Guest TurboSedan Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 well i just got my turbocharged Cutlass running and even though the turbo had no shaft play, it appears to be leaking oil through the exhaust. a small amount of oil is leaking from between the turbine and downpipe and it's dripping on top of the trans. some oil is also leaking down through the downpipe (i have an open downpipe at the moment). it's enough to make a spot on the ground and the car is smoking pretty good too unfortunately, one of the turbine housing-to-crossover bolt holes is stripped out, so i need to find another turbine housing before i send this one in to get rebuilt. if anyone has a good TGP turbine housing laying around that they can sell at a fair price, please PM me! i am not worried about the typical wastegate cracks but it needs to be in good shape otherwise. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperRed90TGp Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 Joshua That's a super easy fix. Drill out the threads with a 5/16 drill and tap it 3/8-16. Then drill out the crossover to 3/8 or 1/64 over. Of course you have to get a 3/8-16 grade 8 bolt. You could also put a heli-coil in it or just drill both holes out to 3/8 and put a bolt and nut on it. Depends which hole is stripped. Top I would just drill out. Bottom I would drill and tap, it's hard to get the nuts on. Forgot to mention you don't have to take the turbo apart to do this. Just tape up the turbine and crossover inlets. Like this. Only these are 7/16 bolts to match the GT turbo. And yes I have a housing cheap. about the same as the drills and tap would cost you. 25 shipped Jud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skalor Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 I would just replace the turbine seal as it a much easier/cheaper fix than you realize. I bought a new turbine seal for ~$12 with shipping and it's also a gapless seal compared to the original gapped one. All you have to do is take the turbine housing off, and then removed the nut on the compressor wheel(reverse thread). Then pull out the turbine wheel/shaft and replace the seal near the turbine wheel. I used a paint pen and marked where both wheels where oriented so that I could line is back up again. As far as the stripped threads go, I would just retap for a bigger thread. I would use a metric thread though as everything else is mostly metric on our engine so keep it the same. 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 ok this is really wierd. one of my friends came over to check out the Cutlass. so i fired it up, totally expecing it to start smoking. well it didn't smoke at all! it didn't leak any oil either! i let it run for about 10 minutes, and everything was fine. i don't know what to think now. by the way, i didn't have an air filter on it and i noticed that the compressor wheel wasn't really spinning at idle at one point. most of the time it was but at one point it was spinning really really slow.....this can't be normal can it? so i shut the car off, and checked the shaft play again....almost zero shaft play and it spins very freely. any ideas on what's going on? thanks Jud - i'll PM you tonight...i gotta head to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 well i'm trying not to get my hopes up that the turbocharger is "ok" but it sure seemed like it today it's just wierd that it smoked bad the first day i had it running but the next day it doesn't smoke at all (and i did nothing to it). could it be that the seals were just dry from sitting for so long? i had the turbo sitting unused in the garage for about a year, and i have no idea how long it just sat around before i got it. anyways, i'm going to put the air filter and intercooler pipes on tomarrow and take it for a spin. i have a straight vacuum hose going from the fitting on the compressor outlet to the wastegate can, so it should only be getting 4-5psi. hopefully it feels a little quicker than it was when it was NA....and hopefully no smoke! still don't know what to think of the turbo not spinning at idle. maybe the turbo on my GTS does that too; but since the turbo on that car is way behind the engine out of sight next to the firewall it's just not possible to look at the compressor wheel. wish i could go work on it right now but i don't think the neighbors would like the sound of a turbo 3.1 with an open downpipe at 11pm wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 just took the Cutlass for a spin....this thing MUCH faster than it was before it really picks up and goes now. i did a burnout from a stop and the whole frontend slid over to the side before the car started moving forward. and that is with only 4-5psi...or what i assume to be 4-5psi anyway. the car is not smoking anymore, right now the only problems i've noticed is that my alternator is apparantly dead, and i think the O2 sensor is dead too. we checked it with a digital voltmeter and voltage wasn't going up and down at all. it was thoroughly warmed up and should have been in closed loop mode. time to bring it to the exhaust shop and get the downpipe welded up to the rest of the exhaust system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeZ34 Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 It's addicting to drive, so don't say I didn't warn ya! 8) I took on a modified Neon R/T the other night and I was only pushing 4-5 PSI. I passed him starting at about 35 mph going up to ~80, and I had a car length on him. He tried to catch up to me on the outer bypass highway here, but the TGP held steadly away from him. I never saw his headlights getting any closer at least. So if mine can do that at 4-5 Psi, imagine that 9-12 would be like! :shock: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 yeah i wish i could just thrown my grainger valve in and adjust it up to 10psi, but i don't dare do that until i have the boost & A/F gauges installed. i can only imagine though! the car ran awesome today, besides the alternator and O2 sensor problems i really couldn't be happier! i'm still suspicious of the turbocharger though...i'll just have to see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iTurbo Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 Woohoo and I got to drive it! For minimum boost, the car really moves! Can't wait to hear what it sounds like after the exhaust is welded up. With an open downpipe, it sounds awesome and you can really hear the turbine....*zing*! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
god910 Posted July 16, 2005 Report Share Posted July 16, 2005 You could have had a small bit of blockage in the turbo itself (could even, unlikely, but possibly, been rust) and w/ the restriction the oil had to go somewhere. Now it's cleared itself and no more back up, no more leaky. Same idea as when the return line collapses. Glad it's fun to drive (again) just don't go breaking any timing belts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted July 16, 2005 Report Share Posted July 16, 2005 yeah frustrating i can't drive it yet :? i'm going to pull the alternator today and have it bench tested at NAPA. ordered another K&N RU-1770 air filter yesterday. i hope to get the exhaust welded up on Monday if i can figure out the charging problem. this car is sooooo much easier to launch and shift compared to the GTS. just getting a good launch out of the GTS requires mad skills, and half the time i miss shifts when trying too hard. i'm finally getting the new tires put on the GTS today so maybe that will help. the shifter in the Cutlass is 1,000,0000x better and launching it is cake by comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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