Help! What Have I Done?

[mr_rbman]

well i have a freshly built rb30 twin cam in my 32 with a rebuilt vg30 turbo. Its now done around 1600kms and everything up until now has been going pretty well.

I went for a drive sunday and everything was fine, oil was normal level etc. I got home and parked my car in the garage, luckily my car is only a weekender but when i went out to the shed monday afternoon there was oil drippings on the floor across the front, coming out of the hoses. This afternoon i finally got a chance to check it out closer only to find close to a litre of oil in the cooler and oil all through the piping!

Basically the only thing i can think is its either the turbo or the rings. I really hope its the turbo but as i said it was rebuilt by ats here in adelaide. It has been making quite a loud whistle/howl since its been running but i don't know if this could be related!

Someone please help me or reassure me cause i dont know if i can afford to have the engine rebuilt again!

Cheers!!!

[Coupe-This]

lol if its f**ked, it falls under warrenty, ring up the workshop and explain the situation, if they fail to be nice ... ring up consumer affairs etc ...

unless u were silly enough not to get a warranty, now only backyard jobbers do stuff like that

[mr_rbman]

haha, glad to c you can c the funny side!

[Craved]

how have you setup the breathers for the cam covers?

if its return then only a compresion test would tell you the rings arent bedded in properly.. if comp is ok, get the turbo checked.

[mr_rbman]

its setup without a catch can so it is return!

[jezzerrr]

if it's a lot, I'd suspect your turbo shaft seal on the intake side. I imagine you would know if your rings were gone, your power would be down to buggery.

hope you work it out mate.

[Cubes]

I've attached ash's dyno sheet.

It is making no where near the power it should. Mine is basically the same setup, makes close to 180rwkw by 4000rpm where power goes flat due to valve float and lifter pump up. (heads coming off in a week to have springs fitted/setup)

Note the big dip in power, who thinks this is a boost leak?

Ash, I still would like to see your ign. timing run at load points 15-17 across the rev range.

or maybe its pumping a shiet load of oil around resulting in the tune having to drop a heap of ign. timing at that point, reducing torque as a result reducing power.

On the note of the turbo's howl... IF its a metalic scraping howl (which is distinct and cannot be mistaken) then there is a possibility of metal shavings working their way through the cooler and in to the motor that will damage the bores. I do doubt this has happened as one mentioned prior, you will notice a drop in power and you would have seen bits in the ic piping oil.

Have you been keeping an eye on the detonation values?

What also makes me think its a boost leak is I remember you saying when the bleeder was conencted you had a large whoosh sound and the car felt a little dead in first gear... Is that correct?

[Bl4cK32]

If it made good power before the last tune (without the turbo), then made sfa power with the turbo tuned, and has a squeel when on boost, id be taking a closer look at the turbo first.

But do the easy things first and do a compression check.

[mr_rbman]

cheers for all your replies guys, after talking to a few people including my tuner from boostworx (shaun) i am almost certain its the turbo, it would explain the oil and the loss of power on my initial dyno run. I have already taken the majority of the cooler piping off and some of the turbo so i will get that checked out first then if there's nothing wrong with that i will do the compression test straight away.

Atleast if it is the turbo which i hope it is then it will be time for an upgrade! hehe, more power!

I'm very confident with the build of the engine and the running in period so the front seal on the turbo being shot is what makes the most sense to me!

[mr_rbman]

I've attached ash's dyno sheet.

It is making no where near the power it should. Mine is basically the same setup, makes close to 180rwkw by 4000rpm where power goes flat due to valve float and lifter pump up. (heads coming off in a week to have springs fitted/setup)

Note the big dip in power, who thinks this is a boost leak?

Ash, I still would like to see your ign. timing run at load points 15-17 across the rev range.

or maybe its pumping a shiet load of oil around resulting in the tune having to drop a heap of ign. timing at that point, reducing torque as a result reducing power.

On the note of the turbo's howl... IF its a metalic scraping howl (which is distinct and cannot be mistaken) then there is a possibility of metal shavings working their way through the cooler and in to the motor that will damage the bores. I do doubt this has happened as one mentioned prior, you will notice a drop in power and you would have seen bits in the ic piping oil.

Have you been keeping an eye on the detonation values?

What also makes me think its a boost leak is I remember you saying when the bleeder was conencted you had a large whoosh sound and the car felt a little dead in first gear... Is that correct?

Do you think that if it is the front seal on the turbo it could explain the boost leak which is causing the drop in power? It would explain the noise, oil and the loss of power you'd think!

The knock levels have been fine, shaun asked me about that!

I'll be heading up your way on sunday sometime in the afternoon if you want to checkout my ign. timing load points!

I thought shaun said that our power runs were virtually the same with torque and power through the midrange?

Yes it did have that whoosh and felt crappy in first gear!

Edited March 31, 2006 by mr_rbman

[Cubes]

The power curves are basically the same, it spools the same and makes the same initial power and torque, mine does hold torque pretty much dead flat until valve float were as yours makes its peak torque then begins to tail off.

My power goes flat at around 4000rpm then really dives off hard at 5000rpm as the lifters pump up hard and the car begins to lump and miss badly.

Sitting in the car as its being dyno you can really feel the power back off, as you can when driving it.

Heads coming off in a week so it will be hitting the dyno again shortly after, it will be interesting to see how the top end power curve goes with it not floating.

[Bl4cK32]

kiss that economy goodbye then boy racer

[Cubes]

bah...

A needle width above half and I've already clocked 245km's.

I drive easy 98% of the time, its nice to have the power there when you want it.

[mr_rbman]

well took all the spark plugs out yesterday to check for any oily residue etc to hint at rings being gone but they are all fine. The turbo is almost off and appears to be the source of all my oil problems. Will update soon once the turbo has been checked out!

[mr_rbman]

i just got the turbo off to find no oil in the intake where the elbow bolts to the top of the compressor but plenty of oil in the front compressor where the afm pipe bolts to the turbo! Does this suggest anything to anyone out there?

[46n2]

We lost a turbo in the CA a few months back, and there was a coating of oil through most of the piping, cooler, and plenum. The oil seal on the compressor side went, and we also had traces of oil in the snout of the turbo. there was a little oil in the elbow, but nothing like what I found in the plenum & cooler where the air would have been slowed down. Hope it helps...

[sky30]

i just got the turbo off to find no oil in the intake where the elbow bolts to the top of the compressor but plenty of oil in the front compressor where the afm pipe bolts to the turbo! Does this suggest anything to anyone out there?

Ash, Do you run a hose from the rocker breather into the AFM pipe infront of the turbo?, if you are getting excessive blow-by oil may be entering your turbo here.

[mr_rbman]

We lost a turbo in the CA a few months back, and there was a coating of oil through most of the piping, cooler, and plenum. The oil seal on the compressor side went, and we also had traces of oil in the snout of the turbo. there was a little oil in the elbow, but nothing like what I found in the plenum & cooler where the air would have been slowed down. Hope it helps...

this sounds exactly what has happened to me, thanks for your help!

[mr_rbman]

Ash, Do you run a hose from the rocker breather into the AFM pipe infront of the turbo?, if you are getting excessive blow-by oil may be entering your turbo here.

i do run all the standard breather hoses etc. so i do run that one. I'll be pretty dissappointed if all this oil has been a result of blow-by cause i think that means the engine was put together pretty ordinarily!

The turbo is now at ATS being inspected but it doesn't really matter what wrong with it anyway cause i now have a new snail, hehe!

[jezzerrr]