Turbo Damage

[TURBOSFI]

Hi, I bought a 86 T-type that has a damaged turbo upon inspection of the intake wheel. It looks like the intake wheel is damaged and metal is missing. theres no sign or sound of pieces in the eng. it still spools up. Would there be any harm in running as is until I can get it rx or replaced? Will it boost up or lose alot of potencial boost? Its winter here in mich. so cant take out for test till spring. drove home about 50 miles in wet pavement so couldnt spool up. Thanks, Lacy

 

[denn454]

its missing fins in the intake side?

if it is then its pretty likely whatever broke off is, or at least at one time definatly was in your engine. if its a smal piece, i wouldn't be overly concirned but anything much bigger than the size of a pea could be a problem. if its in a cylinder, you could just immagine the damage its doing to the piston and valves. the cyl. walls should be tough enough to handle a piece of alluminum hitting it. once its out of the cylinder it has to go through the exhaust side of the turbo, likely screwing up some blades there. basically its not a good thing.

look at the blades closely, if it looks like more pieces might be breaking off do yourself a favor and speed up the process with a cutoff wheel or dremel or something. but if it looks like its all holding together and isnt' going to gernade (remember it spins at about 50,000 rpm, and up to 100,000 rpm) then i wouldn't worry too much. just replace it asap.

 

[Drac0nic]

What I'd do is remove any loose pieces, pull your IC and the lines off and flush it out with gasoline to get rid of any grindings/chunks. If the turbo's bad, chances are some oil's in the intercooler and a lot of it stuck to that. If you absolutely must run it I'd tie the wastegate open so it wouldn't spin hardly at all. How's the shaft play on your turbo? If it's ground into the housing, you may need a rebuild kit as well as a wheel. At that point IMHO you may be better off with a used turbo or a new upgrade turbo if it's a stocker.