Inside the turbo

Quote from: tcristea on April 20, 2006, 05:36:53 PM

Quote from: TGPilot on April 20, 2006, 05:35:41 PM
My finger is pointing to the line at the throttle body. Follow that down and you will find the vacuum modulator. Make sure there is a T check valve down on the modulator with one side of the 3 open.

Hope this helps! ;)

That's the one I checked.  There is a screw plugging the open line but it is all clean and dry.

If you are talking about a screw at the end of the open line where it "T's" to the tranny modulator, the end of the line that TGPilot was pointing to in his picture,  that is not supposed to be there and you should remove it asap as it can eventually cause damage to the trans.  Try removing that screw and driving it for a bit and see what comes of it, are you losing coolant at all?  have you checked the radiator?  How about the surge tank?  What is the coolant level, if it's low add some and then see if it drops again. 

Better yet get a bottle of coolant tracer dye from your local dealer and put a small amount of it in the coolant system, invest in a black light bulb from your local stoner shop and use it in a shop light to find out if its burning in the turbo.  Just run it a bit, remove the O2 sensor and shine that black light in there and look for a UV reaction. 

It has a 4-way on it.  One side to the plenum, one to the modulator, one to the EGR and one to a screw.  I think the previous owner had done this once before as I dont think GM would   :laugh:

Last night the wind died down to nothing and I was able to get a good look and smell at the smoke.  It looked more blue than white and had a strong oil smell to it.  I also checked the oil level and it's now almost a qt low.  The coolant is full in the radiator and the overflow tank and I have good pressure in the system.

I guess with all the blooming and the wind I was smelling sweet and blue looked white...anyway, thats oil not water or tranny and the smoke was also coming from around the x-over and exaust system there at the manifold.

Any suggestions for plan "d"???

Plan "D" has a few options.

Get with Invasion1 (Dave) for #'s to the folks who rebuild his.
Learn how to replace a turbo center cartridge.
Buy a new turbo...GT28 or GT30 series
Get full coverage on the car and drive it off a cliff! ;) :laugh:

You will need a rebuild though. Most likely she sat too long...got a dimple in the seal and it finally let go.

-Kenny :icon_cool:

Quote from: TGPilot on April 21, 2006, 07:37:49 AM
Plan "D" has a few options.

Get with Invasion1 (Dave) for #'s to the folks who rebuild his.
Learn how to replace a turbo center cartridge.
Buy a new turbo...GT28 or GT30 series
Get full coverage on the car and drive it off a cliff! ;) :laugh:

You will need a rebuild though. Most likely she sat too long...got a dimple in the seal and it finally let go.

-Kenny :icon_cool:

Did I say plan "D"??  I must have meant plan "C"  :icon_eek: :icon_eek:

So basically what you're saying is the turbo (which was just rebuilt in 04) is a pretty paperweight and needs replaced?

Well I am not there to see what is happening. You said the return line was replaced. I am assuming it is a high quality oil resistant line so we can rule that most common smoke maker out.

You see oil inside and it is smoking out the butt end of your car...turbo or valves seals are going to do it. If I was you I would get some dye (like ryan said) and trace the source. You can also pull the turbo and plug the return then hook up a pressure source to the oil inlet...pressurize it and see where the oil is coming from.

Do you know who rebuild the cartridge or what parts source they used?

But right now it is pointing to the oil/coolant center cartridge as the source of the smokey smokey. Sorry...don't shoot the messenger! ;) :icon_cool:

I was wrong....it was rebuilt in '02 by Dallas Turbo.

What makes you think I would shoot the messenger?   :icon_rolleyes:  Might hunt you down and stick a torx in your eye but I would NEVER shoot   :laugh:   :joke: :smilielol:

Now saying you would stick a torx in someone's eye took some thought :icon_eek:....I am going to make sure my name is unlisted! :laugh: :icon_cool:

Spent way too many years programming....lots of time to think about torturing users   ;) :icon_lol:

There is a place here in KC that will rebuild the turbo for $300.  That sound about right or they trying to rip me off?

Thats what mine cost for the basic Rebuild

make sure its a good place.....

Sweet, thanks.  They have been here for over 15 years so I'm hoping that says something.  I will check them out a little closer though.

If it got rebuilt and its still smoking, my guess is its not rebuildable. but if its a good shop they will know if the thing is too far gone. now if you had a blanket on it constantly its whole life it probably has cracked housing. heat stress warps up and cracks the metal. lets hope its just a leaky cartridge. ball bearing turbos can take the heat a lot more and thats why they use those now, but if you can ever find a good journal bearing T-25 keep it naked and park the car on a tilt with the passenger side down hill, that way the oil drains back down into the pan. If you stick to these basic rules, journal bearing turbos should last forever

 :icon_eek:


:icon_question: :icon_question: :icon_question: :thinking: :icon_question: :icon_question: :icon_question:

Garrett/GangstGP...You are doing it again! Who has fed you this crap over the years to the point where you believe what you are typing? The turbo was rebuild 4 years ago and sat damn near the entire time if I read other posts correctly. Worst thing for a seal is lack of circulation. It is possible that 4 years ago they used a different cartridge, or tried a different cartridge that ended up with early failures, who knows? Non-of us work there.

My suggestion would be to call them and let them know what is going on. Be real nice. Tell them that you just bought the car and it was barely used by the previous owner. They may give you a severe discount or even take car of it free. Hell they may want to see why it failed with so little time on it. I would get with them first and see what they can do for you...especially if you still have a receipt from the previous owner. ;) :icon_cool:

 :laugh: :laugh:You are so wrong Kenny. my name's rick. a turbo can sit till the end of time if it doesnt have oil cooked on the oil outlet, thats why NO BLANKETS... and did you just skim over mindlessly about the tilted parking like everything else you never heard of? no one here fed me crap, this is the best turbo forum in the world. lets stomp out ignorance.

when are you going to back up the things you say Rick?  the only one here feeding people crap is you.  most all of your posts either don't make sense or if they do it's complete misinformation that you're passing along as fact.  you do it over and over and over again and people eventually get sick of it.  it's funny to see you say "let's stomp out the ignorance"  :laugh:  because if Kenny did "stomp out the ingorance" i don't think you'd be on this forum anymore.