Aftermath of Intercooler install :(

[89Turbo]

I installed a Ebay intercooler kit a week ago and not only are universal kits a pain in the ass(DONT BUY ONE) but they suck. We install the kit after hours of sawing and plasma cutting shit outta the way and its all good. I go out for a drive and it wont boost past 2psi, ok boost leak. I forgot to tighten down one clamp, big whoop, tightened it and everything was good. About a day or two later i start to get the turbo death whine sound while under boost. Fucking great, i put on this kit hoping it will be more efficent and help my car out. I've been told now by someone at Extreme Turbo Systems that Ebay intercoolers frequently have internal boost leaks of some kind and the it caused my turbo to "overspool" is the word i think he used hence my turbo now having the death whine and me needing a new intercooler that i already spent hours installing. How long can i drive around with the turbo going out?

[Syris]

cant really give you an amount of time you can drive with it that way. But can tell you the longer you drive the worse everything can get

[dbsupra90]

I've been told now by someone at Extreme Turbo Systems that Ebay intercoolers frequently have internal boost leaks of some kind and the it caused my turbo to "overspool" is the word i think he used hence my turbo now having the death whine and me needing a new intercooler that i already spent hours installing.

i dont buy that. the wastegate is referenced pre intercooler.

[MK3Brent]

That's the craziest explanation ever.

[tissimo]

or it could of been your boost leak from not tightening the clamp? i think so if anything.. pressure test the intercooler, I'm sure it holds fine, all my ebay intercoolers have been fine..

[QWIKSTRIKE]

I installed a Ebay intercooler kit a week ago and not only are universal kits a pain in the ass(DONT BUY ONE) but they suck. We install the kit after hours of sawing and plasma cutting shit outta the way and its all good. I go out for a drive and it wont boost past 2psi, ok boost leak. I forgot to tighten down one clamp, big whoop, tightened it and everything was good. About a day or two later i start to get the turbo death whine sound while under boost. Fucking great, i put on this kit hoping it will be more efficent and help my car out. I've been told now by someone at Extreme Turbo Systems that Ebay intercoolers frequently have internal boost leaks of some kind and the it caused my turbo to "overspool" is the word i think he used hence my turbo now having the death whine and me needing a new intercooler that i already spent hours installing. How long can i drive around with the turbo going out?


More than likely the turbo was on it way out. I have used 2 Ebay ICs' and spent the money to have pipes made for the set up. If the IC doesn't leak look towards a failed installation process. Meaning Human error on your part. I know you don't want to hear this, but human error and a weak turbo were the culprit of this problem. No body ever wants to admit that their mistakes make the issues that they face.Those leekas that wereinthe piping could have helped end the turbos liife.Not to mention it is an old turbo to begin with!

[tookwik4u89]

How do you get an internal boost leak in an I/C...lol...the boost leaks into the other boost?? It would have to be air / water for that to even be possible. I would have to lean toward coincidence.

[cnewingham]

sounds like the shop you took it to has no clue of what they are talking about. You have to remember that an upgraded IC will usually flow more air and at a lesser pressure drop. Your turbo was on its way out already, you just werent aware yet.

[SilverSupraT]

I had a thread about my "turbo death whine." I would definately check all your piping for some boost leak. I found mine was actually my powersteering pump. I know that sounds odd, but it really only seemed to make the sound when I was under boost, who knew....

Good luck

[SySt]

I beleive what the shop was saying is that the intercooler cores and/or end tank welds tend to leak on the EBay intercoolers. Remember, whenever you are leaking boost the turbo is spinning faster just to attain the same pressure. However, the leak must have been small to have not noticed it and I doubt it would have shortened the life of the turbo that fast. Best thing to say is that the turbo is old, unless it is not the original turbo...

[Fozbo]

I beleive what the shop was saying is that the intercooler cores and/or end tank welds tend to leak on the EBay intercoolers. Remember, whenever you are leaking boost the turbo is spinning faster just to attain the same pressure. However, the leak must have been small to have not noticed it and I doubt it would have shortened the life of the turbo that fast. Best thing to say is that the turbo is old, unless it is not the original turbo...

The turbo only keeps boosting if the wastegate is closed. The wastegate gets it's signal from the compressor of the turbo, granted the whole system would loose pressure with a leak, the air right after being pushed by the compressor would still see relatively the same boost.

Assuming the ct26 was the original, how many miles are on the car? How long were you boosting 10 psi for?

[Supracentral]

The simple and most likely explanation is that you ran the turbo shaft speed way past what it was designed to do.

Realize while you are seeing 2psi on the gauge with a pipe disconnected, the turbo was probably spinning fast enough to generate 40 psi of boost.

[upgradedsupra]

Joe at extreme is a guy I trust and would suggest go to him for anything like this. I run an Extreme Turbo Systems intercooler and am very happy.

Sorry to hear about this
Duane

[Doward]

Supracentral speaks truth - listen to him :)

[Justin727]

:rofl: it wasnt the ebay kit it was YOUR error

[MK3Brent]

Hmm interesting question. If you were boosting at say 25psi on an internal wastegate with its boost/pressure source on the compressor housing, and you blew the IC pipe off the turbo... that's almost the same thing as blowing off the vacuum source, which would definitely mean the turbo's wastegate would shut and allow the wheel to spin-spin-spin till you let off.

If the vacuum source looses pressure (strength to hold open the WG) through a boost leak, would the turbo work harder to achieve the EBC's or WG actuator springs target opening pressure?

[Nosechunks]

i dont buy that. the wastegate is referenced pre intercooler.

the waste gate bieng refrenced before or after the intercooler wouldnt matter. if theres a leak it will effect the entire system, not just the cold or hot side.


The turbo only keeps boosting if the wastegate is closed. The wastegate gets it's signal from the compressor of the turbo, granted the whole system would loose pressure with a leak, the air right after being pushed by the compressor would still see relatively the same boost.

the pressure at the outlet of the compressor housing is the same at the inlet of the intercooler. if the hose on the compressor fell off, there would never be positive pressure in the housing. if the hose fell off the intercooler, there would never be positive pressure in the housing. unless theres a relative restriction, no pressure buildup could occur.

my guess would be what supracentral said, the initial hose clamp problem. if theres no restriction to flow theres no pressure buildup, no pressure build up means a firmly closed wastegate, a firmy closed wastegate with full throttle results in a turbo reaching unrestriced RPM levels.

[Nosechunks]

If the vacuum source looses pressure (strength to hold open the WG) through a boost leak, would the turbo work harder to achieve the EBC's or WG actuator springs target opening pressure?

with a leaking source, it would be like runing a manual bleed style boost controller, it would need to move more air to build up more pressure to make the same boost to open the wastegate the same amount, so yes it would work the turbo harder.

what im wondering about this whole thing is with the IC pipe leaking that much how come fuel cut wasnt an issue? i think that much overspin and leak would cause the car to run extreamly rich and hit fuel cut due to the excessive reading on the AFM.

[OneJArpus]

I don't mean to but in but, seeing that it is proven that a new IC will make your turbo more efficient maybe it did such a good job that poor turbo couldn't handle it any more?

[mk3concepts]

wow sorry to hear that happen to your supra..i just installed my ebay intercooler with custom pipes..yah it sucked..took me 3 days to finish..i had the same problem..my problem was that the couplers werent tight enough..i fixed it and i forgot one 90degree coupler to tighten..i took it for a test drive and was boosting 8+ and the coupler came off..i thought i blew my engine after..but nah..check your clamps on the couplers and pipes..worked for me

[89Turbo]

Joe at extreme is a guy I trust and would suggest go to him for anything like this. I run an Extreme Turbo Systems intercooler and am very happy.

Sorry to hear about this
Duane

thats who i talked to.

so basically the general consensus is that all i need is a new turbo and not intercooler kit?