turbo mis-alignment?

[chris_mile]

hey guys sent these pics to precision turbo but wanted your take too. had my turbo upgrade from a TE44C to a 6031E and I think they replaced the housing and now I cant get it to line up with the STOCK intercoooler. any ideas? heres 2 pics.

 

[RUQWKNF]

What you need to do, is to clock the compressor cover slightly up about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. This is done by loosening all the compressor cover backing plate bolts. Should be 13mm or 1/2". Loosen them just enough so that you can rotate the compressor cover. Don't hammer on the cover too hard as there is a backing plate O-ring that seals the compressor cover to the backing plate. I find it best to use a rubber mallet on the compressor cover discharge and lightly tap it up. If it's fresh, it should still have a slight film of assembly oil on the o-ring and the cover should rotate. I say don't take the bolts out cause some of them are a real pain to put back in with the oil drain line in place, just loosen them enough so that you can rotate the cover.

Once you have the cover positioned where you want it, tighten each bolt back hand tight in a criss cross fashion, paying close attention that the compressor cover is fully and evenly seated against the backing plate. Another reason why we don't want to completely take the bolts out of the cover. Once you have them snugged up you should be good to go.
And here's another tip, with some WD-40, I would spray a light coating onto the intercooler inlet neck, install the intercooler hose as far back (away from the compressor cover discharge) as possible. Rotate (clock) the compressor cover up, tighten the compressor cover bolts hand tight, then slide the intercooler hose off the intercooler neck, onto the compressor cover discharge. Don't worry about the oil causing a leak, the intercooler is not going to move with all the brackets in place, and neither will the turbo. When you are done, you will have somewhere between 1 1/2" and 1 3/4" of gap between the intercooler and compressor cover discharge. Now is a good time to install a new set of T-bolt clamps as well. A piece of hose that is 4" long should fit the bill nicely. When they assemble Buick turbos, there is no jig to put the discharge in the proper orientation, so they just give it their best guess on the position.

Feel free to ask any questions as we're all here to help.


Patrick

 

[chris_mile]

sounds easy for somone with a little knowledge. god help someone if they dont. im gonna take a crack at it first thing in the morning. no hurry still waiting on my cam sensor cap to get mailed back to me from caspers. thanks patrick will let you know how it turns out.

 

[at7we2]

been through this with every turbo and stock location IC I've ever owned. looks like you need to clock it first like RUQWKNF said. that may take care of it. if not, you may have to reposition the intercooler. check the alignment of the intercooler compared to the radiator and the sway bar by looking down from above the engine. the distance between the intercooler and the radiator should be the same at both ends. you can also check the alignment of the IC shroud compared to swaybar. they should be pretty close to perfectly aligned. if you need to reposition the IC, get a long pry-bar of some kind. I used a 3' long piece of 1x1 angle iron. you can pry the IC left or right, even up if you need to, in order to make everything line up correctly. the IC brackets are very strong, but they can be bent slightly while still in the car. just be CAREFUL picking your leverage points when you start prying. don't crush any fluid lines, or pinch any wires, etc. hopefully you wont' even have to do this, but I've had to do it on both of the GN's I've owned, including the 99% stock one I owned several years ago-apparently it came from the factory with the IC installed crooked.

HTH

 

[chris_mile]

hey patrick is there a torque spec on those compressor bolts?

 

[RUQWKNF]

Nope, just basically hand tight. The compressor covers are made of cast aluminum and the holes can strip out if you over torque them.
I've always just used my best judgement on tightening them down. Hand tight is exactly how they are done by the turbo builders at the turbo bench. Over time, you get a feel for what is right and what is too tight, especially after you've stripped a few out. BTDT myself.
Hope this helps.

Patrick