I blew my front apex seals a few days ago. I just took my turbo apart to find little nicks on every fin of the exhaust side. Does this mean my turbo is destroyed? What are my options? Here are some pics of the fins. If I do need to rebuild the turbo; which shop is the best/ cheapest? Please respond ASAP because I leave for FL tonight.

Thanks,
Phil

 

I recently did the same type of damage to a non ball bearing Garrett turbo and sent it to Magestic. They told me they could fill in the damage to the edges, but it is not advisable for rotary applications because of the high egts. They replaced the wheel, refinished the turbine housing and balanced the rotating assembly for around $120 shipped.

With the GT42R I believe you have to replace the entire center section/shaft/wheel assembly because the turbine wheel is one piece with the shaft. Sean at A-spec can give you a definitive answer. He told me how much Garrett charges for those parts, but it is so outlandish I want you hear it from him directly. I almost went with a non ball bearing GT42 for that reason alone.

 

Yep, it's shot....... Ron and I were talking about it the other night. It's going to cost around $1,700 probably. You might be able to get it a little cheaper.

 

I can get a new one for $1900. I might just do that instead.

 

PLease send me better pics I will let you know exactly what is up.

Sean@a-spectuning.com

 

I Had A Stock Motor Blow Out The Apex Seal And The Wheel Had SOME
Damage All Around ON A PT 70
I Did A Bit Of Clean UP, Now On My Friends Street Port WE Ran Hi 10s
And 540hp @24psi

Just Check And See If The Shaft Is Bad Or Alot Of Play
Just Little Scraches You Should Be Good

 

OK I will take some good pics with my digi camera. Those 2 pics were taken with my camera phone. The nicks are very small and there is no shaft play. The turbo only has a few thousand miles on it so I might be lucky.
Thanks,
Phil

 

Here are some better pics that I took on the day I left

 

Dude, that wheel is shot.

 

But there is NO SHAFT PLAY WHATSOEVER. So I think I might just dremel it and call it done.

 

by dremeling material off, you'll put it out of balance and there go's your bearings.......

 

not to mention the clearances between the wheel and the housing...

sure it will still spool and build boost, but now you have "leaks" in almost every blade = less force = slower spool.

IIRC, the first GT35T4 with dyno charts had a damaged wheel and still layed down 436rwhp @ 16lb. But spool up wasn't all that impressive.

 

The damage is very minor, I wouldn't worry about fixing it. You'll be fine

 

Well should I just not mess with the turbo at all then???
BTW I will probably tow the car down to your shop this summer with my truck because I already payed for part of the tuning.

 

Well, I have just decided to leave the turbo alone. Xavier from RX7Store told me not to touch it and see how it does when it gets dyno tuned.

 

Leave the turbo alone. We rebuild many units that have been damaged that way. Some customers of ours do not want to have them repaired and they work fine.

 

Thanks to all who replied.

 

the area that's damaged will "erode" quicker than you might think. most exhaust energy enters at the spot of the turbine wheel where your's is damaged. that's why 99% of mechanical damage is always in the same spot as yours. yes, it will work fine for a while but don't expect too last long. i can probably have it repaired but?

ps.. thanks for your suppport!

 

I trashed a T78 turbine with an apex too. I sent the turbine to TEC in CO they did a great job and fixed it including balancing for $75.

http://www.turboengineering.com/

Justin