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Turbo blankets usually also smoke for a bit before they dry up and then are smoke free
TurboClunker (a.k.a. cheap-ass slaps a turbo on his LX)
- Thread starter Heckraiser
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- Thread starter
- #222
The video was right after I started it up, it started smoking more a few minutes later. It wasn't billowing, but it was more than just a puff too.
Drain line is definitely not kinked, it's straight as an arrow. But there is a good chance it's not screwed on tight enough. I don't see any visible evidence of an oil leak though.
And finally, since you mentioned an oil restrictor, my oil feed line is -4AN, but there is a -3AN adapter right before it enters the top of the turbo. Is that considered an adequate restrictor?
:edit: turbo blanket could be a good call--it actually kind of looked like it might be coming from the blanket or under it.
Drain line is definitely not kinked, it's straight as an arrow. But there is a good chance it's not screwed on tight enough. I don't see any visible evidence of an oil leak though.
And finally, since you mentioned an oil restrictor, my oil feed line is -4AN, but there is a -3AN adapter right before it enters the top of the turbo. Is that considered an adequate restrictor?
:edit: turbo blanket could be a good call--it actually kind of looked like it might be coming from the blanket or under it.
- Thread starter
- #223
Took it out for another "class up the neighborhood" drive. Smoke definitely appears to be the blanket--I don't see any oil anywhere but smoke is coming out of the front and the back of the blanket. So that's good news I guess.
I drove up a hill in my neighborhood up to about 50mph and the turbo didn't seem to be spooling up properly. The truck doesn't feel significantly faster than normal, just a s***load louder due to the downpipe situation. It felt like it was running OK, about normal or a little peppier than normal. But I didn't feel that spool up and increase in acceleration as the RPMs climbed that I am familiar with from other boosted vehicles. I don't have a boost gauge (yet), but the wastegate appears to be hooked up properly, no detectable leaks. There is a vacuum leak at the BOV, would this cause any performance problems? Or do you think my CEL is somehow keeping it from spinning up?
I'm feeling a little loopy from the exhaust fumes, but I might have my buddy over to help me put on the hood and give it a look over with a fresh set of eyes.
I drove up a hill in my neighborhood up to about 50mph and the turbo didn't seem to be spooling up properly. The truck doesn't feel significantly faster than normal, just a s***load louder due to the downpipe situation. It felt like it was running OK, about normal or a little peppier than normal. But I didn't feel that spool up and increase in acceleration as the RPMs climbed that I am familiar with from other boosted vehicles. I don't have a boost gauge (yet), but the wastegate appears to be hooked up properly, no detectable leaks. There is a vacuum leak at the BOV, would this cause any performance problems? Or do you think my CEL is somehow keeping it from spinning up?
I'm feeling a little loopy from the exhaust fumes, but I might have my buddy over to help me put on the hood and give it a look over with a fresh set of eyes.
That turbo should be pretty loud, you should hear it spooling quite obviously. If you have a leak past the turbo you will hear the spool but you won't get any additional air since it is going out the leak. I would double check all your pipe and connectors with a spray bottle, with dish soap and water. Go ahead spray them all down and brake boost a little and look for bubbles. What kind of rpm's are you at when you are going up the hill? At 50mph try and shift down to 3rd, if you are in 4th you might be just under the spool rpms, but I think you should still notice it.
Also consider, disconnecting the air box you have from the turbo to see if maybe it is causing a major restriction...
Also consider, disconnecting the air box you have from the turbo to see if maybe it is causing a major restriction...
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- Thread starter
- #225
That turbo should be pretty loud, you should hear it spooling quite obviously. If you have a leak past the turbo you will hear the spool but you won't get any additional air since it is going out the leak. I would double check all your pipe and connectors with a spray bottle, with dish soap and water. Go ahead spray them all down and brake boost a little and look for bubbles. You're talking about the charge pipes and intercooler here, coorrect? If so, everythign seems pretty solid. You can definitely hear the turbo spooling up 
What kind of rpm's are you at when you are going up the hill? At 50mph try and shift down to 3rd, if you are in 4th you might be just under the spool rpms, but I think you should still notice it.
I got up to 5k rpms at one point, but was mostly between 2500 and 3500, maybe 4000
What kind of rpm's are you at when you are going up the hill? At 50mph try and shift down to 3rd, if you are in 4th you might be just under the spool rpms, but I think you should still notice it.
I got up to 5k rpms at one point, but was mostly between 2500 and 3500, maybe 4000
If you can definitely hear the turbo spooling up, and you know for a fact that you don't have any leaks in the charge pipe, intercooler, etc, I hate to say it but you could always adjust the wastegate and see if you feel the difference. Without a boost gauge or an AFR gauge though it is so hard to know what is going on. You could be making 3psi and just not really enough to feel the difference or you could be pushing it all out through a leak.
- Thread starter
- #227
I tightened down the hose clamps, particularly the ones on the BOV were not as tight as they could have been. The whole way the BOV is mounted is frankly a little sketchy due to trying to use what I had laying around. I can definitely feel a little more spool up above 3k RPM, kind of 3500-4000 is where you can really feel it spinning up, which strikes me as too high RPM. The truck is so damn loud, I could only tolerate running it up that high a couple times. I still feel like something isn't quite working right. What RPM would you expect this turbo to spool up?
I think I'll just get a boost gauge and hook up my UEGO and try to see what's going on.
I think I'll just get a boost gauge and hook up my UEGO and try to see what's going on.
- Thread starter
- #228
lol, problem identified. The bolts holding the wastegate to the manifold worked themselves loose. They were probably never torqued properly because I was distracted with a buddy 
I'll try tightening it down in the AM and see how she runs.
I'll try tightening it down in the AM and see how she runs.
haha that would certainly cause quite a leak on the exhaust side! You will definitely see much faster spool! Ha
Stoked to see this running. What did you 2 use as far as fittings go on the oil return. I have the oil pans off due to rebuilding the engine. Figure I might as well tap it while I'm there.
need to reseal both my pans soon to fix leaks, didn't even think about doing this for future use...
I just welded in a -10 AN fitting when I had my pan off. Heckraiser used Treadstone's tap in place setup.
- Thread starter
- #233
I drilled a hole and tapped it with a 1/2"-14 tap NPT. The drain line fittings came with the treadstone kit, but honestly, if I were to do it again, I'd just get a brass pipe fitting with a nipple/hose barb on it.
If you plan to reseal the pans anyway, this job would be a gajillion times easier with the upper pan off the truck.
If you plan to reseal the pans anyway, this job would be a gajillion times easier with the upper pan off the truck.
- Thread starter
- #234
Just to elaborate
Here is a link to what is included in the treadstone kit: Turbo Universal Oil Supply and Drain Kit, Pro- TREADSTONE PERFORMANCE
That's what I used and it worked OK, but I would probably not use it again.
Words of warning:
FEED LINE: the oil feed fitting that goes into the block at the oil pressure sender is 1/8" NPT and it should be BSPT. The super weird thing about it is that the fitting it is NPT threaded on the block side and BSPT threaded on the pressure sender side--so no matter what engine it's being fitted to, it will either be wrong on the male end or the female end. So strange. Best practice would be to find a BSPT fitting.Second best would be to tap the block for NPT rather than BSPT. :edit: strike that, you'd still have trouble adapting the sender to the T. Just get a T that is BSPT male on one and, BSPT female on the other end and a -3AN on the T. The other problem is that it is advertised in the link above as -3AN. They actually mailed me a -4AN line, which required a host of adapters to get the proper pressure restriction dialed in.
DRAIN LINE: nothing wrong with the drain line except they didn't supply a long enough length of hose for this big engine and high-mounted turbo. That and it could be done a lot cheaper if you don't care about blingy anodized fittings. The drain line does not have a lot of pressure in it, so even just hose barbs and a rubber tube with hose clamps would probably do the trick--lots of DIY turbo guys go this route (lots of Miata and Mustang info on the web)
Overall impressions: do not use this kit, piece together what you need on your own.
Here is a link to what is included in the treadstone kit: Turbo Universal Oil Supply and Drain Kit, Pro- TREADSTONE PERFORMANCE
That's what I used and it worked OK, but I would probably not use it again.
Words of warning:
FEED LINE: the oil feed fitting that goes into the block at the oil pressure sender is 1/8" NPT and it should be BSPT. The super weird thing about it is that the fitting it is NPT threaded on the block side and BSPT threaded on the pressure sender side--so no matter what engine it's being fitted to, it will either be wrong on the male end or the female end. So strange. Best practice would be to find a BSPT fitting.
DRAIN LINE: nothing wrong with the drain line except they didn't supply a long enough length of hose for this big engine and high-mounted turbo. That and it could be done a lot cheaper if you don't care about blingy anodized fittings. The drain line does not have a lot of pressure in it, so even just hose barbs and a rubber tube with hose clamps would probably do the trick--lots of DIY turbo guys go this route (lots of Miata and Mustang info on the web)
Overall impressions: do not use this kit, piece together what you need on your own.
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Thank you. Appreciate the time to address these items and the ones you have encountered along the way
- Thread starter
- #236
Well I closed the gap in the downpipe flange by putting an extra-long bolt in it and just torquing it down while placing a jack under the flange at the rear of the 2nd cat. Of course, this raised up the muffler, which put it in contact with the rear driveshaft. The driveshaft being much more substantial than my rusty old muffler, I just drove a few miles to let the two work out their differences. Now they don't touch anymore It's really quiet now, quieter than it was before the turbo went on, that's for sure. No exhaust fumes is nice too!
Went on a test run up Floyd Hill to see what's what. It managed to hold 80mph and dropped into 3rd two or three times. That hill used to be 65mph with OD off and dropping into 2nd. So it's definitely doing something! It still doesn't feel like it's pulling as hard as it should. My butt-dyno cant even detect the turbo spool-up... it just feels like a revvier engine--like driving a small honda that comes alive above 3000 rpm.
So still some trouble-shooting and tinkering yet to do, but it's nice to be behind the wheel again
It's really quiet now, quieter than it was before the turbo went on, that's for sure. No exhaust fumes is nice too! Went on a test run up Floyd Hill to see what's what. It managed to hold 80mph and dropped into 3rd two or three times. That hill used to be 65mph with OD off and dropping into 2nd. So it's definitely doing something! It still doesn't feel like it's pulling as hard as it should. My butt-dyno cant even detect the turbo spool-up... it just feels like a revvier engine--like driving a small honda that comes alive above 3000 rpm.
So still some trouble-shooting and tinkering yet to do, but it's nice to be behind the wheel again
Yeah, believe it or not, a turbo is actually classified as a muffler!
Hmm I am really curious where you are sitting boost wise. I know you started with the lightest spring like I suggested and you are saying you are climbing a hill at 80 instead of 65, dropping from 4th to 3rd instead of down to second so you are definitely making some more power but you should be able to feel a difference.
Can you do me a favor and record the spool up from say a 3rd gear pull at like 1500rpms to say 4500? I would like to hear what the turbo is doing. If you are hearing a lot of spool but not feeling boost, you have a leak somewhere still. If you aren't getting spool you might need a stiffer spring or an adjustment on the wastegate.
Hmm I am really curious where you are sitting boost wise. I know you started with the lightest spring like I suggested and you are saying you are climbing a hill at 80 instead of 65, dropping from 4th to 3rd instead of down to second so you are definitely making some more power but you should be able to feel a difference.
Can you do me a favor and record the spool up from say a 3rd gear pull at like 1500rpms to say 4500? I would like to hear what the turbo is doing. If you are hearing a lot of spool but not feeling boost, you have a leak somewhere still. If you aren't getting spool you might need a stiffer spring or an adjustment on the wastegate.
Or even a 2nd gear pull, put the trans in 2, hit the 2nd gear start button, roll down the passenger window and do a rolling pull from like 1400-4500rpms.
- Thread starter
- #239
I might try that, although I already feel like I've tempted fate with the cops in the last few days. A friend offered up an old boost gauge, so that should help too.
One thing I've considered is that I ended up using the twin-scroll T4 gasket that came with the turbo, which did not look like an ideal seal compared to a single scroll gasket. On Saturday when I was driving it around with the hood off, spool-up was very audible, so I'm not sure that's my problem. Now with the hood on and the exhaust sealed, it is much less noticeable. And my resonator whistles due to rust holes, so it's a little hard to distinguish between the two noises.
One thing I've considered is that I ended up using the twin-scroll T4 gasket that came with the turbo, which did not look like an ideal seal compared to a single scroll gasket. On Saturday when I was driving it around with the hood off, spool-up was very audible, so I'm not sure that's my problem. Now with the hood on and the exhaust sealed, it is much less noticeable. And my resonator whistles due to rust holes, so it's a little hard to distinguish between the two noises.
Haha yeah, I am not trying to get you in trouble with the law, that is why I changed it to 2nd gear, I figure a 2nd gear pull should be about 60-65mph at 4500rpms. You could do it in a merge lane etc and not break the law too much.
But yeah if you still think you have a leak around that flange that would impact spool times too.
I did pick that turbo size to spool a little later to make sure you were in open loop fueling so that you wouldn't be boosting in a lean condition but you should definitely feel it before 3000rpms.....
That boost gauge is going to be very helpful. It could just be with that size wastegate, and this size engine you are blowing the 5spi spring open at like 3psi. The bigger the engine size, and the larger the wastegate diameter the easier it is to blow open before the spring pressure. But if it were the wastegate you would be bypassing a lot of exhaust gases, so you would see boost later, but that should correspond with hearing the spool. You shouldn't hear lots of turbo spool and not have boost there really is no mechanism for that except boost leaks. That is the only reason I wanted to hear it, I just don't want you spinning the crap out of the turbo trying to reach wastegate pressure. lol.
But yeah if you still think you have a leak around that flange that would impact spool times too.
I did pick that turbo size to spool a little later to make sure you were in open loop fueling so that you wouldn't be boosting in a lean condition but you should definitely feel it before 3000rpms.....
That boost gauge is going to be very helpful. It could just be with that size wastegate, and this size engine you are blowing the 5spi spring open at like 3psi. The bigger the engine size, and the larger the wastegate diameter the easier it is to blow open before the spring pressure. But if it were the wastegate you would be bypassing a lot of exhaust gases, so you would see boost later, but that should correspond with hearing the spool. You shouldn't hear lots of turbo spool and not have boost there really is no mechanism for that except boost leaks. That is the only reason I wanted to hear it, I just don't want you spinning the crap out of the turbo trying to reach wastegate pressure. lol.
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