CT12A turbo reconditioning jzz30 soarer

[barned01]

Hi guys,
after getting the howling banshee sound and checking all pipes were secured, I ended up removing the turbos.
Now that i have them sitting next to me, i can't determine what i am looking for what is wrong with them.
I can spin the shaft on both sides of the turbo freely, there is a bit of lateral movement on both, roughly the same there is no front to back movement on either, and i can't see any signs of the turbines hitting the casings either. but that's about as far as my knowledge extends.
I had purchased a second hand replacement set some time ago, and honestly, now that i have pulled off the current ones, the second hand ones seem to be roughly the same condition in terms of shaft play. As such i am a bit reluctant to use the second hand set to replace with if they are in a similar condition.
Is there anything else i can do to verify the condition of these turbos or is it off to a professional time?
If it is professional time, is there a reputable person in Adelaide that might be able to have a look at these to see how bad they really are or aren't before I put them back on the car?
cheers
Barnsey

[pandaah]

are you possitive the noise was coming from the turbos?..

[barned01]

not 100% but things started to scream at around 2000RPM or as soon as I accelerated. ie. going up a hill, taking off from lights etc.
it wouldn't do it free revving.

[pandaah]

describe scream.... motors dont scream lol

[Z2TT]

turbo starved of oil?

[JZA70R_92]

you sure its not the turbos spooling up that you can hear? mine does that noise but ive got a rear turbo exhaust oil seal is screwed!

[seamonsta]

Check the condition of your serpentine belt, if it is warn it will scream "replace me master".

[barned01]

the scream could be described as a child that had been smoking since birth and has emphysema doing one of those annoying high pitch squeals that they do when they want attention....just as i go to accelerate.

serpentine belt was replaced 40K ago and still appears to look fine.

there looked to be a good amount of oil in the turbos and the pipes all looked to be clear, they are still attached to the block so i will take them off and blow through them to see if there is a blockage where I can't see.

the sound sounds like it should be the turbos spooling up but instead of sounding like it is spooling, it sounds like it is approaching critical mass ready to explode (i didn't check this by the way as I tried to keep the revs down until I was able to pull them apart and have a look knowing i had a spare second set...which turn out to look to be in the same condition as the ons I pulled off)

[rshuwy]

you really cannot tell the condition of them until you take them apart and look at the bearings and seals, and the wear on the shaft.

i just had a set i have rebuilt, as the current ones on my car blowing alot of smoke and screaming, (pretty much the same noise as yours). it costs abit, i got them new shafts with steel wheels, and full rebuild and balanced, but they are now on warranty and will be good for 19 pound and 250 odd kws all day long.

if your in south australia, take them to bill at adelaide turbo services on marion rd, he will have a look at them for you.

also as far as oil goes each turbo should flow over 2ltr of oil on idle per minute, you can test this just buy jimming up a rig and having the oil fed into two bottles.

[mutnose]

you really cannot tell the condition of them until you take them apart and look at the bearings and seals, and the wear on the shaft.

i just had a set i have rebuilt, as the current ones on my car blowing alot of smoke and screaming, (pretty much the same noise as yours). it costs abit, i got them new shafts with steel wheels, and full rebuild and balanced, but they are now on warranty and will be good for 19 pound and 250 odd kws all day long.

if your in south australia, take them to bill at adelaide turbo services on marion rd, he will have a look at them for you.

also as far as oil goes each turbo should flow over 2ltr of oil on idle per minute, you can test this just buy jimming up a rig and having the oil fed into two bottles.

How much did the rebuild set you back,mate? Mine have just started smoking and I'm tossing up whether to go single or rebuild the suckers.

[rshuwy]

i think the price is 700 per turbo, im not sure if that included new shafts or not.

it is fairly expensive, and it isnt worth putting them back on without twin dumps, but with twin dumps, it will really fly, with minimal lag, bill actually thinks well of these turbos once you free up the exhuast y piece with twin dumps to get rid of the heat and restriction.

if that isnt enough power for you, you can always sell the rebuilt turbos and dumps down the track as there bolt on and everybody wants them. thats what i plan to do anyway.

[barned01]

i will speak to bill tomorrow to see what he says about the turbos to see if they are my problem.
Curiously, where did you get your dump pipes from? I have until Saturday to get this all back together again so if i can find something in that time i might as well do that as well, otherwise back to standard again (I'm not chasing horsepower, but by the same token don't want to pull any of this apart again.)

[rshuwy]

i haven't actually put it all on, and hence i haven't had the dumps made, but i got a price from exhuast technology which was 680 drive in drive away, and that was for twin dumps from the turbos to past the firewall. and thats for a cressida.

i have seen dumps for soarers on ebay, maybe try the soarer forums, as id say they would be abit easyer to get than ones to suit cressidas.

[pandaah]

theres a few sets going on ebay atm mate... just search 1jz dump pipe

[Z2TT]

+1 for ebay dumps. Just bought some $280 Delivered.

As for quality, will see when they arrive.

[Supra_TT]

um im having simlar problem, but my is making ticking noise, around 3-4rpm then stops

[rshuwy]

+1 for ebay dumps. Just bought some $280 Delivered.

As for quality, will see when they arrive.

lol just had a look then, its 325 USD... pretty much 400 AUD!

[HAVABEER]

what is the noise it makes?

my soarer sounds like its venting straight to the atmosphere or like i have an air compressor under the engine bay. but i'm still getting a nice 10psi into the manifold according to my boost gauge

but it started when i got my cannon mufflers on the back a year or so ago and been running fine

[barned01]

spoke to bill at adelaide turbo services today, he had a visual look at them (both the set I took off the car as well as my second hand set I had intended to replace them with) and he suggested they are all still in good condition and i should look at other obvious things before going down the turbo reconditioning route.
At this point i will say he appears to be a genuine bloke. He wasn't willing to take them off me and recondition them for the sake of it without me being absolutely sure i wanted it as he couldn't say with confidence there was anything actually wrong with the turbos.
So now i am at a loss as to why the car sounded like it was screaming towards the gates of hell.
For those that had an exhaust leak at the manifold (studs breaking?) what sort of sound did that generate? If i replace them all with bolts, what size should I be putting in there instead, the studs themselves don't seem to go a great way into the block?
I will attack the intercooler area next and see if i can pressurise the air system somehow over the next day or so to see if there is an air leak that I overlooked the first time and see where i get with that.

[pandaah]

i dont wanna ask a stupid question but have you tried removing your serpentine belt and started and driven the car to see if the noise goes away?