TrackDays247.com

Super low mileage K27 HFS UMW turbo, just apparenlty blew it's seals, HUGE smoke, 100% certain it is indeed the seals.

1/2 track day and driven gently with plenty of warmup and not a heck of a lot of sustained boost at all.

What the heck causes this? Isn't the first time....

Kevin

Craig, I sent you a email on Dec 12th..

To refresh your memory this is what I wrote you.. Have you done anything to check this..

It might NOT be the turbocharger. Not starting is a fuel CIS or electrical
issue.

If it puked "OIL" on start-up you could have alot of oil int the turbo sump.
The engine needs RPM to clear the oil.

That doesn't address the oil that is now either in the inlet or exhaust.

The first thing that I would do is pull the inlet pipe to the turbocharger
and check to see if you have any oil in the piping. That's a good sign...

For my track hounds I ask them to return the turbocharger for the REFRESH
every other offseason.

If you do NOT find any oil in the intake tract then you have a scavenge
issue.

TrackDays247.com

Yes you did.

Again, 1/2 of 1 track day and minimal miles. This turbo essentially saw little of what I'd even call medium/hard use.
As I mentioned, it occurred at the end of a drive, at idle.

Oil is in the piping -- engine sucks oil right past the seals which gave up the ghost.

Kevin

Craig, without seeing the turbocharger it's hard to say what is wrong with it. However, you can have engine issues. High EGT and poor AFR's will shorten the life of any turbocharger. Have you done a leakdown test on your engine? What are the numbers.. You squeezing alot of power out of your engine with a CIS system. Heat kill turbochargers..

Your turbocharger is NOT a HFS.. It is a HyFlow. And it's about 9 years old. It has been rebuilt twice in 9 years.. The last time that I rebuilt it was August of 2006.. It has run for 4.5 years..

TrackDays247.com

Well, I'll have to get it towed from it's heated storage to remove the turbo. Yes, it is a HF ZC turbo.
Don't have a single engine issue. AFRs are managed extremely well and with a nearly flat AFR line from top to bottom via the Leask setup.

Point is it should not have failed this quickly with this low mileage and easy treatment.

Engine was fully rebuilt by Monty near you when the turbo was last rebuilt. 100% healthy.
'Hasn't ran for 4.5 years' and with what that implies - it might have 2k tops on it. I'll check.
I think you rebuilt it one of those times after a seal failed right after you built it acc'd to Randy, the previous owner.

At any rate, hang tight and we'll get this low mileage unit off.

TrackDays247.com

Would like to hear what most likely would have caused this - a typical cause based on my scenario that you would have seen from years of rebuilding these.
Which is my intent for posting this - ideas from you and others.

Your last rebuild replaced the entire rotating mechanism - pitted & chipped from a LOT of hard use and heat, this sucker was ready for a paperwieight ;-)

Kevin

Craig, Randy's turbocharger failed from the turbine wheel shaft breaking.

FOD damages is the highest on the list, oil scavenge issues, then oil contamination (which erode the bearings and shaft) then you have high EGT cooking the turbine wheel and bearings.

There is no need to tow the car if it's in your garage. Grab one of your friends and remove the turbocharger yourself.

TrackDays247.com

It isn't in the garage - it is in heated storage, needs to be towed, no place for tools or space to work.
First thing to do in the coming weeks is get it towed to my place then take 'er off and go from there.