VF40 rebuild, engine refresh, more time than money...

[sketron1]

The point of this post is to document rebuilding a VF40 and refreshing a >10 yr old engine from the NE. I'd also like to solicit suggestions for what else I should take care of with everything removed from the top of the engine.

 

Got this Legacy a few years back with 100k, now around 120k. Owner meticulously did oil changes, synthetic since day one. The infamous banjo bolt filter was clean as new (removed anyway).

 

Original for sale thread:

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/fs-va-2005-legacy-gt-limited-wagon-5-speed-sold-209137.html?t=209137

 

The bushings didn't look bad, although one has light scoring along the OD, maybe 0.003" depth or less. Will be putting the turbo together and finding someplace to balance the assembly soon, also fuel injectors need cleaning.

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160402/9cea97876e942ede25be6fe7ba8c1c96.jpg

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160327/41e3601bfd3d3ebf994d605ab89dcf07.jpg

 

The PCV system is a mess of hoses, all >10 yrs old and is trash. Here's what I've got or plan to get, will be adding a few pics from the phone over the day.

 

Perrin Intake, silicone BOV bypass hose

Replace all vacuum lines with silicone

Replace all coolant/oil hoses

UP, DP BOV

Ebay $240 special exhaust

TGV deletes

All new gaskets (intake manifold, TB, TGV, etc)

BP OEM intercooler

Cleaned OCVs

Replace evap solenoid with hose

 

Already emailed Cryotune about the EBCS. He suggested keeping stock boost control so I don't need a retune as I wouldn't see any advantages with EBCS. Talk about a top notch supplier, he could have easily talked me into paying for a retune. [emoji106]

 

The oil lines that route to the turbo, heads and AVCS are pretty corroded, as the car comes from the NE. What's the cheapest option for replacement of these lines?

 

Also looking for more suggestions on AOS or PCV vent to atmo, etc. Not trying to double post, as alot of input was received in the thread below. I'll add more later based on that previous thread.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/doing-tgv-diy-elsei-250688.html

 

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[sketron1]

Took the Tribeca offroad the other day, heard a pop.

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160409/8fe5a3cc401ad072bd60c23fc98881ef.jpg

 

Added to the list of things to order, lol!

 

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[sketron1]

Typical WG port crack that doesn't extend through-wall or to the sealing surface. This housing appears to be a sand casting, most likely 60-40-18 aka ductile (spheroidized) iron. Maximum stress in this area during operation is low I would imagine, so it's likely a form of high-temp corrosion-fatigue from low-stress amplitude thermal cycling. I tried to dremel the crack down but it's not going anywhere, plus it's pretty hard to get to.

 

This would actually be a fun metallurgical analysis to perform. Crack initiation likely had something to do with the manufacturing process if a crack in this location is common on this model but not others. The insert used to form the WG hole during casting could have a flaw or feature enabling this damage mechanism. This is all speculation, and I'm not willing to sacrifice my housing to confirm, so I'll leave it at that. Fracture toughness is a function of crack length (among other things), so blending the crack (reducing wall thickness) around the crack should help slow the crack advance. Hell, it's made it 120K already, I'd say something else will go before this.

 

Reduced resolution of uploaded pics makes the crack hard to see after blending, but it's there.

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160327/c3de2b1e938ca50d29c5ccbc1446846f.jpg

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160327/fdb99805c02cbf585c6b143420409a41.jpg

 

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[sketron1]

As for the bearing housing, my suggestion for anyone doing this is to just go ahead and drill the screws holding the brass colored plate on there and re-tap. Or pick one up on ebay for $30 plus a VF40 rebuild kit (what I ended up doing).

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160402/8c0e0003768b9ade77aaaf4df9765b1f.jpg

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160402/e7880654d37a2c9894dc4608b9dce2b2.jpg

 

 

I then proceeded to mark the compressor blades in relation to the nut holding them on, but didn't mark the shaft. Actually, some of the components in the rebuild kit go into the tolerance stack up on this assembly, so marking anything in relation to anything else is pointless. No two parts manufactured have identical dimensions, so the marks won't tell you anything. An extra 0.001" thickness of, say a thrust bearing, would be amplified in the extra rotation to hit the same torque level.

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160402/1925e8433199fa3d5b8100c9e4b0603a.jpg

 

Long story short, will assemble and find a shop with a tiny torque wrench, 12-point 7mm socket, and some way to align this sucker.

[sketron1]

Cleaned up the compressor wheel as best I could. These babies are investment castings. There is an obvious section machined out of the hub area as well as a slot on the backside, both most likely for balancing. There are casting flaws, and it looks as if they may have hit some porosity when machining the hub to balance it.

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160409/ff1362f53afd5610fc89b323bbf05b44.jpg

 

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[sketron1]

The star of the show, interesting. The shaft seems ferromagnetic and is likely steel, but the turbine wheel is only slightly pulled by the magnet. Probably a nickel-base alloy as they are commonly used for high temp corrosion resistant applications like this, and are only slightly magnetic. Shrink fit maybe? Has anyone seen one of these taken apart?

 

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http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160409/ada6da658fef7652aa6df2e359713db0.jpg

 

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[Fasemelta]

Nice post! I'm glad to see someone try this for their first time and document it. . .I'm lacking the skills to tackle that job[emoji28]

Cryotune is legit, if you are still on the original owners tune you may give cryo a shot... mine drives like a dream.

Give Jmp6889928 a shout, he will know all things vf40

[sketron1]

Got rid of a few bungholes, lol!

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160409/b86c87bb2e1f2acf92a05c96e761f612.jpg

 

 

OCD + thermal wrapping the header and UP = justshootmeinthehead

 

 

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[sketron1]

I'd been running UP, DP and a Cryotune for 6 mo. to a year when the car started lurching and falling on its face in WOT above roughly 3.5k rpm, CE light with cylinder misfire codes. It was two cylinders, cleared the codes, then got same code for three cylinders. Did spark plugs 10-15k ago.

 

Ran a Tactrix on a pull, I'll see if I can dig it up. Nothing stood out to me, but that doesn't give me much comfort.

 

Was recently part of a layoff (Oil and Gas) so I anticipate having much more time/sweat than money. That plus having an extra vehicle currently (06 Tribeca). Figured I'd include that in case anyone is wondering why all the effort.

[sketron1]

Got everything together, a shop down the road that rebuilds turbos is going to balance the assembly for $65.

 

For anyone doing this for the first time, don't. There is very little clearance between the shaft and the bearings, so you can't force anything. Literally took me an hour to get it together without boogering anyting up.

 

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http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160415/56bedba6fb6fae53f9b19797d44ff9c9.jpg

[Max Capacity]

Yea, most of say to send the turbo to JmP6889928, he's our go to guy for turbo rebuilds.

[HOYS]

Replace the PCV system stock or get a recirculating AOS. VTA will actually make you run rich as it is air that is counted by the MAF.

[sketron1]

I'd like to ditch the pcv system entirely, run filter breathers or AOS. Anybody got a good link to the most cost-efficient AOS solution for our cars?

 

For everything I skipped see the thread below. This guy rebuilt a VF46, same/very similar turbo

 

http://prairiescooby.com/socom/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5177

[Max Capacity]

I have an AOS that mounts to the oil fill tube. Can't remember the name brand. I'll check later.

 

I think Grimmspeed makes one also.

[sketron1]

Took the assembly into 3rd Coast Turbos in Houston, TX for balancing. Couldn't recommend these guys any more if you build turbos. JMP also mentioned these guys. Guy working there is actually a pilot (I've got A&P mechanic license) so that was cool. I had brought the bearing assembly with the nut hand tight, along with the inlet and outlet housings. I assumed reusing the individual components of the rotating assembly meant they would already be balanced. I was told their standard practice is balance each component, then the assembly. You can see a small notch they made on the turbine wheel, implying it wasn't balanced originally or something at some point in it's life got it out of balance. [emoji53]

 

The compressor nut has a clear scribe. I think the guy may have mentioned balancing via the fins, but I may be totally wrong on that one.

 

 

I left the turbine housing with him, ended up sandblasting it for free. I slapped it together to check clearance, just like new.

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160430/513c8acc3d4fbbe4a84bb7d3d7a9ca2c.jpg

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160430/0e2f84d036983f789a771899645cb8e7.jpg

 

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http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160430/589b695aa7f06c5eba7f1962da660c40.jpg

[sketron1]

And the crack is still there, albeit a little more visible after sandblasting. I'll be on a new turbo by the time that crack propagates to the sealing surface.

 

Now let's start slapping this all together, finally.

 

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[Max Capacity]

Have you thought about stop drilling the crack ?

 

You use a small drill bit and just put a small counter sink type mark at the bottom of the crack, that should stop it from going further.

 

Or if you know of a good machine shop that's been around for a long time, they may know someone who can weld cast iron. Most of the old Farmers know someone who can do that.

 

I had the same type crack welded about 14 years ago on a Apexi turbo on the Civic.

[sketron1]

Sorry for the lack of updates, highly distracted with personal matters. Put the header, UP and brackets to hold it all together. Intake manifold and fuel lines are installed. I F***ing hate the PCV system on these things so I've devised a simplified one. I'll sketch something up and insert into this post.

 

Okay, this was MS Paint at 2am. Using a Perrin intake.

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160516/f9d1ff7207ce5a38a9986803b84fc264.jpg

 

 

Factory PCV system used a metal tube running under the manifold, then PCV hoses attached to that. I'm using the Tee instead as I've removed this hard line (had a coolant line attached to it as well, replaced that with silicone)

[sketron1]

Fuel injector pre- and post-cleaning measurements

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160519/3dac8d7e3aa1b42b3373c42a9e492ddc.jpg

 

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[sketron1]

Next issues, I know where, why, and how the following are used:

Purge Control Solenoid Valve (2 ports, 2-plug connector, bracket)

Purge valve (circular with 3 ports)

MAP sensor (1 port)

 

I'm having trouble locating what this other component is. It looks very similar to the Purge Control Solenoid Valve, slightly larger. Can't find it in the manuals, will keep digging.

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160523/4dc7a449a23b8f0a935de6463c2e31a8.jpg

 

The left three I know, the one in the right I'm not sure.

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160523/081d66b1a72f4f2ff2e398a38b55896e.jpg

 

Same here, not sure what the one in the right is. Any ideas?

[sketron1]

Can anyone confirm that this is the factory wastegate control solenoid? I already have a 3 port EBCS and lost the restrictor pill, so I'll use this EBCS in lieu of the OEM solenoid.

[JmP6889928]

Took the assembly into 3rd Coast Turbos in Houston, TX for balancing. Couldn't recommend these guys any more if you build turbos. JMP also mentioned these guys. Guy working there is actually a pilot (I've got A&P mechanic license) so that was cool. I had brought the bearing assembly with the nut hand tight, along with the inlet and outlet housings. I assumed reusing the individual components of the rotating assembly meant they would already be balanced. I was told their standard practice is balance each component, then the assembly. You can see a small notch they made on the turbine wheel, implying it wasn't balanced originally or something at some point in it's life got it out of balance. [emoji53]

 

The compressor nut has a clear scribe. I think the guy may have mentioned balancing via the fins, but I may be totally wrong on that one.

 

 

I left the turbine housing with him, ended up sandblasting it for free. I slapped it together to check clearance, just like new.

 

 

 

I don't care to have words put out there that I have never said. JMP has never mentioned these guys to anyone.

[whitrzac]

It looks like the stock BCS.

 

Remove the purge valve round thing from they system if you want to keep the stock evap in place. The only thing it does is allow the engine to pull evap fumes when it's in boost. The JDM cars do not have this part.

[sketron1]

Took the assembly into 3rd Coast Turbos in Houston, TX for balancing. Couldn't recommend these guys any more if you build turbos. JMP also mentioned these guys. Guy working there is actually a pilot (I've got A&P mechanic license) so that was cool. I had brought the bearing assembly with the nut hand tight, along with the inlet and outlet housings. I assumed reusing the individual components of the rotating assembly meant they would already be balanced. I was told their standard practice is balance each component, then the assembly. You can see a small notch they made on the turbine wheel, implying it wasn't balanced originally or something at some point in it's life got it out of balance. [emoji53]

 

The compressor nut has a clear scribe. I think the guy may have mentioned balancing via the fins, but I may be totally wrong on that one.

 

 

I left the turbine housing with him, ended up sandblasting it for free. I slapped it together to check clearance, just like new.

 

 

 

I don't care to have words put out there that I have never said. JMP has never mentioned these guys to anyone.

Sorry about that, could have sworn it was you that mentioned them. Looked through my messages and threads and have no idea how I found them. Oh well, we'll see how they did

 

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[sketron1]

I don't know the rules of linking and cross-posting, but here's the link to the emissions setup I'm going with using a 3-port EBCS:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/emmisions-routing-w-3-port-ebcs-turbo-inlet-253191.html

 

Ditching the purge valve like the EU versions of this engine are. And the unknown component is in fact the OEM WG control solenoid, ditching also in favor of the ebcs (and I lost the restrictor pill)