Blog RSS

Although there is more than one possible cause for damaged compressor wheel, in this article we’ll be covering 3 main causes that we see most among our turbo repairs – shaft play, foreign objects, and failed blow off.Shaft play is one cause for compressor wheel damage, excessive side to side shaft play causes compressor wheel to hit the wall of compressor housing inlet and turbo gradually teared down if it wasn’t noticed in time. Make sure there is enough oil for turbo lubrication, poor or improper lubrication leads to shaft play and a broken shaft shank. Change of oil on...

A turbocharger compresses air, act as a compressor then force the compression into the cylinders of the internal combustion engine to raise the power output significantly. However, compressor surge happens when a compressor wheel is flowing more air than the engine can take in. This causes the excess air to back up in the intercooler piping and stall the air because it fights against the incoming air. This is why we offer ported compressor covers.Ported compressor covers, or anti-surged covers, are designed for the air to have convection and reduce compressor surge, with a ported cover it allows air pressure...

Turbocharger is a compressor that compresses air, forcing more air into the engine’s combustion chamber to create more power. It operates under high temperature and high rpm, therefore if any foreign object enters the turbocharger, the turbocharger would be damaged. Signs of damaged turbo include noises from the turbo (when operating) and loss of performance. Examine the turbine, compressor, or bearing housing for foreign objects, this will cause the rotating wheels and/or shaft to be impacted. Make sure to check carefully as in severe cases fragmentation of internal components under very high rpm will cause irreversible damage to the engine,...

When driving a turbocharged engine vehicle and you encounter boost issues, here are a few things that you should examine first before concluding it to be turbo’s failure. Often times you would find the turbo to be fine which have wasted your time and effort in disassembling the turbocharger. First check your intake piping see if there’s any leakage that causes low boost pressure, this normally happens especially with the connections with the intercooler because of the pressure differences and bent pipes. When part of the piping loosens or damages it will cause black smoke from the exhaust pipe. It...

Often times we have customers ask us about turbo shaft play, certain shaft play is totally normal on journal bearing turbos while some excessive play should be considered as a failed turbo. This does not apply on ball bearing turbos as ball bearing turbos do not have shaft plays. For a new journal bearing turbocharger, a little side to side play is perfectly normal as the space between the shaft and bushing would be taken up by oil pressure during turbo operation. However, a brand-new journal bearing turbocharger should have zero forward and back (from compressor end to turbine end)...