Jump to content
SAU Community

How to tell ceramic turbine wheels from metal....

USRB25S13

By USRB25S13,
in Engines & Forced Induction

 Share

Recommended Posts

USRB25S13 Enthusiast

USRB25S13

Posted
Posted

I am looking at the turbo's that came on my R32 RB26DETT. I want to replace them with steel turbine wheels. I was looking at them and the turbo's are in gear shape (no shaft play at all) they look really clean. I first tried a magnet to the wheels and it didn't stick. Not sure if that's a good test or not.

I then looked at an RB25 turbo I have laying in my shop and they wheel on that one looks white where as the turbine wheels on the RB26 look dark. Also on the back of the exhaust side of the head there is a stamp on the head that says N6

Also it has a nismo timing belt.

wrxhoon Grand Master

wrxhoon

Posted
Posted

You will find that a magnet will NOT stick on any of them , ceramic or the so called steel . The reason is the so called steel are a mixure of alloys that a magnet will not stick , just like stainless steel wont stick to a magnet .

GTR-Ben Proficient

GTR-Ben

Posted
Posted
You will find that a magnet will NOT stick on any of them , ceramic or the so called steel . The reason is the so called steel are a mixure of alloys that a magnet will not stick , just like stainless steel wont stick to a magnet .

Yes thats true.. but the shaft will work with the magnet with a steel turbo.

On a ceramic turbo the shaft is also ceramic so will not stick to the magnet. As you will see when a Ceramic turbo blows up.. it breaks at the shaft.

I was doing this just the other night to find a turbo that had been changed to steel in a pile of turbos at home :thumbsup:

USRB25S13 Enthusiast

USRB25S13

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Flick them with your finger.

The Ceramic ones dont ring at all when you flick them.

Thats what I was thinking. If I tap on the RB26 turbos they make a slight tinging sound and the rb25 turbo doesn't make any kinda sound other then the tap from me hitting it. I also tried an Ohm meter thinking I would see some kinda reading on the one turbine and not the other but they booth seem to be the same.

Also were can I find a pic of a oil drive that is too short compaird to a proper one? I need to check that out before I decied if I want to swap the RB25 with the RB26.

wrxhoon Grand Master

wrxhoon

Posted
Posted
Yes thats true.. but the shaft will work with the magnet with a steel turbo.

On a ceramic turbo the shaft is also ceramic so will not stick to the magnet. As you will see when a Ceramic turbo blows up.. it breaks at the shaft.

I was doing this just the other night to find a turbo that had been changed to steel in a pile of turbos at home :P

The shaft is steel and a magnet will stick to it , on the exhaust side however it won't stick on either the N1 so called steel whell turbos or on the stock ceramic turbos . I have both of them in my garage both of a 33 gtr .

GTR-Ben Proficient

GTR-Ben

Posted
Posted
The shaft is steel and a magnet will stick to it , on the exhaust side however it won't stick on either the N1 so called steel whell turbos or on the stock ceramic turbos . I have both of them in my garage both of a 33 gtr .

Yeah your right just tried it on some aftermarket GTR turbos that are steel.. magnet does not stick.. must have a lead mix or something..

I did notice though.. with a steel wheel they side cut the nut.. with a ceramic turbo they don't :P

GTR R32 Collaborator

GTR R32

Posted
Posted

It does look like you have steel wheels judging by the nut. However, you still have the 0.48 A/R exhaust housings so they aren't N1's.

The "steel wheel" material is "Inconel" which is a nickel alloy and is non magnetic.

GTR R32 Collaborator

GTR R32

Posted
Posted

Here is a pic comparing the ceramic wheel to the N1 steel wheel. The ceramic is on the left. You can see the difference in the connection to the shaft.

Note that they are from R34 turbos so have only 9 blades intstead of 11.

Gary

GTR-Ben Proficient

GTR-Ben

Posted
Posted
It does look like you have steel wheels judging by the nut.  However, you still have the 0.48 A/R exhaust housings so they aren't N1's.

The "steel wheel" material is "Inconel" which is a nickel alloy and is non magnetic.

I think only the later model turbo's (S15 T28) use Inconel?

The earlier steel type just have another non-ferrous mix or similar?

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • GTSBoy
      $5 Clock upgrade for R32 GTR

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      The attached document is fine. I just downloaded & opened it.
    • ToothDR32
      $5 Clock upgrade for R32 GTR

      By ToothDR32 · Posted

      Hello, sorry for being late to join the discussion, but my clock just died on me.   Ive tried to look at Michaels digital clock repair.docx and it doesnt work maybe the file has expired.   Please let me know if you can re upload it or take some youtube videos to show us how to get the clock installed? thanks
    • MissMintyR33
      R33 persistent issues. P/steering and lag/misfire

      By MissMintyR33 · Posted

      I thought that might be the case, thats what I'll start saving for. Thanks for the info 
    • jtha7
      Strange issue RB25DET wont start

      By jtha7 · Posted

      Ps i found the below forum and it seems to be the same scenario Im dealing with. Going to check my ECU coolant temp wire tomorrow    From NICOclub forum: s1 RB25det flooding at start up Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:23 am I am completely lost on this. Car ran perfectly fine when I parked it at the end of the year. I took the engine out and painted the engine bay, and put a fuel cell with an inline walbro 255 instead of the in tank unit I had last year. After reinstalling everything, the engine floods when the fuel pump primes. if i pull the fuel pump fuse it'll start, and as soon as I put the fuse back in it starts running ridiculously rich. I checked the tps voltage, and its fine. Cleaned the maf as it had some dust from sitting on a shelf all winter, fuel pressure is correct while running, but wont fire until there is less than 5psi in the lines. The fuel lines are run correctly. I have found a few threads with the same problem but no actual explanation of what fixed it, the threads just ended. Any help would be appreciated. Rb25det s1 walbro255 fuel pump nismo fpr holset hx35 turbo fmic 3" exhaust freddy intake manifold q45tb q45 maf   Re: s1 RB25det flooding at start up Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:07 am No, I didn't. I found the problem though. There was a break in one of the ecu coolant temp sensor wires. Once it was repaired it fired right up with no problems. I would have never thought a non working coolant temp sensor would have caused such an issue.
    • jtha7
      Strange issue RB25DET wont start

      By jtha7 · Posted

      Hi sorry late reply I didnt get a chance to take any pics (my mechanics on the other side of the city) but the plugs were fouled from being too rich. I noticed the MAF wasn't genuine, so I replaced it with a genuine green label unit. I also swapped in a different ignitor, but the issue remains. I've narrowed it down a bit now: - If I unplug and reconnect the fuel lines and install fresh spark plugs, the car starts right up and runs perfectly. Took it around the block with no issues - As soon as I shut it off and try to restart, it won't start again - Fuel pressure while cranking is steady around 40 psi, injectors have good spray, return line is clear, and the FPR vacuum is working. It just seems like it's getting flooded after the first start I unplugged coolant sensors to see if its related to ECU flooding but that didnt make a difference. Im thinking its related to this because this issue only started happening after fixing coolant leaks and replacing the bottom part of the stock manifolds coolant pipe. My mechanic took off the inlet to get to get to do these repairs. My mechanics actually just an old mate who's retired now so ill be taking it to a different mechanic who i know has exp with RBs to see if they find anything. If you have any ideas please send em lll give it a try. Ive tried other things like swapping the injectors, fuel rail, different fuel pressure regs, different ignitor, spark plugs, comp test and MAF but the same issue persists.
×
×
  • Create New...