I'm wondering how often an apex seal will shoot through the stock twin turbos when the motor goes. I've heard stories that when this happens you will need to get new turbos as well. Can anyone shed some light on this subject?

 

DUH!

 

Jonesboro, that isn't the old Bay Area vs Sacramento rivalry coming to the fore, is it?

 

as often as you lose an apex seal.

 

It just depends... Sometimes your apex seals only crack and nothing passes through the turbos.

Other times, a piece may break off and it will go through the turbo. Sometimes this causes damage, sometimes not. Just depends on your luck.

B

 

okay, i guess youre right. . . but it was fun givin the guy a hard time. haha.

 

Only ONCE!

then you REBUILD IT

 

HaHa, thats pretty good

Man if the seal breaks your turbo is history, if it just cracks and none comes off your ok but that is kinda rare. Think about it, your turbine wheel is spining like 100K-150K rpms and its very thin metal. That seal is going to chew it like butter.

Also, 99% of the time you cant see the damage without taking the exhaust housing off the turbo so that you can see the entire turbine wheel instead of just its face.

STEPHEN

 

exactly, i blew a seal, and then drove it 45 miles home from the road course. BIG MISTAKE.....i got that lovley call from cam at pettit saying that i had shot the turbine and housings.....don't drive it if there is suspected seal damage or breakage....i learned the hard way!

 

Often enough if it happens to you.

Be careful with your tuning and mods, and don't make a tired engine wait for a rebuild, just cause you have other places for the money.

 

My '93 touring had a missing apex seal on the rear rotor and another was stuck when I bought it. Bruce Turrentine (East Coast Rotary, Raleigh, NC) did the rebuild on another 13B for me and checked the turbos when he reassembled the motor with the accessories. He said that there was no damage caused by the apex seal. So, I guess I was lucky. The turbos had 61k and I didn't feel like overhauling them just yet. Maybe you will be lucky. If you have a lot more milage on them, maybe it is time to rebuild anyway. If you need a good 13B rebuilder, I would recommend Bruce.

Steve Bradley

 

how much does a new motor and a turbo cost? Wil i need one soon? I'm on my original motor and I have almost 70k on it. I daily drive my car