MHI EVO III 16 G excessive side shaft play less than 4K miles?

[rdomeck]

I have my turbo off to replace the gaskets and noticed that the side to side shaft play is very excessive. So much that it's hitting the compressor housing. I have less than 4K miles on the car and I just looked at the receipt and it's just barley over a year old....Ya know just out of warranty! Hopefully Forced Performance can help me out on that. What could cause this? I am pulling oil from the OFH and I have coolant hooked up.

 

[mikus]

Journal turbos that have sat & had the oil settle/drain out will show shaft play that goes away when oiled. I've had nearly that "dry" almost completely go away on an MHI once oiled.

Not sure if there's a way to bench test this

 

[CutlassJim]

If it's hitting the housing then it's a lot more than "normal" shaft play. Feeding from the OFH can be too much oil and cause the same problems as not enough oil. I've fed my Mitsu turbo's from the stock location for years and never had a problem.

 

[Dark_Horse]

Did you feed it unrestricted from the OFH? If so, I'd say that's the reason why you've got so much shaft play now.

 

[rdomeck]

I talked with Forced Performance again today and they told me that it wasn't necessary to restrict it from the OFH and that would not cause shaft play. I sent it off to them and will see what they say when the get it. At a minimum I will install an in line filter. It is a little over 3 weeks out of warranty......And they car has been sitting in my shop for about 4 weeks. Guess I should have checked a little earlier!

 

[EMX5636]

Usually not restricting it from the OFH will leak a bit of oil past the seals, shouldn't have much affect on bearings. Did you have any boost leaks? Maybe it was overspinning?

 

[Jason G.]

Are you using the filtered port on the OFH?

 

[JNR]

When you say warranty, are you talking about the turbo? I mean, was it a new turbo, or a rebuilt unit? I wonder if the bearings either weren't replaced, the shaft fubar'd enough to not have enough meat or concentricity (trueness as it spins) to eat away at the bearings, seals, etc. to allow this play, or just a defective unit. Was something caught in the turbine/compressor areas maybe to throw it off?

Sounds like it's getting taken care of though, so hopefully they can fix it and be curious to know the cause(s).

 

[rdomeck]

The turbo was a new unit last year and really hasn't been used much. I am pulling off of the correct port on the OFH. I did just pick up a 90 OFH that I will be switching to to run an external oil cooler.

I will just have to wait to see what FP has to say!

 

[OldHairyBastard]

Quoting CutlassJim:
If it's hitting the housing then it's a lot more than "normal" shaft play. Feeding from the OFH can be too much oil and cause the same problems as not enough oil. I've fed my Mitsu turbo's from the stock location for years and never had a problem.



If it's hitting the housing then you need to rebuild the turbo and you may have already damaged the fins which would then need to be replaced and rebalanced. If all of theis is true then you should just buy a new or good used turbo.

 

[mikus]

I'm no turbo expert! But question if the clearances/thresholds should be considered the same dry or 'wet', I wouldn't think so.

I've had an MHI loose enough that I do believe I could have gotten it to touch sides. Once oiled up there was no chance it'd touch sides, and it ran like a top

 

[JNR]

I would think there would be more clearance when it's "cold" vs. "hot" due to thermal expansion of the different materials especially (would think the brass (?) bearing would grow more than the "steel" shaft and close the gap)...I'm sure it's not enough to totally notice, but down to the .xxx I'm sure it varies. As for the oil or not, imagine that plays a little role as well (esp. with heat) down to a hundredth of a red **** hair, I suppose. (arbitrary number of course /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

 

[rdomeck]

Well, I guess if there isn't a problem with the clearance then FP can just send it back to me. If I have to pay for a new CHRA they do have them on special right now for $300. Not bad considering their normal rebuild runs over $400.

 

[turbowop]

I've had turbos like that where if I really try I can get the wheel to touch the housing. But in-out play was nonexistant, which is what's really important. They were all just fine.

 

[rdomeck]

Forced Performance called today and said that I should drop my oil pan and check my bearings....They found some bearing material in the turbo! I'm hoping that it's a few pieces that were left behind from the engine build.