redline350ZZ

iTrader: (1)

When my Turbo crap'd out and smoked real bad I only had oil in the down-pipe, wastegate area. The Inter-cooler side was clean as a whistle

MIAPLAYA

iTrader: (3)

I wasn't referring to that but rather the posts regarding oil in the compressor section/intake piping which is just above my post on this page.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

Same here. I've never seen it on the intake side.

MIAPLAYA

iTrader: (3)

All you guys with current smoking issues, I talked to Reggie at Turbonetics tonight and he asked if everyone who currently has issues with their turbo would contact him via PM. His screen name here is blk180sx We spoke about the options and he will gladly explain what can be done. This includes those out of warranty. If you are currently having no issues but are close to warranty expiration you can PM him as well. He may not be able to take care of anything right away as he would like to take care of those with issues first. To briefly explain what is planned, a rebuild of the turbo to include a wet bearing section. I don't want to speak for Reggie on the details of what will be included at cost so I will just ask that you PM him and he can work with you on the whole process.

failsafe306

iTrader: (38)

Ahh okay

JETPILOT

iTrader: (51)

That's awesome Rob! I don't have my kit anymore but I still care what happens to everyone else in this situation.

I had oil on both sides. Hot side, and compressor side. My silicone couplers were so covered in oil that the would blow off. I had to use break cleaner to clean the boots and re-install them. Then after about 500 mi they would blow off again and be covered in oil.

JET

taurran

iTrader: (18)

MIAPLAYA

iTrader: (3)

No worries..

MIAPLAYA

iTrader: (3)

Well Reggie and the crew up there are a stand up bunch. I'm just happy to say Reggie is going to come through again for the Turbonetics owners. Like I said I don't want to speak for him on the details of what can be done so everyone still needs to PM him.

greddyturb0

iTrader: (9)

did anyone monitored oil pressure during accel and decel? also for the people with catch cans, how much oil are you catching? and as far as cutting corners i think that TN is cutting corners by providing things that have a tendency of going wrong by being a little careless, i mean not everyone is a mechanic and knows his/her way around the engine. some people dont even know how to change their oil( hopefully most fo you do on here) so if they provide better quality products with a little extra it wouldnt be causing such a problem because obviously theres something wrong with the kit and TN knows that they have to got to get it fixed, with that said why would you still continue to sell a product that is making such a big fuss. TN needs to put more time in the R&D and needs to redo some partsof the kit, who knows it could be a combination of things causing it or it could be a small thing. they can start by including SS braided lines and go from there. One thing that came to my mind was did anyone tried to get the turbo inspected from outside of TN to see if its faulty? maybe they just have a sh!tty replacement team who knows? all i know is when you are selling somethign to a consumer it should be in perfect working condition when you sell it.

MIAPLAYA

iTrader: (3)

Who said it wasn't in perfect working order when it got sold? I have yet to see one person have an issue with this out of box aside from install issues which have already been discussed ad naseum. Your post also doesn't explain why people like me and others have gone years and thousands of miles on the same turbo with no issues with the same set up as anyone else.

redline350ZZ

iTrader: (1)

Catch can didn't matter for me.

My steps

I thought at first I was getting oil from the PCV system and after going through all those checks and installing the can I learned that my intake side is super clean and that the smoke was coming from somewhere else. Heard about the Turbo seal from a thread at the time on this site so I checked the down pipe but it was clean. Next I thought maybe blow-by so I did a compression test and that was all well. So then maybe head-gasket failure well that was not the case either. Got a new built engine put in and checked the Turbo out again but this time it was at a shop, no leaks. After a couple weeks the problem started to get worse and I had a small oil leak I couldn't locate at home so I took it to a shop that had a lift and they fixed that and while on the lift they ran the car trying to duplicate the smoke. When it smoked they pulled the Turbo right after and oil was there so it took a while but it got figured out. Took 3 months to get this figured out because the symptoms were not persistent and could not be duplicated when I needed it. Since the smoke only came at random times by the time I got home all the oil had burned off.

greddyturb0

iTrader: (9)

tell me this when you by a cheap knock off exhaust like a OBX does it come delivered to your door in a sh!tty condtion? No but compare it to a brand name exhaust they both work but one outlasts the other, the problem with turbo kits is that they involve many different parts that make it work together as a whole and its very easy to mess it up. Now just like buying a knock off doesnt always mean it will break or go bad just like in your case, hey maybe you got lucky and dont have any problems. maybe tomorrow your car starts smoking or maybe in 3 years it doesnt. all i am saying is that when you have a handfull of people presenting the same problem that consists of same symptoms its more than likely that theres something wrong with the kit rather than the fact that they all had a sh!tty install. Hopefully for your that problem nevers comes up but what if it does? and you were told it was a bad install wouldnt that **** you off? all i am saying is that maybe TN needs to look over their kit one more time because there are other brand name kits that are working just fine so it cannot be the car and not everyone has gotten a bad install. Even if TN is willing to send oyu a replacement turbo and swap it out without charge, how many people would do it themselves. Not everyone is mechanically inclined, some people cannot go back and forth with this and swap out the turbo every month and pay outta their @$$ for labor. Some people are not soo lucky as to have shop thats fimiliar with the Z near us so would have to commute to get to one. Keep in mind that your not only paying for parts but also the labor and R&D put into making that turbo and if that turbo is not doing what its supposed to do or not do than what are you paying for? having a good customer service is not everything.

MIAPLAYA

iTrader: (3)

Really? I really don't feel like debating this all over again but both the APS ST and TT kit have issues with smoking turbos. There's a thread on it right below this one. Their causes cover the gambit of install related and turbo related just like this thread. At any rate Turbonetics is changing their and is helping their customers with issues. Thats the point of the water cooled bearing they have been testing. You must have missed both of my posts covering this. Unlike them other manufacturers have done nothing to resolve the issues on their kits. Including Greddy which you have as your user name. They haven't added a Walbro pump, haven't stopped the Emanage from burning coil packs, haven't changed anything to prevent the power steering line from melting, the list goes on for every kit out there. Most if not all companies force the end user to do something to correct the issues. Some even charge their end users for the fix in some cases. Everyone does it. Turbonetics is taking steps to fix this so let them do it. No need to pour over all this all over again.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

Well thanks for that. Next time a few line breaks would be good though. You've basically explained what's been said multiple times in this thread already.

The problem is not that simple, however, and it's actually a few rolled into one. In some cases the turbo is genuinely bad, in others, it seems to have gone bad based on installer error. It's hard to draw the line between them, because you're relying on someone's word who will never take responsibility for the failure.

I think that some of these problems are legitimate while others are caused by a problem (kinked lines) that has slowely become worse over time to the point at which the turbo is bad. Sure, we can't go back and put SS lines on everyone's car and fix what's already wrong, but we can go forward to fix the issue.

I think that water cooled bearing housings and SS lines will keep the kits from having this problem. Water cooled housings to keep the seals from being a part of the issue due to heat, and SS lines to combat installer error and installing kinked lines. While the SS lines aren't in the kit, I will certainly suggest that anyone who buys or is running the kit to install one just to make sure they don't have an issue. Make sense?

taurran

iTrader: (18)

Exactly. This is one thing I don't get about these forums. Shops have taken the greddy kit and made it into a useful and impressive package by throwing out what works and adding what they believe to be necessary to run it safely and efficiently. In the meantime, people may need to accept the fact that this kit has it's own quirks that need to be addressed (such as buying a simple oil return line).

Truckerz

thats nice

35ounces

iTrader: (5)

I don't think anyone is complaining about having to replace an oil return line. But having to replace a turbo is another story. When mine went there was no talk of needing to replace the return line and I still do not think it was a problem. I gladly would have upgraded that part if it had been posted as an issue last summer.

I dont think the Greddy kit comparisons are very good though. That kit is a tuner kit and people that buy it know it. The issues like the PS line are simply a matter of rerouting it and btw my TN kit cut through my PS line initially too! That was an install issue (pipe alignment etc). No biggie. But the turbo seals going is a whole other issue. Its costly, and involves a lot of downtime not to mention labor costs. Its not something you can install around. Seal failure due to thermal issues is not a quirk.

Anyhow I'm glad to see that TN is addressing it. I hope its real.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

I'm saying that I don't think the issue is as cut and dry as most people here are making it out to be. SOMETHING has to be the cause for these turbo seals to fail. It could be a slight problem such as too much oil pressure, or a slight kink in the line that backs up and bakes oil in the turbo over long periods until the seals fail. If that's the case, the SS line and a water-cooled bearing section should alleviate it.

I'm not saying your issue wasn't legitimate, I'm just saying that there's a root cause for everything. And yes, I do believe it's something you can install around, that something (or combination of somethings) hasn't yet been unmistakenly identified though.

My kit still has a nylon line on it. After all of the discussion and debate that's gone on concerning this issue as of late, you can bet mine will have a SS line and a 45 degree elbow installed before it sees another mile.

35ounces

iTrader: (5)

Clearly not a B&W issue.

Anyone know if Jets car had a turbo blanket? I vaguely recall some discussion about one way back when. Just curious.

When I said it is not somehting you can install around, I was referring to the initial install of the existing kit. A fix would be great obviously.