ok, so I 've noticed my peak boost getting progressively lower over the last two months. I used to peak at 24 psi, then dropped to 20 psi. I thought maybe time for new spark plugs, but new plugs & wires didn't fix the problem.

Over the next week it kept getting worse, peak boost was down to 14 psi. So I thought boost leak. Took of the intake, capped the UICP, put on the boost tester - sure enough, won't hold pressure at all. The leak is so bad that air goes out the pipes faster than I can turn the compressor off to hear where it's going. Next I took the bumper off and starting testing pipe segments one at a time. UICP checks fine, FMIC checks fine, LICP checks fine, so now I'm getting worried ... next I removed the outlet pipe from the compressor housing, cap the nipple for the WGA and pressurize just that; checks out fine.

Lastly, I bolted a flate plate directly to the compressor housing with a rubber gasket in between (I'm sure that blank seals tight, because I used it to blank the outlet pipe when I tested it) . With the boost tester on the compressor inlet, and the compressor outlet flange covered with the blank, the system will not hold any pressure at all. At 20 psi air is flowing in from my shop compressor at the same rate as it's leaking out somewhere at the turbo, this is not a small leak! Once I disconnect the shop compressor, the pressure drops to zero within seconds. I know it's not the boost leak tester either, since I verified it separately.



What's left that could be leaking? I inspected the compressor housing visually best I could with the turbo in the engine and didn't see any cracks. What other seals are there that could have failed ???

 

Sounds like blown turbo seals. You should be able to hear the air whoosing out into the exhaust with the tester setup the way you have it, assuming the turbo seals are leaking. The air could be backing up into the crankcase too. Pull the oil filler cap and see if you can hear air venting into the crankcase.

Milburn

 

Void check your WG actuator and be sure it isnt hung up or seized, if the turbo seal was blown there would be oil and or coolant through the pipes and around the center section and or the compressor wheel, also check to make sure your wastegate flap didnt snap off, by taking off the O2 or jiggle the pivot once the waste gate arm is off, should hear it close like when the toilet is stuck open.

 

Thanks for all the suggestion guys. The WGA is ok, it moved freely when I tried it by hand. There was a good amount of oil pooling on the bottom of the compressor wheel when I took the intake off though. There's also lots of oil under the car - I thought that may have been because I recently took off my oil pan and maybe didn't reseal it right, but after cleaning off the mess it looks like it may have come from the turbo. Sad as it is, I think the turbo seals are blown .

 

Sorry to hear that bud. Glad you have identified your problem though. Figures, it's always the most expensive fix that solves the problems..

GL

 

yeah, no kidding . This is a Forced Performance White Rabbit 9 turbo with very little mileage on it. I'm hoping that either WORKS (who sold / installed it) or FP will help out with some sort of warranty coverage. How hard is it to rebuild a turbo with this kind of damage? Depending on how much it's going to cost me, I'm debating to upgrade to an FP Green while I'm at it, but then that's another FP turbo and I'm feeling a little burned on those in terms of reliability right now ... not sure where to go yet.

 

its not that hard to rebuild as long as the wheels havent made any contact with the housings, a rebuild kit runs around 40-80 bucks depending where you get it from, make sure you lube the rubber o rings a bit and have some c - clip pliars, the rebuild kit should come with instructions or google it and find a how-to with pics. dont forget to prime it when you throw it back together.

 

It wouldn't hurt to have it balanced agian as well. Good luck

 

Well, the mystery has been solved. After putting all the pieces of information together and doing some close up inspection of the engine/turbo, I now know what failed & why: when WORKS installed the White Rabbit 9 in sept 06, they didn't use the Evo 8 specific install kit (the WR9 has the 9 compressor housing). As a result the compressor outlet pipe has no clearance from the starter motor. Looking back, this is also why it once shorted out & destroyed my battery (thread here).

Over time, the outlet pipe knocking against the starter whenever the engine moved caused a lot of stress on the seals of the compressor housing, so that they eventually failed. The compressor pipe makes a great lever, so the force of it being knocked against the starter is amplified on the compressor housing.

The guys at WORKS are being complete ********* about this too; it took me three weeks of nagging them before I got a response from Pete, and then it was "too bad, not our problem, good luck with that". He argues that the WORKS "factory-matched warranty" applies only to parts manufactured by WORKS, not other parts sold by them (or their installation work). FP only covers their turbos for a year, and to be honest I'd feel bad making them cover for WORKS doing a fubar'ed install anyway.

For now I'll limp along until I've scraped the cash for a rebuild; I might wait until I got enough for a Green upgrade too (only difference between the WR9 and the green is the bigger turbine wheel). I will definitely not be asking WORKS to install anything on my car again though, that's for sure ...

 

update: I've posted a poll in the Evo General forum on this issue, some interesting discussion going on there:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=336649