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Some of you all may remember a while back a few of us posting that we were smoking pretty bad. After contacting SF, their solution was an oil restrictor and to make sure that the drain tube is not clogged. Needless to say the drilled rivet provided little help and may have even led to the death of my turbo.

I bought a rebuild kit from a saab dealer for $100 which came with all new bearings and seals. After tearing eveything apart and installing the new parts the turbo would not spin freely. I called the saab dealer and made sure that eveything was put together properly. Finally, I took the turbo like a sick little baby to a turbo specialist that I just found YESTERDAY He took me back to his work area and tore eveything apart right there. He showed me that every part in the turbo was now going to be used for paper weights. Everything from the shaft, oil housing, heat shield, compressor wheel was trash...EVERYTHING. The only parts that could be used still were the two housings. When I asked him how this could have happened in just the 6 mths that I have had it, he just laughed and said there is no way this turbo is only 6 mths old. He said that the bearings were the first to go, maybe from lack of oil. I bought all new parts from him and he put everything back together for 350 Euro's. So now I have a new turbo again. He also advised against using and oil restrictor. He said "As long as your drain line is good the turbo can't have too much oil" I would advise everyone that is boosted and especially everyone who is smoking to check the turbine shaft. If it moves at all, your bearings are not good and it will only lead to you having to buy a new turbo. Sorry for the long post

 
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Thanks for the info dude.

 
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Good Info, sorry you had to learn the hard way. Why did you have to mention SF? (because of the restrictor?)

 
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hey fuchs
DId you turbo leak any oil around the 4 bolts that hold the main shaft to the housing, ( next to the oil feed line and retun)?
Let me know because I havnt even hooked my sf kit up yet and i can already tell its leasking from when sf tested it.

 
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Yeah it leaked oil from there. I had a nice coat on the front of my block.

 
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Any suggestions on how to prevent it from leaking?

 
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You should probably install it first to be sure that it is leaking. The oil you are talking about could be from what they used during the assembly. If you install it and let the car run it will burn all the oil and grease residue off then you will be able to tell if something is wrong.

 
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damn fuchs that sucks. I'm probably going to have to do the same thing. Did you talk to SF at all about this? Man I wouldn't think they'd sell that old of a turbo. I was reading up on honda tech forums and someone said something about too much pressure from the oil feed line blowing out the oil seals on the turbo. What do you think? So is your car up and running smoothly again?

 
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people on honda tech are using a bigger oil return line and smaller oil feed to help remedy the problem.... i still have a little smoke coming outta my tail pipe also... mikes trying to figure this all out cause i even replaced my turbo and it's still smoking.... sooooo.... any ideas people?

 
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dayum that sucks alot....so the restrictor controls the ammount of oil going into the turbo so it doesnt pool/flood or something?

 
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No, the restrictor limits the amount of oil pressure the turbo seals see. If a proper restrictor is installed than it will not damage the turbo. The oil pressure in our cars runs high (when compared to others) - the guys at HT have been running restrictors for a long time with no problems....

 
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^ohh gotcha...so most turbo's dont come with an oil restrictor? You install it on the oil feed line on the turbo, and then connect to the oil source? Sorry for all the questions.

 
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wait, wtf..........SF gave u a old turbo ???

 
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^yah that's rediculous. I really hope its not true, but with all the **** goin around i wouldnt be suprised...

 
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I'm not saying they gave me an old turbo. I never took it apart to inspect it originally, but it doesn't seem right to me that all of the internal parts could go bad so quickly.

I haven't even tried to talk to SF about the turbo since they sent me the restrictor. I think I was told that these turbo's have like a 2 year warrenty, but I just don't want to deal with their sh!tty customer service. Plus, I am in Germany, it would take even longer for me to try and get the issue resolved through the mail.

 
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The guy's I bought my rebuild kit from sell a replacement oil seal that is supposed to eliminate any oil from leaking into the exhaust. It is like a small piston ring. It's like $8 and its called a 360 degree oil seal. It's not pictured but you can call and order one. link It would be worth a try. I have one now, but I still can't drive my car.(strange clutch problem)

 
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hmmm...........andyman had the same problem

 
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if you want a rebuild kit... log onto ebay... they have universal t3 turbo rebuild kits..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...906542360&rd=1

 
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When you said "If the turbine shaft moves - the bearings are no good" You mean moves up/down right, not rotating? Mine rotates smooth, and I assume that it should be doing that.