FAO anyone with a GT series turbo without a metal bearing cage

[MarkTurbo]

Don't want to worry you but this is what mine looked like after only 4000 miles :doh: I'll put up the rest of the pictures from when I stripped it down tomorrow.

 

[red reading]

That's why you don't push standard bearing turbos hard, mind you were not really pushing it. My first 3071 did the same, my first 3076 did it too, then my 2nd 3076 got starved of oil and did the same.

 

[rich1216]

Does anyone no if the gtx series have a metal cage or is it still plastic, as ive just bought a new one and id rather sort it now before it gets used.

 

[MarkTurbo]

I thought I'd strip the turbo myself so I'd find the real reason it failed and not just get told its been overspeeded or suffered oil starvation :roll: It was only the bearing at the exhaust end that failed, the plastic cage looked like it had broken up due to heat.

 

[Fusion Ed]

was this with water cooling too?

 

[red reading]

Edd they do this on the turbine side from the fact the heat shield is a piece of tin! They eventually rot away slightly and the heat then starts to make the plastic bearing cage brittle......hence why you can get the heat shield made of billet stainless and bronze bearing cages fitted as it is a known problem on turbos that run a little harder than 1 bar.

 

[red reading]

Does anyone no if the gtx series have a metal cage or is it still plastic, as ive just bought a new one and id rather sort it now before it gets used.

Think there is only one place in the uk that does the bearing conversion, as standard they are plastic, and turbo warentee's are worthless.

You have to spec to the supplier that you want bronze cages etc then beware you are getting into proper comp spec turbo money for it.

 

[Mad]

It is definitely a struggle having a turbo repaired or replaced under warranty. It really depends on your relationship with the company. I've used universal turbos for years and they have been as good as gold but have heard lots of horror stories about most suppliers and unless you have an independent diagnosis of damage and take them to small claims, they normally won't fix or replace.

 

[rich1216]

Think there is only one place in the uk that does the bearing conversion, as standard they are plastic, and turbo warentee's are worthless.

You have to spec to the supplier that you want bronze cages etc then beware you are getting into proper comp spec turbo money for it.

I already spent best part of £1500 on it so i want to sort it. Spoke to Owens to day and they said they will do the metal cage conversion for £145 + vat but i presume its just steel.

 

[red reading]

Owens are the ones and the bearing cage is bronze, get the heat shield done as well and also get one of there inline turbo oil filters..........you think £1500 is expensive wait till you see the price of that lot with vat.

 

[MarkTurbo]

was this with water cooling too?

Yes water feeds were connected ;-) There were no oil feed issues either as I disconnected the feed pipe from the turbo and cranked the engine and it filled a cup pretty quickly. The restrictor in the turbo was all clear too.

This is the heat shield Danny is talking about, the bearing that collapsed sits about 10mm behind this.

This is the bearing from the compressor end of the turbo with the bearing cage still intact.

This is the bearing that collapsed, the plastic cage had gone rock hard from the heat.

And I took this picture of the restrictor that's built into the turbo just to clear up the argument that you don't need to fit one.

 

[rich1216]

Owens are the ones and the bearing cage is bronze, get the heat shield done as well and also get one of there inline turbo oil filters..........you think £1500 is expensive wait till you see the price of that lot with vat.

I no its not expensive i just meant ive already spent £1500 so i'd rather spend some more and have it right, is the heat sheild in the compressor unit itself?

 

[rich1216]

I see the shield now, thats why id rather sort it all now before i even use it. How many miles and what boost you had on yours?

 

[red reading]

Couple of thousand miles and the car runs 1.8 normally but has been up to 2.5 bar, on of the 30 series I had lasted 600 miles.

 

[MarkTurbo]

Mine had done about 4000 miles at 1.5/1.6 bar, I upped it to 1.8 bar a couple days before it went which obviously finished off the brittle bearing cage :doh:

I'm thinking of sending all the pictures to Garrett and see what they've got to say about it!

 

[JIMMYBACK]

That doesn't look good at all, worried about my 3071r now:shock:

 

[jambo_gtir]

Sod that, you pay a fortune for these turbos and that's hat happens....what a crock of shit. That is poor design right from the start; if we did that at my company we would be out of buisiness.
I'm glad I saw this post as I am currently saving up for a bb turbo. Now I think I'll stick to plain bearings as it's less to go wrong.

 

[campbellju]

Good post Mark, thanks for doing the photos and explanations. After the first post I wasn't clear on what you meant.

Does anyone know if all GT series turbos use the plastic cage?

 

[red reading]

Yes they all use them, and it is only when you spec it you can get the bronze cages fitted,I asked these questions when I bought my last turbo it the same as garretts crock of shit that you can't rebuild the bearing cores and you can only buy new.

Everyone has to remember that 99% will be fine it's just when you use them a bit harder than the usual that they fail.

 

[red reading]

Ps its not garrett that fits the bronze cages you have to ask the supplier (no matter who you use they send it to Owens) to press the core apart and to replace them in your new turbo.