Turbo Seals

[midnightrayne]

It seems seeing there are alot of used turbos on our cars that alot of the turbo seals take a shit after a few thousand miles. mine included its on its way out. I know i will have to replace in the future but i was wondering is there a way to extend the life of these turbo seals?

[h22sparkle]

Nope when a seal is gonna go its gonna go the only thng you can do about it is to replace it and it should be good providing that you take care of the oil feed line isnt putting in too much oil, ofcourse and make sure the return isnt kinked. That would only cause it to blow again.

[starchland]

any way to test a turbo or visual inspection of what to look for on a turbo previous to install?

[h22sparkle]

Make sure the shaftplay in the turbo is minimal. If it has too much play in it or is really out of alaignment then you have to get it lined up enough to where it wont spin then sieze thats a bad thing. make sure you dont hear and clicking in the bearings. Make sure the fins arent chipped that would disrupt the flow in air thats not a good thing either. Make sure there isnt oil deposits so thick that its caked up in there ive seen a turbo that exploded that someone sold me it was no good at all it was junked.

[westsideaccord]

Preventative maintanence:
Also if its a water cooled turbo say a 14b or 16g run coolant through it! It is quite simple, just run a small length of heater hose from turbo to a connector connector and connect on of the coolant hoses from under the throttle body! Then from the place where the stock hose went new hose back to turbo! Thus creating a loop!
If you cant dig up the fitting sizes...use the old dsm banjo bolts and carefully rebend the pipes to connect the new hoses! Also DO NOT KINK them. And try to keep away from the exhaust mani! Be sure to put on the rear pipe/fitting whatev, before installing the turbo! Makes it alot easier!

Also use a turbo timer or let the car run for a few minutes to let the oil filter the heat from the turbo! This will extend the life greatly! May also wanna try using a lower temp thermostat so it will flow coolant more often thus keeping everything a little cooler!

Also could take the turbo apart and look things over: IE the bearings and the turbine fins and see also if any oil is coking or the heatshield is worn! IF you trust yourself enuff to tear it apart while making sure it goes back together exactly the same way it was!
FOR DSM TURBOS. (Others may be alike) http://www.vfaq.com/mods/Turbo-rebuild.html

[midnightrayne]

What are the seals made out of. this might seem like a newby question but i was just thinking if they happen to be like seals in the engine. could you use max life oil ( for the high mile engines) that oil reconditions the seals in your engine and can sometimes keep things from leaking do ya think it could possibly work for the turbo too?

[westsideaccord]

Mitsu uses rubber, typical o-rings! Just get a rebuild!

[90boostdaccord]

you can also get an inline restrictor, since your turbo only needs like 10psi of oil pressure

[fast93accord]

well, its not the rubber seals that cause turbos to blow oil past... There is 2 seals that hold oil back. They look like piston rings and are made of metal. One is on the turbine wheel on the shaft, and the other is on the thrust bearing. Also, if the bearings have excessive play it allows enough oil to get past them and into the seals... Any rubber seals are not holding oil back, but are strictly on the compressor side to seal in the psi...