Turbo is out of the truck for a new compressor wheel. I thought the bearings were tight, but no.

I have some radial (side-to-side) wiggle in the shaft. Just enough to feel, see, and hear. It takes a bit of force to make the shaft move, maybe a couple of pounds, firm push with two fingers and thumb. It's not free slop, but I didn't think I should feel any movement. I cannot detect any end-shake... in/out movement along the axis of the shaft; just radial / side-to-side.

The compressor wheel replacement is due to ingestion damage. Something got into the intake and bent some of the fin tips back. There is absolutely no sign of the compressor wheel rubbing on the intake housing.

So... question 1... do I need to rebuild?

Now for question 2... any ideas for getting the turbine housing off the cartridge? Bolts are out, but it's stuck. I tapped some with a hammer, tried prying to spin it, tried mild heat. I hit it with some penetrating oil and am letting it soak.

RiffRaff's rebuild instructions require removing the turbine housing. I prefer to get the housing off anyway. What's on now is a Banks housing, which I think is a 0.85 area ratio. I want to put back on the stock housing, which I think is 1.00 area ratio. Going back to stock, I'll probably give up some throttle response, but I'm thinking I should reduce EGTs some, especially torquing up hills at low RPMs.

While the turbo is out, I'm going to delete the exhaust backpressure valve. Remove piston from the pedestal and plug the hole, and remove the butterfly plate from the valve housing. I may leave the shaft in the housing; it's little restriction and I don't have to worry about plugging holes in the housing.

I also have a water-methanol kit to install.

Hmmm... so if my turbo bearings are still OK, maybe I can get lower EGTs with the water-methanol kit and removing the EBPV, and don't have to wory about getting the turbine housing off?

If I can get the turbine housing off without a major struggle, I think I prefer that route even if I don't rebuild the turbo.

Thoughts & ideas?

 

Flip the turbo up side down and fill it with oil and check shaft play again.

Without any oil in the turbo it will have lots of shaft play

 

A little Up and down ( radial) play is normal ...in and out or axial play indicates rebuild / replace time......As far as the housing goes just pry it off or tap it with a rubber / plastci mallet..Originally it has an o-ring to seal it but I have used the oil resistant RTV to seal it when I replaced the wheel....so it could be that holding it on ...

 

Turbo sounds ok to me too. As long as it doesn't move enough to contact the housing. Getting rid of the ebpv is a good idea, although it won't lower egt's enough to ever notice. Water meth will for sure.

Stock housing is 1.15. If you have a .85 now, maybe try a 1.0 first. How heavy do you tow? Do you fight egt's pretty bad with that small housing? What rpm's do you notice it start spooling? Stock housing doesn't really spool much till after 2000. Do you have 4.10 gears?

 

Got a trusted off-board opinion, too. Consensus is the bearing play "sounds about right". But I will re-check with oil in the bearings.

As for the turbine housing (exhaust side)... recommendation was patience and a fair amount of propane. Frankly, I'm hesitant to try any significant heat. Hmmm... maybe that Banks unit will stay stuck in place. Chase threads with a tap and paint... after getting the EBPV piston out of the pedestal and plugging the hole.

As for EGTs and towing... I'm not concerned too much with that. I don't tow much, and when I do, EGTs are only a problem on long grades. But under those circumstances, I'm pulling good boost, and the water/meth kit should be injecting and cooling things down. And I can always back off the power.

Where I have an issue that I wanted to try the larger area ratio housing is running light on twisty grades. I have enough torque to get up hills where curves limit me to 45 to 50 mph, 1400 to 1600 rpms, and mild throttle. But I'm not building any boost, so won't have any water/methanol injection. I figured that losing the butterfly plate in the EBPV should help. And even with the more restrictive turbine housing, I can always come out of overdrive, build some boost, and get some water injection to help cool things down. And maybe I'm just over-thinking this.

For some background, I've got a CC longbed, auto, and 3.55 gears. Running light, the hills that give me EGT issues have curves that limit speeds to 50 mph or less, grades over 5%, and are a couple of miles long. West Virginia 2-lane, mostly around Davis, Parsons, Elkins region.