SOLVED Car smoking after 17t install

[tobi01]

Hey Folks,

I recently installed Torcoils 17Ts ( https://torcoils.com/de/products/td...bmw-335i-335is-335xi-e90-e91-e92-n54-b30-3.0l ) only after a few pulls, car started smoking. As per attached log my boost dropped und wgdc sky rocked above 6k. I suspect that my inlet/s collapsed and forced the turbos to overspin.



I did not dropped my downpipes yet but will do soon. I assume that at least one shaft seal is blown or even the rotary lost it's integrity.



I am not sure what to do Do you think VIV 17T cartridges ( https://vivautoparts.com/products/t...i-3-0l-n54b30-oem-size?variant=42086719291567 ) do match my turbo housing? Would a rebuild kit be the way (of course only if compressor wheel and turbine are still intact) to go or do I need new turbos?


Log


Thanks

Tobias

 

[seb.apprenti]

Why not contact Torcoils directly? On social media, they're touting their products as good. But these ignition coils burn out, the upgraded oil cooler is extremely poorly finished... Now it's the turbos that are smoking.

 

[tobi01]

Rear turbine is oily. I found the rear inlet popped of the snout and bended against the firewall. The inlet was squished partially and I can imagine that it collapsed in under pressure conditions.

Root cause is possible and cannot blamed to turbo manufacturer in my opinion. I will ask Torcoils if they sell cartridges solely. Or do you think VIV ones will match as they are most likely all the same

Question is if I need to replace both cartridges as the front turbo is dry but I do not want to do the labor twice

 

[seb.apprenti]

I sincerely doubt that crushing the inlet will blow the turbo... I also don't know if VIV cartridges are identical to Torcoil's... But again: why don't you order cartridges from Torcoil? Tomorrow, if my Hydras blow, I'll contact Hydra... I'm not going to try to install VIV, RB, or CTS cartridges... You understand my reasoning

 

[tobi01]

I asked because at least the shop do not offer the cartridges separately. I wrote them an email and wait for the reply.

 

[pbondar]

Rear turbine is oily. I found the rear inlet popped of the snout and bended against the firewall. The inlet was squished partially and I can imagine that it collapsed in under pressure conditions.

Root cause is possible and cannot blamed to turbo manufacturer in my opinion. I will ask Torcoils if they sell cartridges solely. Or do you think VIV ones will match as they are most likely all the same

Question is if I need to replace both cartridges as the front turbo is dry but I do not want to do the labor twice

FWIW when I blew my rear TTE500 turbo TTE refused to only refurb the blown one…they insisted on both being returned..

 

[tobi01]

Some progress happend. ;-)

I dissmanteld the cartrige and had the following findings:

During disassembly of the turbo i noted, that the rear inlet was half way popped off the snout and pressed against the firewall. I thought that was the issue as for my feeling the inlets felt quite stiff. I installed new tor coils cartrige and hell yes after a couple of kilometer, the car was smoke free.

Did some WOT logs...and boy, was I wrong:

Collapsed Inlet

www.spoolstreet.com

Around 420 g/s, at least one of the inlets collapses, and the WGDC goes sky-high again. Checked the inlets again with a hot engine, and they were soft AF. Living in germany it's a pain to source proper inlets. RB inlets are the only ones that are supposed to be reliable, but the shipping and taxes would kill my wallet.


So, I went a different route and chopped the inlets into sections. Inserted 2" aluminum pipe in the red sections and 2.25" aluminium pipe in the purple sections. Let's see how this holds up!

And just like that, the boost drop and the massive WGDC spike up top are history. Problem solved!

Log with enforced inlets

Uploaded by API.

www.spoolstreet.com

Time to figure out how to solve the boost targed drop between 3.1k rpm and 4.3k rpm, find traction, reduce STFT .....

 

[wheela]

Nice solution on the inlets Holy craparoni on those old compressors. Did you use the same compressor housings with the new cartridges? How chewed up were the compressor housings? I wonder how much aluminum your engine ate from those chewed up turbo parts?

 

[tobi01]

The compressor housing had only some really minor scratches. I polished them on a lathe with some scotch brite.
The compressor wheel is only plastically deformed but does not look like material got shoved.