i thought i'd share this with you guys, just for laughs and also a quick lesson. i got an IHI VF34 from josh, aka AngySubyWagon after helping him swap his FPGreen, injectors and [clutch <- nightmare]. the turbo was and still is in pristine, working condition. so i started the car on monday, after doing the turbo swap on super bowl sunday. i was terrified of what i heard the first time i fired it up!! listen to this:



-there was no shaftplay, it spun freely, it was only pushed to 18psi max, nothing was wrong with it before putting it on.

-i first tried revving it, by thinking maybe there was something in the piping and it can be blown off. then i started getting scared.

-so i took off the exhaust to see if anything was there at all, nothing. spun the turbine wheel, no noise or binding. spun like a champ. put the exhaust back on, the noise was still there.

-i started tapping on the turbine housing, i heard rattling. i thought "awww fu*k the inducer blades are gone!!".

-took off the turbo, shook it up, i heard noise but nothing came out. fished it out with a magnet and this is what if found:

a fu*king coolant spring clamp, which was once silver/gray. my son stuffed it in there while i was getting the VF39 out. little devil!!!



luckily it didn't look eaten up by the turbine wheel, thank god. it was positioned in the turbine housing, to the point where it could not fit to get to the blades, so it just sat there and rattled. i took the car for a drive afterwards and it felt fine. "fine" is an understatement, it was badass. spooling is very audible, comes on sooner than the VF39, and when the powerband comes.........i.......jizzed in my pants!! thank you josh.

laugh all you want, its healthy. but don't leave your turbo exposed to wandering kids, or else you might turn them into a football and actually score a goal.

joe

 

damn that sucks.... its pretty common tho, i know this child named Jay (islandboy78) that also broke his turbo hahahahahahaha

 

whoa! glad everything is ok

 

I laughed so hard when you told me that. Yes you are right vf34>vf39.

That sound would have made my stomach drop. Looks like Dominic wants to work on cars...

 

Thank god you found out what the Problem was because that Noise didn't sound Good at all!!!

 

haha that didnt sound so good.. chee hee gotta love the kids.

 

yeah, I had the entire turboback off and on like 3 times trying to find the noise. feels just like work on jet engines. except things are more likely to break, cause you don't hear it until it happens.

he'll explain himself when he gets older. i'll never forget this. haha

 

cmon joe, shoulda checked I's and E's first... what would steve salido say?

 

I did check I's and E's, but that thing was waaaaay inside. I have to have my 2 yr old boy fill a FOD report. lol

steve would do his signature shoulder shrugs.

 

Sorry son, No allowance for you this week

 

hahaha word up, as long as you dont have to make him fill out a broken tool report tho eh? <-- steve

 

*bumping for an update.*

for the past week after i found the clamp in my turbo, the car was getting slower and eventually, i lost ALL boost. gauge would read "0" and won't go past 4500 rpm. the car felt like an NA car.

so guess what?? its still the kid's fault again. i pulled the turbo out once more this evening, and found both compressor and turbine wheels jammed. so i opened both sides up. i found nothing on the compressor side but the turbine section was jammed by another piece - a rolled up aluminum strip, which a magnet can't pull. its about .010" thick and about 2" long. the turbine inducer and exducer is fine and it now spins freely. i just i need to fix the exhaust leaks. kid's gonna be grounded forever until he goes to college. my license plate must be giving me mad bad luck - AAAAWWWWWSIIIIIEEEEEETTT!!

...case closed

 

guess I spoke too soon. Have him fill out that broken tool report. And what was that you were rollin in the other day, an 08 impreza? Nice.

 

he's gonna be filling them out like writing lines on the chalkboard. and yeah, the 08 impreza hatch is my wife's car. i knew it was you in the evo X.

 

This will be the story your son will remember a lifetime

he'll either be rollin, or he'd be owing you a lifetime on this one

good to see the boost back in the beast........AAAWWWWWWWSSSSIIIIIIEEEETTTTT