madsedan

Yeah, I believe I'd try to either get the car back to him and get your money back, scare him with legal jargon about the smog, or get him to give you some cash back as a settlement to keep it, maybe $400-500 for you buying a used turbo.
Or offer to park the car in his living room...

josephsc

Oh man, Jeff! I went to sleep thinking you got the car going again, and in the morning, this... I feel for you, man. I hope everything works out.

Porsche-O-Phile

OK here's the latest - I figured out another way to get to work so I didn't drive it. I HOPE that the time that elapsed from when this all started to when I got it home (about 15-20 minutes) wasn't enough to cause serious / permanent damage, but I suspect given my luck that my cylinder walls are now also scored to hell. I have no reason to suspect that, other than it makes sense. I'll try to avoid driving it if I can but I've got to move it at least once a week because of the street cleaning around here.

I think my chances of getting money back are pretty much nil - this was clearly an "as is" sale and the turbo was working fine when I picked it up (I had no reason to suspect it was bad). I have no idea what went "through" it - no idea at all. When I worked on it yesterday I was extremely careful to make sure that the air box and all pipes were clean and free of foreign objects before I reconnected everything.

I've somewhat calmed down and basically if I can pick up a relatively inexpensive turbo somewhere and throw a "turbo replacement party" or something, I'll still be able to get a decent 951 for under $7K - this isn't too terribly bad. This assumes, of course, that there is no humongous engine damage - remains to be seen. Fortunately the damage in terms of missing parts of the turbo blades seems to be minimal (I took some pics, I'll post them tonight). It looks more like they're banged up than missing. This is in some ways good because it means in theory less went through the engine. Maybe I'm just rationalizing. I don't know. Maybe I can just re-assemble the 944 as an n/a for now and put the Callaway upgrade on indefinite hold until I get this mess fixed. As far as the emissions goes, the car was certified as a "gross polluter", but somehow was able to get registered in its history. I'm reasonably certain that if I put a cat on it that it would pass (assuming I get it to RUN properly first!) This was done technically as a dealer transaction, so there might be some issue with them not being legally able to sell the car, so if I wanted to make a stink about it, maybe I could. I'm just not sure it's worth it yet. I've heard so many horror stories about 951s by people on this board and elsewhere that I "knew what I was getting into". I just figured I'd be able to enjoy it for more than 10 minutes worth of driving fun before I had to tear the entire damn thing apart. I think my neighbors are getting sick of me tearing cars apart in the garage every weekend; looks like there's no end in sight though. . .

Any other suggestions?

Jfrahm

Often one of the airbox to AFM bolts is not tight (or locktited) and it comes loose and gets sucked into the turbo. The air filter is no help as this is underneath it.

Good luck,
-Joel.

Porsche-O-Phile

Well, I removed the airbox / AFM as a single unit for my work yesterday and the bolts seemed okay / tight. I guess I'll know if there's one missing next time I open it up - or if I find one floating around in the intercooler or piping someplace.

Red1

The guys might still be on to something with it not having a cat fitted. It might be worthwhile to check into whether that's going to impede registering the car. Your emissions laws are the tightest around, and I know in Texas if it's failed an emissions test, they will not renew the registration until it passes. At least that's what I was told by the guy in our state program when I failed last year.

It might save you a headache or two. Just a thought.

Porsche-O-Phile

Well, we'll see what happens. Technically this was done as a dealer sale, so they're handling all the DMV paperwork. I'll see what they say with regards to my getting plates when I next go by there. If I were hell-bent on dumping this thing back on him (haven't decided) I might have a way to fight there. I don't yet know. Of course if I tried that, he could claim I destroyed the turbo and sue me for it, so it might be better to just let this one lie. . .

Danno

I've got a used K26/6 you can have if you want. It's got a lot of miles, but I don't recall it smoking or doing anything strange while it was still in the car.

Porsche-O-Phile

Well, I imagine it can't be much worse than the one that's in there (you'll see what I mean when I get the pictures up) - is there any play in the shaft?

You're a saint Danno - if you were a woman, I'd kiss you. I'll at least have to buy you a few rounds next time I see you.

Sooooo. . . turbo replacement party for L.D. weekend?

Mikeaagesen

I also have one sitting around, but has 146k miles on it. I'd say very slight shaft play because you can jiggle it and barely feel it move. If you need any help on installation, there's a bunch of people here that helped me do it and now I'm sure I'd be able to help as well.

PorscheDoc

Don't sweat it, you can pick up a used turbo cheap, especially with an offer from Danno. The replacement is not hard at all, use clarks writeup and everything will be smooth sailing. I would suggest (and i think eyal did this as well) that when you pull the turbo, there is a bolt that attaches the downpipe to the block....get rid of that bolt and thread a stud into the block. This makes putting the turbo back on much easier, as that bolt can be a pain to get started. Pull the intake one day, squirt some PB blaster on the exhaust bolts and let them sit over night. Then go and break them loose. Also make sure you remove the heat shield that surrounds the master cylinder (4 nuts), as it will give you a lot more clearance.

Porsche-O-Phile

Sounds like good advice; I'll start reading up on the procedure tonight. I have a pretty good idea what I'm doing for Labor Day weekend

Eyal 951

(and i think eyal did this as well)
Actually, i think i put the bolt back in place. I'm pretty good at tight spaces. I have skinny hands and arms.
Jeff, go buy some PB blaster, spray all your exhaust bolts a few times, buy a case of some good beer, and let me know when you want to do this.
~Eyal

Jay Wellwood

eBay item #7919385960...$250 + shipping.

Kelly Chiu

I have a K26, yours for free 100k miles on it, minimal shaft play. Only problem is its still in my car. I have a K27/8 that I'm going to put in during winter.

If you need any help with the teardown this weekend, I'm free. PM me.