Making the jump N/A to TD

[subsonic]

I just received the turbo rebuild instructions for my kit.  I don't have the kit yet, but I will post the directions.  I will try and take photo's as I go through the tear down.

INSTRUCTIONS:
 
The first step in rebuilding your turbo is marking your turbine housing and compressor housing in relationship to the bearing center section. You can do this with paint, a punch, etc...This will ensure, once you are finished rebuilding the turbo, that it will bolt directly back up to your engine.



The next step: remove the turbine housing bolts that hold the turbine housing to the center section, there will either be 4 or 6 13mm bolts.

Next, remove the 6, 1/2" or 13mm bolts that hold the compressor housing to the backing plate.

Then place the turbo's turbine nut into a vice holding it firmly, the nut is odd-shaped because of balancing, but you can normally get two sides in the vice.

 Mark the turbine shaft with paint on the blade that lines up with the oil drain of the center section.

Next, mark the compressor wheel to the backing plate with paint, or by lightly scribing a mark on both surfaces.

Remove the 3/8" compressor wheel nut and then remove the compressor wheel. ***Special Note*** Some are left-hand threaded shafts. If turned counter clockwise, it will break the shaft off, turn it clockwise to remove the nut if you see that it is a left-hand thread.

With a rubber mallet, lightly tap the threaded turbine shaft to remove it from the bearing center section.

Once removed, place bearing center section in a vice, holding it firmly by the oil inlet and oil outlet flat surfaces. Now, remove the 4 backing plate bolts. They will either be 10mm or 7/16".

With a rubber mallet, lightly tap aluminum backing plate to separate it from the bearing housing.
 
There are 3 types of compressor seals for the T3's, T4's and T3/T4 hybrid turbos. The first one is a one piece carbon seal, this type of seal is pressed into and out of the backing plate as an assembly. The second type is a 4-piece carbon seal, this type consists of a carbon seal, o-ring, eared washer, and a spring. To remove this type of seal, first pick the black carbon seal out of the backing plate, next using a pick remove the o-ring, then turn the earred washer until its ears line up with the stakes in the backing plate, and finally remove the spring. When reassembling this type of seal, first install the spring with the small end down, next the earred washer, then the o--ring, and finally the carbon seal.

The last type of seal used in these turbos is the dynamic seal, this type of seal installs onto the thrust collar, use a pick to remove it. To install it press it over the collar with your thumbs until it fits into the groove.

There are also two types of thrust bearings used on T3's, T4's, and T3/T4 hybrid turbos. One is the standard 270 degree (not a full circle), if you have this type use a pick and pull the thrust bearing off of the bearing housing. The other type of thrust bearing is the 360 degree (full circle), it can be held by 3 allen-head screws, or by the anti-rotation pins in the bearing housing. To remove it, either remove the three screws, or use a pick to pull if off of the anti-rotation pins.

Now, remove the small snap ring holding the front journal bearing in, and use a pick to remove the journal bearing.

Next, turn the bearing center section upside down and remove the rear snap ring and rear journal bearing.
 
Now, you have almost completely disassembled the turbo. The last thing you must do on a dynamic seal turbo is remove the piston ring from the thrust collar, or on a carbon seal turbo, remove the carbon seal , o-ring, washer, and spring from the backing plate. Now, remove the piston ring from the turbine shaft, and the turbo is disassembled.

***Special Note*** Carefully check all sealing surfaces where piston rings sit when installed. These surfaces must be smooth and round. Also, check the grooves that the piston rings sit in on the turbine shaft and the thrust collar. The piston ring must sit in these grooves tightly, with only 0.001 or 0.002 clearance. Any more than this will cause oil leaks.
 
Another special note: Journal bearing surfaces and thrust collar surfaces must be completely smooth and have no scratches or nicks that you can feel with your finger nail. Places to check: journal bearing bore in the bearing housing, journal bearing surface on the turbine shaft, and thrust collar surfaces that touch the thrust bearing.

*One more note:* Bearing housing choking is a very common problem with all turbos. It is caused by the turbo not being properly cooled off when the engine is shut off, and/or irregular oil changes. To check for this problem, look for black carbon deposits throughout the inside of the bearing housing, especially on the rear side where the turbine shaft goes in. The bearing housing should have an open area that you can see light through from the oil drain back to the rear sealing area where the shaft goes in. If you cannot see through the bearing housing, from these two areas, then you have severe choking and all of this carbon must be removed, or the turbo will fail almost instantly on startup.
 
Now, completely and thoroughly clean the whole turbo with solvent. It needs to be very clean, this is very, very important. Reverse the procedure above and reassemble the turbo using high quality engine assembly lube on all bearings and sealing surfaces.
 
**360 Degree thrust bearing installation**
First, install the beveled washer with the beveled side down towards the journal bearing. Next, place 360 degree thrust bearing on to the bearing housing locating it carefully on the 2 anti-rotation pins. Lastly, install the thrust collar into the thrust bearing with the piston ring seal facing up.
 
When torquing the compressor nut, follow this procedure: If this is a left-handed thread, tighten the nut down hand-tight until it touches the top of the compressor wheel. Then, using a 3/8" wrench, tighten the nut approximately 1/8 of a turn. This will properly torque the nut and seat the bearings and thrust parts. On right-hand nuts, tighten the nut hand-tight until it touches the top of the compressor wheel, then turn with a 3/8" wrench approximately 1/4 of a turn.

Getting started




Marking turbine, compressor, and center section



Bolts I can not get out yet because the are hitting the center housing.  Once the turbine loosens up it will move away from the center housing and I will be able to back them out all the way.  All the other turbine bolts are out.  Looks like I will begin the ritual of twice daily torch sessions and PB blaster soakings followed by a good smack with a hunk of wood.
I will need to remember to remark the turbo when things start to loosen up.  I have burned off most of the markings already.


Here is the photo of the old turbine clamp ring that I have cut off to get access to the joint.  It will be replaced with clamps from the kit.

Once I had that old clamp off, I was able to apply heat directly to the joint.  I gave the turbine some solid wacks all the way around and it broke loose.  Here are some interesting marks inside the turbine housing.  They are not from the blades.  I inspected them and saw no indication of contact.  Not sure what they are from.  Idea's?

Here are some shots of the turbine housing and the wastegate.  You can see where the exhaust will flow to the wastegate.


Here is a shot of the turbo with the turbine housing removed.  You can see the blades and the ground balance nut.  Also note that the bolts and clamps have been removed from the compressor.

Here is a better shot of the nut that they grind to balance the assembly.  This is the one you need to find 2 flat spots so you can place it in a vise.

Here we have a shot of the inside of the compressor housing and the compressor blades,  both turbine and compressor blades are still attached through the center section.  Look at all that nasty build up.  I should have scratched  "clean me" into the goop for the photo :lol: .

This is a close up of the compressor blades and the 16 point nut.

It was a bit of a pain to try and mark all the pieces so every thing will go back together exactly as before.  I am going to have this cleaned in a glass bead cabinet.  That is going to take off any paint marks or small scribe marks I put on.  I opted to mark the pieces with the dremel tool.  That was the only way I could think of that would not dissapear with the cleaning.   Just if you were wondering, I did not get anywhere close to the blades.  Just housings.   More photo's to follow after I pick up the correct socket tommorrow on the way home from work.

[subsonic]

I have broken loose all the bolts on the turbo except 2 on the turbine.  Started with 3 days of PB blaster soakings before I headed to bed.  Every day I would put a wrench on the bolts and give it a tap or two.  Tonight I fired up the propane torch.  Most broke loose after 1 round of heat, tapping the wrench, and doing the slow back and forth with occasional shots of the PB blaster.  Some took 2-3 rounds of heat, and some more aggressive tapping on the wrench.  I snapped two :x  :x .  One on the turbine housing and one on the wastgate cover.  
I was kind of worried about hitting it with the torch since the whole unit has been soaked in the PB blaster for days.  All I could envision was a carb back fire/ flash.  "AHHH!! I'm blind!!!"
 :shock:
I see two problems.  One, "AHHH!! I'm blind!!!"  he he, and Two,  2 of the bolts are hitting the oil fittings on the center section when I back them out.  I will take some photo's tommorow.  I resnugged everything after hitting it one last with the pb blaster.  I did not want to take it apart until I had a better work are set up.  Did not want to risk dinging one of the fins.

I will post photo's of the tear down and try and match them up to the instructions from above.  Will keep you posted.

Jim

[subsonic]

Thanks for the hints Andrew.  I was worried about the flash, I would look pretty damn strange with no eye brows or lashes :lol:

I sent you a pm about your merc turbo.

Jim

[Wolfsbur]

Subsonic,
I'm enjoying your posts--keep it up!

I just started on rebuilding an 84 TD,  that will be transplanted into a 95 Golf shell.  I've been wrenching on VWs for over 20 years (and VW Merc diesels off and on) but this will be my first turbo rebuild.  

From your posts,  to my shop--thanks for taking the time to post this usefull information.

Good Luck,
Geoff

[subsonic]

Thanks Wolfsbur,
It's a long road for me to learn all this.  This site has been fantastic.

Andrew, I have all the turbine bolts loose.  I have them all out except the bolts under the oil supply and oil drain ports.  Those two are finger loose but I still can not seperate the turbine from the center housing.  I am afraid to wack the turbine to hard for fear of cracking it.  I have put the heat to it in a circle.  Around the whole joint.  I am holding the turbo by the compressor in one hand and hitting it with a hunk of wood on the turbine with the other hand.  Nothing.
I am off to work again so I put the bolts back in loosely by hand and drenched it in PB blaster again.  Perhaps tommorrow will be the magic day.  I will post the photo's I took today either at work or at home if I have time.

[subsonic]

I have been posting my photo updates in the instruction part of this post.

Thanks Andrew.  I get a bit nervous when smoke starts pouring out of the turbo :shock:  :lol: .  How long to you go on a heat session?
I figured it was about time to turn off the torch when my beautiful wife walked into the garage and wanted to know what the hell was on fire.  "God, it smells awful in here!  Is that thing going to start a fire?!"
" No baby, all is well, all is well"  (name the movie).  She thinks I am nuts currently :lol: .

[subsonic]

My area of the garage I play in is a huge mess.  Old wood stove, old 1.6TD, etc, etc.  I needed a nice clean spot to record my moment of glory so I hijacked the chest freezer.  The newspaper( portland press herald) was to prevent my wife from going insane by seeing me get an oily mess all over the freezer :lol:

I have cranked those bolts out so far that I cant even turn them any more, even with me leaning pretty good on the wrench.  I gave the housing another shot of PB as I walked in the door from work tonight.

I think I will bring the turbo outside tomorrow to really put the heat to it.  I am going to look like a back woods mainer sitting in my driveway with smoking autoparts, wacking it with a hunk of 2x4.  "The way life should be" :lol:

[subsonic]

Rebuild kit arrived today.  
No parts list included so I am not sure if it is all there.  I will call the company just to confirm all parts where included.  Performance kit was a better deal than going with the full rebuild kit and ordering the 360 and stepped gap piston ring seperately.  Shipping was a bit steep at 9 bucks for a 1 pounder.  

[jimfoo]

I had great luck on a rusted part one time using stuff called Super Lube dry film lubricant. I don't know if it worked so well, or if the formulation carried the WD-40 and PB Blaster into it that I had been putting on for days. Before the Super Lube, I could barely move it with a 3 lb sledge(a large hinge like device) and right after the Super Lube, I could immediately move it by hand. I know, I sound like a commercial, but I had never seen anything like it. I couldn't remember where I bought it, but I found you can order it on the net.

[subsonic]

If the PB and the torch fail me I may buy a can.  I think I am going to try an extended heat session to see if that will help.  What was the cost of the can you found on line?

[subsonic]

Bump
Photo's of rebuild kit added.  Pg 5

[burn_your_money]

That is one snazzy looking kit. I think I'm going to have to take a stab at rebuilding a turbo.

What are your plans for balancing it?

[subsonic]

If you pay to have it rebuilt at the company I bought the kit from , they do the balance as part of the Perf. rebuild.  Price is not bad.  You end up paying about 200ish for labor.  I am saving the 200 clams and spending part of it(115.00) on having the turbine housing/internal wastegate ported and polished.  Faster flow, faster boost!


If I remember from my reading, you do not have to rebalance as long as everything is put back together just as it came apart, and no contact was made by the fins against anything.  That's what the guys at gpopshop said as well.  I am sure that statement will be open to debate on this forum.

Head show up?

[burn_your_money]

I see. I wonder how much it would cost to send out for balancing. I'm sure if it was unbalanced even a bit it would fail pretty quickly.

A head showed up, not the one you are hoping for though

[subsonic]

I think a balance was like 40 or 50 bucks.

How ugly was the head?