We installed the turbo this weekend, but I've seemed to have misplaced my turbo...
Can anybody find it (sorry for the blurry images)?
Its in there somewhere...
There's the a pipe... where's the turbo?
Its got an intercooler...
Hot pipe is there (and SpeedRacerZ with a tool)...
A cold pipe and blow off valve seem to be there...
Another charge pipe I see...
Don't see any charge pipes in the engine bay though...
Brian (SpeedRacerZ) and Tom (WrenchMonkey) look like @!#$ after 22 hours straight work
Downpipe is absolutely beautiful, Brian's best work...
And now for the story:
We went and installed my turbo this past weekend. Worked on it straight except for a 6 hour stretch on Saturday morning for some sleep. Got all the charge pipes mocked up, and run, oil pan drilled and tapped, downpipe made, turbo clocked and bolted in, battery relocated (didn't have to, but wanted to), new hoses run for heater core, exhaust clamped on and working, everything done by 7pm on Sunday. Started it up and it idled great. Turbo spun up just fine, no noise, no leaks, nothing.
Get it out on the road and spool the turbo up, thing whines like a banshee, hits 5psi and I let off, BOV lets go, hell yeah.
But wait, the thing is still whining and its not spooled at all...
Get out on the street and give er all she's got again, hit maybe 2 psi... so easy enough, maybe a blown charge pipe...
Get to the gas station and check it out, no leaky or loose pipes. Thing is screaming like a circular saw now, no matter how little I give it. Get it back to Brians and he sees that the bolts that hold the O2 housing to the turbo were loose and one was completely missing. Tightened it all up again, put a new bolt in it, and went out again. Oil was flowing through the feed line freely and wasn't getting backed up in the drain.
This time she's still screaming, not making any boost, and I can hear the impeller contacting the housing. Get to a parking lot after pissing off Brian's nieghbors to the point of getting a lecture, and Brian gets up on the hood as its idling and notices that the impeller is spinning, starts to wobble, then contacts the housing and stops.
Long story short, my turbo didn't make it down the block. She's blown and I need to get (another) new one. I'm hoping that my current turbo is still under warranty (or if its under warranty at all).
But there you have it. My car is essentially turbo'd, with pipes run UNDER the car, 2.5" mandrel bent down pipe and charge pipes. The lower pipe isn't as low as it looks, just the car was up on stands and the angle makes it look like it hangs down, but its only about 1/2" under the motor mount.
Btw... this is what happens when you give Wrench Monkey a drill and ask him to remove the battery tray:
He decided to bypass drilling the welds out and went right for the channel locks and rolled the tray off with the pliers.
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