scooby-wrx

My car had been running a little rough for a couple of day, then it started making a high pitched whining sound and didn't boost very much... I thought I had a boost leek so checked all hoses and no sign, I then removed the turbo and look what I found! How does something like this happen...? It seems pretty obvious to me that something came through the intake, but how...! Has anyone seen this happen before and if nothing seems damaged in the intercooler is everything ok... other than the turbo! A mechanic I know said I can just replace the turbine (wheel)...? I'll probably just replace it with a VF22 as it would be a quick bolt on fix.

This is a VF 23 on my stock Version 3 STI RA with 125 000km's running around 1.4 bar.

scoobian

it'll polish out

AzzDSM

Probably nothing got in.

if one piece breaks under stress it will smash all the other blades

scooby-wrx

scoobian, thanks buddy... Nothing serious then.

True AzzDSM, I thought that may have happened. There was no sign at all of any fragments etc... in the intercooler... Guess whatever it was must have been fairly soft and just shredded.

AzzDSM

Thers kind of a clue there.

the blade at the top in the pic as a piece missing where as the others are just miss shapped. my guess is that piece broke off under boost or deceleration and bounced about in the turbo damaging the other blades

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

Looks like the top blade has failed from fatigue - the released part has then caused the damage to the other blades.

The fatigue crack could have started from light impact damage that happened some time ago, or could be from a casting defect that had always been present since manufacture.

Unlucky, either way.

AzzDSM

Fatigue cracks can also be caused by running high boost with no dump valve to release back pressure,
I thought that could shatter blades???

Ozzy_B

iTrader: (2)

where will the broken pieces of blade gone??

ScoobyDoo555

Probably back into the engine?



Get it checked out otherwise you could have a bigger bill.

Dan

AzzDSM

Just what i was about to say, i wouldn't recomend running her until you found the missing piece of the jigsaw

STI_Baly

iTrader: (23)

If the missing piece is still in the engine it will probably come out when the new turbos on at 50,000 rpm (turbo speed) and then will bend the crap out of the new one on the turbine side.

So thorough checks before you do anything with new turbo, don't take any chances because it will not be worth it.

scooby-wrx

Thanks for all comments. Really appreciated

I replaced the VF23 with a VF22 about 3 000km's ago and so far so good. (I touching wood...)

Here's a pic of my VF22

jonny_693

iTrader: (5)

The missing bit will be wedged in your intercooler.

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

Possibly, depending if it's still in one piece. Otherwise, it'll be in the engine, probably rattling around one the the cylinders damaging both the piston and valves. How about an endoscope inspection of the cylinders - remove spark pugs and away you go?

scooby-wrx

Not sure its in the IC... we thoroughly inspected it and all appears fine. It is possible though...

I agree with you gpssti4 I think the pieces got shredded into tiny pieces and are in the cylinders... Thanks for suggesting removing spark plugs and having a look, I will give this a try this wkend as my car is currently off the road while I'm re-building my gearbox!

It just started jumping out of 4th 1 day, so I removed it and had a look and its a hub which is worn so I'm replacing everything (selector forks, synchro's, bearings, hubs etc...) apart from the actual gears which appear to be in near perfect condition.

My mileage is getting a little high so I'm not all that concerned about the engine for now... If worst comes to worst I'll replace the short block with a Version 7 or 8 which are both available brand new in New Zealand for quite a fair price.

StickyMicky

the VF22 is even more fragile then the vf23 IMHO

to date i have broken

VF22
VF24
VF28

the VF23 never actually broke!

scooby-wrx

StickyMicky - Ah.... don't tell me that...

Hopefully it lasts a while longer... or by next year I may have to completely re-build the car to keep it going...!