Troubleshooting

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What causes a turbo to fail?

If you have a problem with your turbocharger, here are some potential things to look out for:

Oil Consumption:

Oil coming out the turbine (rear) side on a recently replaced turbo.

We have seen lots of this type of concern:

Most times, especially on new or rebuilt turbos, when the turbo leaks oil out the turbine seal, it is not necessarily a bad turbo.  Things such as improper oil drain can cause this.  The oil cannot drain out the bottom of the turbo so it passes out the seal.  Low compression or bad PCV valves can also cause this problem.  These can lead to higher-than-normal crankcase pressure, which will not allow the oil to flow out the drain tube, and again leak out the turbine seal.  In some rare occurances, vehicles need an oil restrictor in the oil supply line.  Many cars that run very high oil pressure and large diameter oil supply lines will need this to prevent actually blowing oil through the turbo, and straight out the turbine seal.

Oil coming out of the compressor (front) side:

Some of the same problems as above can cause this symptom.

Strange Noises

It is usually quite easy to hear when something has gone wrong with your turbocharger.  Rattling, scraping, or screeching sounds are VERY bad.

If you hear a noise that does not sound normal, IMMEDIATELY shut the car down.  Make an attempt at minimizing damage.

Oil Starvation

Click here to read Subaru released TSB about oil problems

Oil starvation is one of the most common causes of a failed turbocharger, especially a new or rebuilt one.  Oil starvation can cause heavy damage to the inside of the cartridge, the turbine shaft, bushing surfaces, etc.

When a turbo starves for oil, material is removed from the bushings, and can be deposited on turbine shafts or bushing races.  The turbine shaft is normally warped, which causes the turbine and compressor wheels to hit their housings.  Other signs of this type of damage can be hot-spots or burn marks on the thrust bearing, or other internal parts of the turbo.

Here are some pictures detailing oil starvation damage:

Make sure that you read and follow any break-in instructions to avoid damage such as that shown above.  It takes only seconds to permanently damage the turbo.

Oil Contamination

Oil contamination can occur when a head-gasket is blown, and engine is damaged, or in some cases, when an engine is run overly-rich.

A blown head-gasket can cause coolant to mix with oil, thereby greatly reducing any lubricant properties of the oil.  Although this will not cause immediate damage to the engine, a turbocharger subjected to oil contaminated with coolant will quickly fail.

If an engine suffers a failure, such as rod bearing failure, broken rod, chipped piston, etc. pieces of metal can easily be left in the oil.  When these particles make their way through the oil system into the turbocharger, quick failures happen.

An automobile that has been run very excessively rich in fuel mixture can also contaminate the engine oil with fuel, similar to the above circumstance with coolant.  Not only is this a death sentence for the turbocharger, too much fuel can cause oil to be washed from the cylinder walls, causing engine or piston damage as well.

Here is an example of a turbocharger that was run while coolant was mixed with the oil.  The resulting damage was so extensive that only the lines and actuator could be reused on the replacement turbo:

NEW BREAK-IN PAGE!!! CHECK IT OUT!!!

Below are some examples of things that will NOT be covered by our warranty:

This customer's shop decided to use teflon tape to seal the oil inlet banjo bolt.  The material made its way into the cartridge, clogged the oiler on the thrust bearing, and killed the turbo!  DO NOT USE ANY SEALANT MATERIAL ON THE BANJO BOLTS!!!  THE CRUSH WASHERS ARE THE SEALS!!!