If you have a buddy, have him drive behind you. Turbo seals have a distinct smell and a blueish smoke.
I would recommend you stick with the hybrid turbo advertised on this site, unless you are pushing serious power with some sort of major engine modifications, stock block just can't hold boost on larger turbos, apparently it can't even hold the stock turbo at 20psi. [Razz]
RC: A blown turbo does not have a distinct smell. It smells like burning oil. It cannot be differentiated from any other burning oil.
The stock block is pretty well built. The problem is keeping fuel & timing in check. There have been a lot of people over the years that have done 300+hp on stock internals. There was an MX3 with a B6T, stock internals, with 460whp - it lasted, I believe, 3 years daily driving before it bent a rod. Its all in the tuning, most of these guys have been running full standalone ECU's.
The problem with the stock turbo & the 20psi comment - The stock turbo is just too small. At 16psi its at its max RPM range. You'll notice the boost drop to 12lbs or so near redline - the turbo can't keep up with the engine. At 20psi (you'll only be able to get it to do that at lower RPM's)its producing crazy amounts of heat. Its not the boost that kills the motor - its the heat and resulting detonation that kills it. A larger, more efficient turbo does not generate the heat the tiny turbos do.
Auzzie: Get that comp test done when you can - that will tell us a lot about the health of the engine.
You could run the T3 if you really needed to, you'd need an adapter or custom manifold, and its really not properly sized for the engine. Its many time larger than the stock turbo. I personally wouldn't recommend it. The stock turbo can be rebuilt, or you can replace the CHRA with one from a VJ11 and end up with a 14/11 hybrid.
Have you checked your turbo for shaft play yet?
[ April 08, 2011, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: CapriTypeR ]
