alright guys heres the deal. i just spoke with my mechanic and turns out i have about a year left on my 2nd turbo. it has some play in it and not much time left. i'm gonna have to rebuild my turbos or get an upgrade. my question i pose to you fellow FD owners is what upgrade i should go with. i use my FD as a daily driver, so i'm not looking to get a single that will give me a whole buncha horsepower and little gas mileage. i currently have a HKS downpipe and carbon-ti exhaust. i've done some searching to find out the realiability of some singles and the gas mileage that comes w/ them. my concern is i really don't have the kinda of money to put down for a new single kit and all the other parts i'll need to upgrade along with it. should i just stick w/ a rebuild on my stocks? go for the efini stock upgrade? look for someone who has a low level single and just buy used parts for everything involved in that upgrade? i know the easy route would be to simply rebuild my turbos, but i'm hopefully looking to sieze this opportunity to gather funds and add more ponies to the chart since i will have to replace the turbos anyway. i would certainly appreciate any help i can get you guys. i've tried my best to search for a similar thread but i guess because of the specifics involved for my case, i should go ahead and just ask. thanks again for any help

 

He's not a mechanic, ..he's a fortune teller!!

All Turbos have some degree of play. Excessive oil leakage is what kills performance, reliabilty and durability.

Make sure you have a Turbo related problem before a rebuild or replacement thereof is on the agenda. BTW, how many miles on the Twins??

 

yeh sorry bout that part, yeh he estimates a year, but yes there is oil leakage coming from the turbo. its resulting in me boosting on 6 or 7. i just got the car in august. the previous owner put in a mazda reman but i dont' think he rebuilt the turbos or antyhing when he put the reman in. that being the case the car has 113k miles on it.

 

What's your boost at transition on the Primary Turbo at WOT??

 

thats what i meant, right now if i start in 3rd and go full throttle it only boosts about 6 or 7, then maybe drops 1 or 2 psi after hitting the transistion. this is all based on memory. next time im out on a drive, i'll go at it agin to get the exact numbers

 

Have you checked for a split hose or loose connection. Sounds like you may have a leak. Also check your secondary CRV. While you're in the area, check the (4) 10mm nuts that secure the Y-Pipe flange-to-Turbos. They might be loose. If everything checks out okay, try swithcing the connections on the Pre-Turbo/Wastegate solenoid. And take her for a spin.

 

Not reaching 10psi is rarely a turbo problem and rebuilding them won't help. Mild oil leakage into the intake is normal as well. I'll bet the 6-7psi issue is a boost leak, loose vacuum hose, or bad solenoid.

Turbos normally have some side-side play, but should not touch the compressor housings. Turbos should never have any axial (in-out) play, nor should you see smoke in the rearview when you get hard on the throttle.

I think you should question this mechanics advice and seek a second opinion from a good rotary shop first. Even if you choose to replace the turbos, it's better to not do it for a misunderstanding.

Dave

 

thanks for the advice fellas, i'll go check everything myself and see what i come up with.

 

did anyone say BNR stage 3 twins. Who was it that just posted dyno's of the BNR's and it was in the 400 bhp range? That was impressive. I looked at the price of the BNR kit and it was very reasonable. Under $3000 if I remember correctly.

 

if you boost 7 psi the card wont even transition, do you get a kick at 4.5k? Boost system needs to see at least 8psi primary to bring the second online.

 

I read this again and I think Dave is right. Check everything else. All connections and solenoids. It sounds like a control problem and maybe an oil leak somewhere. All though 113k on stock turbos is pretty high mileage. I would still check all other possible problems. good luck.