Replacement Turbo

[hilda]

Hi

I suspect the turbo has broken on my car-clouds of white/blue smoke when idling.
The oil pressure & boost guage are working normally & car is OK when under load but a little lumpy on tickover.
Has anybody recently bought a new or recon turbo & if so where from. I had wondered about a unit from a breaker if I could locate one.

Thanks
John

[Gazza]

Think loads of white smoke is normally a sign of head gasket failure.

Gazza

[Rambo]

JIMBO had a turbo for sale back in Nov. Drop him a PM to see whether its still for sale or not

[bobbrown]

Fetnas re built his turbo using a new center section purchased from the USA which is the main part of a turbo as the other parts should not wear.
Link

[lotusgirlmarie]

White smoke is head gasket. Pull your plugs to verify based on colouration and cylinder condition.

[sheprob]

Hi,
Even though I do not believe your problem is your turbo, if you or anyone else discovers your turbo has seen better days, then there are two sources to buy NEW turbos, and these are from the states:

http://www.powertechnologies-turbo.com/liquidation.html[/url]
If you look under:
89473158 RHB52TW Isuzu VI 78 Turbo $ 325.00
Our turbo is the VI77, the only difference between ours and this this one, is the angle of the compressor housing. By undoing the 6 bolts on the back of the housing it can be rotated to the correct angle. I have bought one of these, but please note it does not have an actuator. So just use your old one. $325 at the moment is £205 for a NEW turbo. A friend of mine brought it back for me.

The other alternative on ebay is a cartridge:
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110437357028&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

This is also the correct part, but at $299 I would go with the first option as it is a complete turbo.

I would avoid buying second hand turbos on ebay, as alot of them are rubbish. I foolishly bought one, and despite my best efforts in asking all the right questions, i.e compressor condition and shaft play, his response was "it worked ok on the car", ALARM BELLS should have rung. The reality was a compressor wheel that had digested a sand storm and the shaft had a ridiculous amount of play. I managed to send it back eventually, but lost out on P&P.

All the best

Rob

[G UK]

White smoke is head gasket. Pull your plugs to verify based on colouration and cylinder condition.

White smoke can also be the turbo blowing. From my personal experience last year.

First Turbo Failure = Small amount of Blue Smoke exactly as if your burning oil.
Head Gasket - No smoke but sge ran like a dog and the gasket was visibly weeping.
Second Turbo Failure - Huge amounts of White Smoke

The first Turbo failure was caused by thrust bearing failure which damaged the seals and started burning oil (hence blue smoke). The second Turbo failure after the head gasket was replaced, the valves reseated and a dodgy turbo rebuild was another thrust bearing failure, this time the turbine seals failed massively injecting oil (and possibly coolant) into the exhaust which gave rather large billows of white smoke akin to when an F1 car blows.

[esprit888]

Can anyone tell me the numbers to look for on the Thunderbird IHI snail to indicate which is the larger compressor wheel? ( I understand some had the same as the Isuzu -250cfm later models were larger at 370 cfm ) I have a line on a Turbo but the only numbers the guy can give me are 51T-21. He 'says' it was from an 88 Thunderbird, but i 'say' i'm going to be on time too!

[tigerdog]

It may be mentioned somewhere in the old Doc Fizzix "hot to trot" rebuild thread. Here's a link to the post where he begins discussion of the Tbird turbo. In this photo from the thread, I read 51T-21:

but Doc also appeared to do some messing around swapping compressor and housing from the tbird turbo onto the elan's center cartridge and impeller. The thread is helpful and also has links to Robie the robot's isuzu turbo page.

[PECKHS]

I had white/blue smoke when I first bought my Elan. Rebuilt the engine and it was still smoking. Then we checked the turbo and realized it was a gonna.
Personally, I feel that it is easier to check the turbo first before dismantling the engine.
I bought a used from eBay and bob graciously refurbished it for me.

[theelanman]

HGF is usually easy to spot......
Mayo in your engine.......if not on the fier cap then on the dipstick....
You can also check the cooling fluids for gas absorbtion.....'sniffer test'

[dapinky]

HGF is usually easy to spot......
Mayo in your engine.......if not on the fier cap then on the dipstick....
You can also check the cooling fluids for gas absorbtion.....'sniffer test'

Or for a practical demonstration - have a look at mine - someone stole all the coolant and replaced it with greyish sludge whilost i was going round castle coombe.

(still, the HG arrived today from SJ's, and the order from Rockauto was shipped yesterday )

[Ted]

Hi,

My engine consumes a lot of oil, about 1 liter for 500 kms.
There is oil that goes out the exhaust. I think the oil passes by the turbo. Where could the go go if it's not by the turbo? By the piston rings, but compressions are good (12 bar). I think the turbo had been used badly by the past.

Thanx

[HJ2]

It is very well possible that your leak is due to a turbo failure. Oil in the exhaust is nor really normal
If it is not the turbo, my bet is on the valve stem seals.

It is easier to take the turbo out than the head, so i would start at the turbo.
If there is a small turbo disaster, i can get hold of a brand new OEM turbo. or a reconditioned one.


Good luck!

[Ted]

Hi HJ2,

You're always there when I have questions
The pipe between the turbo and the air filter is quite greasy.
I'm not sure to understand this : "If there is a small turbo disaster, i can get hold of a brand new OEM turbo. or a reconditioned one."

Could you sell me a reconditioned one?

[HJ2]

Hi Ted,

I could sell you both, one of the very last new OEM ones, or reconditioned, both at a decent price so you're not dead in the water whilst your own turbo is reconditioned.
If the hose between filter and turbo is greasy: This stuff probably comes from the carter ventilation.You can check by taking the lid off the little metal box on the Left side of the engine. It contains a couple of sintered metal filters. It should be fairly clean just a little oil at the bottom perhaps.

The other pipe that is connected to the hose comes from the little valve that regulates the pressure to the wastegate capsule. If this is full of oil .... something's wrong!
Please post us the results and we'll see from there!

[Ted]

I've got some few oil in this metal box. Is it ok or is it bad?

Could you PM me the prices of both turbo charger?

I will disconnect the small pipe to check if it's full of oil.
The big pipe between the turbo and the air filter is lightly greasy, there is not really oil in it.

[HJ2]

A little oil in the box is normal, that what it's there for.
The little oil that passes the sintered filter is fed into the 'big' pipe (you can follow the hose yourself) so it goes through the engine to be burnt.
So for the big hose between filter and turbo it is normal to have a little grease inside.

New Turbo:
viewtopic.php?f=129&t=22956&p=289473