Turbo Replacement/upgrade - Your Thoughts?

[pixel8r]

Yeah that's not right, I would expect 100K - 150K minimum out of the stock turbo (really guessing here) if it has not been "boosted" had crappy, old, burnt oil run through it for a year or 2 without a change... I guess that is the real challenge, the real history of use and abuse is just a guess. Is the turbo actually doing anything wrong other than having the shaft play? I know you mentioned the noise but have you ruled out any exhaust leaks???

Luke

I've looked for exhaust leaks and found nothing wrong. It actually all looks very tidy in that department.

Bill from ATS had a look at it with the car running and confirmed that the turbo is the problem.

From what he said, leaving it much longer is not a good idea. Apparently the ceramic turbine is attached to the shaft with glue and that is what is wearing, causing the turbine to "wobble" instead of spinning cleanly.

At the moment its boosting ok, but I dont know enough about turbos to disagree with a turbo specialist.

IF the car has done such low kms, then being a 1999 model it has done a LOT of sitting around, which could explain the suspension issues and possibly the turbo as well? There are a few scratches on the body but hardly noticeable and the interior is literally spotless. Sitting inside it you'd think it was brand new.

[pixel8r]

I have a Garrett GT30 turbo on my rb25 which has a gt30 comp housing, GT30 cartridge and a VG30 zaust housing. Mine is the 6 blade version and pulls very hard with good mid range, top end and minimal lag (comes on hard at around 3500rpm).

I beleive that the 7 blade versions of the GT30 had problems with lag and surging with the VG30 zaust housings.

Got the turbo from HPInABox for about $2000.

The stock turbo starts spooling around 2000-2500rpm so 3500rpm seems a bit laggy to me.

I'm after something that gives a good response and good midrange. Top end is less important to me.

It seems the GCG hiflow option would be better to achieve this. Am I on the right track here?

[pixel8r]

Just a quick update.

Have booked the car in for the GT30 turbo option with ATS.

Apparently the GT30 should be more responsive than the GCG because of the way the compressor wheel is housed tighter.

It also will mean the car is only off the road for a maximum of 2 days, rather than possibly 5 days with the GCG option.

Sounds good. Its a lot of money but hopefully it will be worth every cent.

Wont be in for a week and a half yet but will let everyone know how it goes.

[AlexCim]

I am selling that 2nd hand GCG for pretty cheap IMO.

If you buy that turbo its uhh, 4 hours off the road time, not even 2 days mate, do it at home in a night.

I know you might be weary of buying 2nd hand goods, specially turbos, but ask people like beastian, AMS, humble, FUZZY and Tangles and they will all tell you I am a genuine guy and wouldnt lie about anything if there was something wrong.

Regarding response, honestly, if an RB25 isnt one of the most responsive turbo engines youve driven id love to hear what else is. The GCG is about 500rpm laggier than stock, i didnt even notice any more lag that stock.....just HEAPS more power

I hit full boost around 2750rpm, with a tune that should be around 2500rpm...

Your choice

[pixel8r]

Apologies Alex, I had completely forgotten about your offer and have already committed to getting the GT30 through ATS.

I'm not a mechanic and a turbo install would be a big thing for me. If I go with ATS I get 12 month warranty on the turbo and 6 months on the install. For a newb like me thats worth paying for IMO.

I have read many of your comments on this forum and I never doubted that you are a genuine guy. I trust your advice. I wouldn't even consider your turbo to be "second hand" as it has only done ~7500 kms.

Hopefully you do sell your turbo soon and I hope you are not too disappointed with my choice to upgrade my turbo through a local company.

My reasons are mainly so that I can keep my R34 turbo housing and guarantee that everything will bolt on as before (I understand the R33 one will not fit an R34 engine/exhaust without extra bits??).

Either way its just a matter of keeping the process as simple as possible and whilst it costs a lot more to pay someone to fit it, the turbo is a major part of the car and it guarantees that it is done right and I also get warranty.

[AMS]

I am selling that 2nd hand GCG for pretty cheap IMO.

If you buy that turbo its uhh, 4 hours off the road time, not even 2 days mate, do it at home in a night.

I know you might be weary of buying 2nd hand goods, specially turbos, but ask people like beastian, AMS, humble, FUZZY and Tangles and they will all tell you I am a genuine guy and wouldnt lie about anything if there was something wrong.

Regarding response, honestly, if an RB25 isnt one of the most responsive turbo engines youve driven id love to hear what else is. The GCG is about 500rpm laggier than stock, i didnt even notice any more lag that stock.....just HEAPS more power

I hit full boost around 2750rpm, with a tune that should be around 2500rpm...

Your choice

He is deadset right there One of the most/if not the most trustworthy people you will find on a forum... I wouldnt have any doubts at all buying anything off him - although pixel8r, you have already booked your in to get another turbo. I still thought I should share my opinion of Alex... Just incase you change your mind

Yeah and no worries about response - I had a GCG on my Stag, responsive as standard nearly

[AlexCim]

Yeh thats fine mate, I am sure you are going to be happy either way.

Just like i told beastian when he first put his GCG on, the first thing you will think is going to be "wow, this turbo makes this car the way it should have been from the factory"

It really transforms the car mate, its really a "must" upgrade for a stagea in my opinion.

Let us all know how it goes though. Mention this specifically to anyone highflowing a turbo

"make sure you put the wastegate arm back on at the correct angle for the stock actuator, i dont want it stuck open on idle therefore making this turbo a lag monster"..... or there abouts

[STAGE-A]

not sure if this is much help to u mate as im in WA but ive just recently bought a hi flo turbo, when i called up about it i told the guy that i cant afford to be without the car.

So he hi-flowed one he had in the shop and when i replace it i'll take him mine in ....job done !cost me $1300 with no hassles, and built by probably the most highly regarded turbo builder in WA .Also took less than a week from the call to having it my hands. Wont go into details here but would definatley give the GCG a run for its money ..(no disrespect to ACs sale)

Point im making is just tell em you need them to hi flo one of there turbos and you will give em yours soon as its fitted on ya car, I think there aware people need there cars on the road and can accomidate.

Good luck anyway mate and keep us posted

Lee

Edited July 26, 2006 by STAGE-A

[AlexCim]

just for my information, ball bearing or bush bearing core? GCG does a bush bearing core for 1350 and a ball bearing core for 1950, although i think they stopped making the bush bearing due to oil starvation issues/debatable user friendliness)

Search in the forced induction section for "slides turbo" and you will see the whole bush vs bearing discussion

The only other place that I got a qoute for a turbo from was "Eastern Turbochargers" here in Melbourne in Bayswater. He qouted the same price as GCG and when he asked if i got my turbo from GCG and I asked how he knew, he said that GCG and ETC are the only two turbo shops that have the tools to properly highflow a turbo using garret internal (Like, a special balancing tool or proceedure).

Also, is that turbo from WA using genuine Garret internals?

(I am really not dissing anything here, I am just wanting to learn more about the aftermarket turbocharger/high flow market)

[wolverine]

GCG do not recommend using an R33 based hi-flow on neo engines.

[pixel8r]

yeah thanks for the info - using R33 turbo on R34 was something i was a little concerned about.

But I will be using my stock turbo for the hiflow so its R34 all the way - makes me feel more comfortable.

The internals will be replaced with a Garrett GT30 ball bearing turbine, compressor wheel etc. etc.

Didn't want to mess with anything that wasn't ball bearing. I'm coming from a turbo with problems so my first and foremost priority is reliability.

ATS recommended this option above the GCG option (they are both great turbos) as it is a slightly better turbo and apparently should give slightly better response due to the compressor wheel setup. Either way I basically went this option because it was way more convenient and doesn't need my turbo to be sent interstate.

So yeah thanks for everyone's help and I'll definitely post my results once it gets done on Monday 7. May not get the car back until Tuesday 8th August but will post as soon as its done.

[pixel8r]

not sure if this is much help to u mate as im in WA but ive just recently bought a hi flo turbo, when i called up about it i told the guy that i cant afford to be without the car.

So he hi-flowed one he had in the shop and when i replace it i'll take him mine in ....job done !cost me $1300 with no hassles, and built by probably the most highly regarded turbo builder in WA .Also took less than a week from the call to having it my hands. Wont go into details here but would definatley give the GCG a run for its money ..(no disrespect to ACs sale)

Point im making is just tell em you need them to hi flo one of there turbos and you will give em yours soon as its fitted on ya car, I think there aware people need there cars on the road and can accomidate.

Good luck anyway mate and keep us posted

Lee

That would've been a great option but GCG didn't have any R34 turbo's in stock and neither did ATS and we couldn't find any second hand ones anywhere in Adelaide so that option was kind of ruled out. Those R34 turbos are very hard to find here so I decided we're best to use our own. At least we know it fits.

Will be ok though - we have some very generous friends who have agreed to let us borrow their car for the days when ours is getting worked on so thats saved us heaps of trouble.

[pixel8r]

just for my information, ball bearing or bush bearing core? GCG does a bush bearing core for 1350 and a ball bearing core for 1950, although i think they stopped making the bush bearing due to oil starvation issues/debatable user friendliness)

Search in the forced induction section for "slides turbo" and you will see the whole bush vs bearing discussion

The only other place that I got a qoute for a turbo from was "Eastern Turbochargers" here in Melbourne in Bayswater. He qouted the same price as GCG and when he asked if i got my turbo from GCG and I asked how he knew, he said that GCG and ETC are the only two turbo shops that have the tools to properly highflow a turbo using garret internal (Like, a special balancing tool or proceedure).

Also, is that turbo from WA using genuine Garret internals?

(I am really not dissing anything here, I am just wanting to learn more about the aftermarket turbocharger/high flow market)

ATS do all the work themselves - not sure where the actual Garrett GT30 Turbo comes from but it is genuine Garrett and it is brand new with Garrett 12 month warranty.

Bill from ATS is very honest, great to deal with, and has a very good reputation for his work on turbos. Even without him having done the hi-flow on my turbo I'd recommend to anyone in Adelaide looking at a turbo upgrade to at least go and chat to him first.

[skidkid]

Wolverine, Why not as per post #30?

[wolverine]

brett@GCG says the smaller turbine housing creates issues on neo. (please don't ask me what issues as the ones given by brett went thru to the keeper...either i didn't understand or they didn't make sense to me).

i find it hard to believe the different housing really is an issue but this is what they do all day, all i do is pay the costs if i make a mistake with buying the wrong parts, so i took his advice.

[AlexCim]

curious, someone must find out exactly why

I also didnt notice you had a neo in the first place.

[beastien]

Alex was exactly right when he told me they should have come factory with the bigger turbo, it's definately a worthy upgrade.

And yes, you are a friendly and trustworthy guy Alex

[STAGE-A]

just for my information, ball bearing or bush bearing core? GCG does a bush bearing core for 1350 and a ball bearing core for 1950, although i think they stopped making the bush bearing due to oil starvation issues/debatable user friendliness)

Search in the forced induction section for "slides turbo" and you will see the whole bush vs bearing discussion

The only other place that I got a qoute for a turbo from was "Eastern Turbochargers" here in Melbourne in Bayswater. He qouted the same price as GCG and when he asked if i got my turbo from GCG and I asked how he knew, he said that GCG and ETC are the only two turbo shops that have the tools to properly highflow a turbo using garret internal (Like, a special balancing tool or proceedure).

Also, is that turbo from WA using genuine Garret internals?

(I am really not dissing anything here, I am just wanting to learn more about the aftermarket turbocharger/high flow market)

Ball bearing and yes its made here in WA using genuine Garret internals ...ha sbeen compared to the GCG in testing and produced higher figures (apperantly, i havnt seen the results to be fair)

hold the thoughts on the ball bearing ... was sure thats what he said but uve got me thinking now, ill call up tomorrow an post back

Edited July 26, 2006 by STAGE-A

[-FUZZY-]

I know you might be weary of buying 2nd hand goods, specially turbos, but ask people like beastian, AMS, humble, FUZZY and Tangles and they will all tell you I am a genuine guy and wouldnt lie about anything if there was something wrong.

Can't highly recommend alex enough, great bloke & extremely honest.

Hell if l had a spare $1500 burning a hole in my pocket, that turbo of his would be under the hood of my car by now, esp after having been in his car and seeing how strong boost comes on.

Edited July 27, 2006 by -FUZZY-

[AlexCim]

guys, stop with the freaking appreciation!

let us know with Bills ATS turbo. Always wanting to learn more!