Official Guide to Stuffed Turbo's
 

Hey guys, i think my turbo is on its way out or sumthing. is there a official Guide as we all on this Forum have Smoke a Few turbo's... im a Home made turbo kinda guy just need some advice/

Now i dont know if its Engine OR Turbo this time. The Motor is on 240 000km never been opened. This Car is Serviced every 5000km..

The turbo(Mitsubishi tdo4h 15t) is 1 year old and i dont run a Oil cooler.

on startup the car doesnt smoke. when cruise its smokes abit but when i havent boost for lets say 10km And i Put FOOT a Huge Amount of smoke Comes out but only in the Initial Stages of boost. then its just smoke. under boost. Its still pulls very Hard Tho....

The Car Does use a pint of oil ever 200km, and in the Top Boost pipe there is only Oil Vapour?

So what is it?
What are the differnt colour smoke's and what do they mean?

If i take the turbo apart will i be able to see if the seals are gone? has there bean a Article written about this on the forum before?

Re: Official Guide to Stuffed Turbo's
 

Are you running an inline oil restrictor? If there's oil in your charges pipes and in your compressor housing thats a sure sign that its the turbo seal. As far as smoke, if its blue then your burning oil, black usually means your running rich. White (not to get confused with warm up smoke) usually means water is getting into your cyclinder via bad head gasket, cracked head, ectt. My guess is your turbo seal(s) are going out due to too much oil pressure going to the turbo, unless ofcourse you have a restrictor. good luck

Re: Official Guide to Stuffed Turbo's
 

Could be something as stupid as valve guide seals, but if you see oil in your top charge pipe it could be something worse.

Re: Official Guide to Stuffed Turbo's
 

There is clean oil coming out the core :o

Re: Official Guide to Stuffed Turbo's
 

again, too much oil pressure does NOT "blow" seals. seals are piston rings. How can you blow a piston ring? :S
if you didn't have a feed restrictor, try adding one, if the problem is resolved by doing this, and the turbo shaft isn'T all wobbly, you are good to go! if it is wobbly then...

doesn't mather if turbo is fairly new. if you are trying to make more power than what it's designed for, you'Re overspinning it and it will keep failing on you like a XSP turbo no mather what. td04h 15T, that's a volvo turbo? certainly not the best turbo for a performance application IMO depends on the boost and HP that you are doing compared to the turbo capacities.

if you can see an oil leakage in between the center section and turbine housing, it's a sign of a faulty turbo.
if you can feel significant lateral shaft play or any in and out play, it's a sign of worn out bearings and as a result, worn out seals. Turbo is due for a profesional rebuild if you act fast, just a preventive rebuild is enough. if you wait too much, wheels will start rubbing, shaft, center housing and other major parts will wear, quickly raising the rebuilt price over reasonable limits.
My biaised advice: don't take the turbo apart. the proper rebuild goes way beyond just throwing a chinese 59$ ebay rebuild kit at it. Have the proper remanufacturing work performed by any shop able to warranty their work.