate hole problem as well? Send it to Bison. No nonsense straight shooter.

He said he used a copper gasket which made it work with an internal wastegate, it basically covers the large hole and the hole becomes the size of the copper gasket.

Does that seem like a good solution?

 

[626gn]

Hmmm. Sounds like he was using a plate similar to the one I posted above only made out of copper instead of stainless steel? Don't know if using copper in this application is good but I'll let the experts answer that one.

As TurboDave mentioned you might need a new exhaust housing if using an internal gate. If a new exhaust housing is not part of the deal you have with the seller you can always try my RJC plate, free of charge. If it doesn't work send it back. If it works we can work out a nominal cost.

 

[Wahoo]

Hmmm. Sounds like he was using a plate similar to the one I posted above only made out of copper instead of stainless steel? Don't know if using copper in this application is good but I'll let the experts answer that one.

As TurboDave mentioned you might need a new exhaust housing if using an internal gate. If a new exhaust housing is not part of the deal you have with the seller you can always try my RJC plate, free of charge. If it doesn't work send it back. If it works we can work out a nominal cost.

Thanks for the offer, I don't even know what to do yet.

 

[turbokinetic]

From the looks of the rub marks, it appears that, at sometime, a compressor wheel rubbed the housing. Could be a used housing off another turbo. Or, this turbo had worn bearings, loose compressor housing screws etc. Whatever happened must have been fixed if the wheel won't rub now. The rub marks on the housing won't really hurt anything, as long as there are not any raised areas. My worry would be the compressor wheel is rubbed down and no longer balanced.

I've re-used rubbed housings, but most people will polish the housing and you can see clearly that the turbo has ben apart and polished inside since the rub happened. This looks kind of fresh.

I would definitely have the rotating assembly checked and balanced. What may have happened is, the bearings failed, had a rub, they caught it before the turbo was a total loss. Then the previous owner "just put in a new set of bearings" without checking anything else. Definitely have it checked out.

Sincerely,
David

 

[626gn]

Thanks for the offer, I don't even know what to do yet.

Understood. One step at a time...

Just PM me if you decide you want to try it. I really would recommend a new housing though. Hope it all works out for you.

 

[Wahoo]

From the looks of the rub marks, it appears that, at sometime, a compressor wheel rubbed the housing. Could be a used housing off another turbo. Or, this turbo had worn bearings, loose compressor housing screws etc. Whatever happened must have been fixed if the wheel won't rub now. The rub marks on the housing won't really hurt anything, as long as there are not any raised areas. My worry would be the compressor wheel is rubbed down and no longer balanced.

I've re-used rubbed housings, but most people will polish the housing and you can see clearly that the turbo has ben apart and polished inside since the rub happened. This looks kind of fresh.

I would definitely have the rotating assembly checked and balanced. What may have happened is, the bearings failed, had a rub, they caught it before the turbo was a total loss. Then the previous owner "just put in a new set of bearings" without checking anything else. Definitely have it checked out.

Sincerely,
David

He said it was bought brand new, he never had it act up or make a funny noise. :/

The wastegate hole is a big problem though?