Is My Turbo Stock?

[Jay-C]

Hi all,

I've had my car for a few months now and there are some things which i can easily see were modified. However, I'm still not sure whether my turbo is stock or not.

It already had a manual boost controller installed and it was turned up to max boost, which boosts beyond the reaches of the stock boost gauge. I'm worried that if it's a stock turbo, the turbo can't handle the boost and will blow soon. I don't want to turn down the boost (for obvious power reasons). Are there any tell-tale signs of a stock turbo? I can't see any signs or writing on the turbo without taking it out. It seems to be a bit rusted compared to the rest of the components next to it so I'm wondering if that's normal, or some second hand or aftermarket turbo in there.

I'll put some pics up when i get a chance.

Thanks guys,

Jay-C

[Moodles2]

Telltale of a highflowed stock turbo is the compressor intake, the wall will be super thin.

[Bsa]

Post a pic and you will soon find out

[GTScotT]

Put it on a dyno and find out just how much power its making and how much boost its running.

Dyno opperator will be able to tell you if its safe or not.

If its got well over 200kw and tuner says its safe you can assume that its tuned and has an upgraded turbo, if its making around the 200 mark or less then its a stock turbo and you should turn the boost back to 12 at most.

This is if you fail at identifying what it is for yourself. You really should have asked about the cars full history when you handed over your hard earned coin....

[34GeeTeeTee]

Not sure if this helps you at all, but these are pics from the original owner of my car when the old turbo was done -

BEFORE -

AFTER -

Errrr it would appear the first AFTER image is EPIC FAIL..... Sorry

[Sarumatix]

Just going on the pictures, you can quite clearly see that the turbine side (exhaust wheel) is much larger and looks to be steel in the after shot. Very confident that if those pictures are of the same turbo and it is on your car, you have high flow job.

[34GeeTeeTee]

Just going on the pictures, you can quite clearly see that the turbine side (exhaust wheel) is much larger and looks to be steel in the after shot. Very confident that if those pictures are of the same turbo and it is on your car, you have high flow job.

Dude, i only posted them for an example for the guy that started the topic That turbo was off my R34......... Was trying to help!

[Jay-C]

Thanks for the responses. Yes, 34GTT i realise that post was for me to get a better idea of what it could look like. I'm not going to be taking the turbo out though so i'm hoping that i can tell just from the housing.

i guess if it says "nissan" on it, it's stock.

[gotRICE?]

Thanks for the responses. Yes, 34GTT i realise that post was for me to get a better idea of what it could look like. I'm not going to be taking the turbo out though so i'm hoping that i can tell just from the housing.

i guess if it says "nissan" on it, it's stock.

No, that isnt totally correct.

You can have the stock turbo high flowed to make more power. So your turbo may LOOK stock, but the internals are far from it.

AS mentioned the easiest way is to see if the compressor inlet has been bored out.

Edited January 16, 2012 by gotRICE?

[Harey]

Exactly so just pull the airbox and intake pipe off and have a look at the inside of the front of the turbo. Take a photo and post it up here.

[AngryRB]

my old hiflow had a garrett badge on the housing, is there no badge with a code?

[kitto]

Another way to tell is by the cartridge. Often hi flow jobs consist of putting a different cartridge such as a 2860 or 2871. The casting of the cartridge looks different to that of stock, If its a relatively new hi flow, the cartridge will look newer and with less rust.

[cherring]

I sent a stock RB20 turbo off to hypergear to get high flowed, and when I got it back the centre housing of the turbo looked quite different to before, obviously very clean, but also different, so posting a pic of that as well might help?

[Missileman]

I sent a stock RB20 turbo off to hypergear to get high flowed, and when I got it back the centre housing of the turbo looked quite different to before, obviously very clean, but also different, so posting a pic of that as well might help?

What sort of power did the RB20 make after you got it back from Hypergear? and was there much difference in the low to mid range response? am considering doing the same.

Mike.

[paulr33]

ask yourself this

if you are selling a car and it has a non-std turbo

why would you not put this in the "sale info" to increase the price

why would someone sell a car and not mention that?

[GTScotT]

coz he originally bought it already moded and has NFI?

a couple of the cars i sold were sold on rep, the new owners have NFI whats in them and if they arent in contact with me when they sell then they never will

equally so many people get their cars done at shops and dont ask questions

[cherring]

What sort of power did the RB20 make after you got it back from Hypergear? and was there much difference in the low to mid range response? am considering doing the same.

Mike.

Am getting it tuned very shortly, hopefully next week, but on whatever tune is running it spools up well, no power after 5000 rpm, but it's got some weird chip in the ECU that will be gone for a Nistune and should make some good power, looking like it will be great value for money, watch the RB20 upgrade thread, will be posting there after the tune, but for the money, so far recommended.

Didn't mean to hijack, carry on.