Turbo Going Out?

[jasqi]

I have a 2005 Legacy GT, my friends have told me since I first bought the car that the turbo was extremely loud compared to their modified one’s, I thought it was just an anomaly and I personally thought it was awesome. Recently someone else with a highly modified legacy told me at a meet that my turbo was going out. Here are my problems: occasionally while hitting boost in a low gear I can hear a sort of supercharger whine, also quite recently if the car is on the colder end if I accelerate in 2nd and don’t shift I hear a sort of metal scraping noise. Just wanna know if I’m past the point of a rebuild, or if I should just upgrade asap.

[whitexc]

With those type of noises you are generally beyond a rebuild and you are likely looking at replacing more than the turbo. Think new shortblock.....

 

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[jasqi]

With those type of noises you are generally beyond a rebuild and you are likely looking at replacing more than the turbo. Think new shortblock.....

 

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Why a new shortblock? What would be wrong with the engine? The car runs and drives pretty well, Im just mainly concerned about the noises the turbo is making.

[jasqi]

Another note is that I hit boost and power fine, the car starts up and runs great, I just hear the supercharger whine noise occasionally, and the sort of metal scraping noise when I hit boost and let the car decelerate itself when cold, and the turbo has lots of “woosh” noise during boost if that makes any sense. I recently did an oil change and didn’t find any metal particles in the oil.

[dwmccauley01]

Another note is that I hit boost and power fine, the car starts up and runs great, I just hear the supercharger whine noise occasionally, and the sort of metal scraping noise when I hit boost and let the car decelerate itself when cold, and the turbo has lots of “woosh” noise during boost if that makes any sense. I recently did an oil change and didn’t find any metal particles in the oil.

You should probably take off the downpipe to check for shaft play. If you're still making boost it means the turbine hasn't snapped but the metal scraping sound is very concerning. If the turbine snaps it'll likely send metal into the pan and therefore into the bearings requiring a new short block

 

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[jasqi]

Ah thank you, I was wildly confused because I’ve heard of the bearing failing and the turbine fails altogether which sends the fine bearing particles through your oil and an engine flush is needed before catastrophic engine failure. My guess is I’ve got some what okay or it’s somehow unbalanced and the turbine is clipping the housing when cold? I’m not sure but I’ll check today. I might also pop off the uppipe and check the cat because I’ve heard it can make the metal scraping sort of noise when it falls apart, this would also likely be an explanation for some wild feedback knock I’ve been getting but no change in DAM or fine knock learn.

[Max Capacity]

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/142-000-miles-oem-turbo-168561.html

 

I got lucky, I did not put any metal into the oil system

 

If your's has put metal into the oil system, you'll want to replace the oil cooler too, as it can hold metal and release them later.

 

JmP6689928 is the resident guy we recommend to rebuild these turbos.

 

You need to decide on replacing your catted up pipe with a catless one, get a 3" catted Dp, and Cobb APv3 for the needed tune for the Dp.

 

Or just stay with the stock Dp kind of depends on your states emissions testing.

 

While the turbo is off the car replace the oil return hose and remove the banjo filter on the back of the head. It's located in that tube, it's removed in this picture.

 

[jasqi]

I do have a cobb and the catless down, I’m on stage 2 right now and the knock was freaking me out because I’ve heard of how bad the Cobb OTS tunes can be, but 2 of my friends are running the same exact downpipe and stage 2 91 and they experience almost none, so I think it’s phantom knock coming from somewhere, combined with the metal sort of noise I’m hoping everything is just that stupid cat. But as a note I was hitting -32 knock sometimes and even -62 I believe it was once with no audible knock. Only time I ever had dam change was drifting through a snowy parking lot and it upped back to 1.00 shortly after.

[whitexc]

I have the stock catless UP just removed from my 2009. It could be yours for cheap plus shipping. You need to get yours gone asap.

 

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[dwmccauley01]

I do have a cobb and the catless down, I’m on stage 2 right now and the knock was freaking me out because I’ve heard of how bad the Cobb OTS tunes can be, but 2 of my friends are running the same exact downpipe and stage 2 91 and they experience almost none, so I think it’s phantom knock coming from somewhere, combined with the metal sort of noise I’m hoping everything is just that stupid cat. But as a note I was hitting -32 knock sometimes and even -62 I believe it was once with no audible knock. Only time I ever had dam change was drifting through a snowy parking lot and it upped back to 1.00 shortly after.

I would definitely not be giving her the beans with that much correction. The DAM dropping below 1 at anytime is no good. It could be phantom but then again it could not be. I think checking the turbo and seeing if you have any heatsheilds are rattling would be a good idea.

 

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[jasqi]

I plan on going vf52 with ewg and fmic soon so I think Imma just gut mine for the time being if that seems to be the problem, I have a video of the supercharger type whine but it won’t let me upload it :/. If the turbo is practically gone though and all else is good I might just upgrade to the vf52 now and have the car detuned until I get the supporting fuel system mods and what not. There are quite a few cobb dyno tuners in my area so it wouldn’t be much of an inconvenience. But yea I think like weekly instances of -32 is wack and with that high of a reading I can’t conceive it being an actual knock reading, it never happens through WOT either it’s always just random.

[jasqi]

side note: is a small whine normal on these turbos because mine isn’t excessive at all it’s quite faint imo.

[dgoodhue]

I plan on going vf52 with ewg and fmic soon so I think Imma just gut mine for the time being if that seems to be the problem, I have a video of the supercharger type whine but it won’t let me upload it :/. If the turbo is practically gone though and all else is good I might just upgrade to the vf52 now and have the car detuned until I get the supporting fuel system mods and what not. There are quite a few cobb dyno tuners in my area so it wouldn’t be much of an inconvenience. But yea I think like weekly instances of -32 is wack and with that high of a reading I can’t conceive it being an actual knock reading, it never happens through WOT either it’s always just random.

 

Have you removed your down pipe and actually checked to see if the turbo has any play in it?

[NORULZleggy]

DO NOT CUT CORNERS WITH THESE CARS. If you do you will pay the price. You need to check the turbo and take that DP off. Max and the rest know what they are talking about. There should not be a whine or any type of crazy noise from the turbo. I have a OEM VF52 and it make no noise, with 5300 miles on it. I also had a stock turbo with 129K miles and it made no noise.

 

Don't end up the person trying to put a JDM 2.0 in the car because it's cheaper due to motor failed.

[Max Capacity]

You can run stock fueling on a vf52. I have been there for over 158,000 miles on my vf52 dynoed at 21psi on stock fueling.

 

I have the intake silencer removed from under the air filter box, I can hear the turbo spool and BOV. It's fairly noticeable outside the car too.

 

If you have any doubts about the turbo, pull the Dp and check it for shaft play.

 

Have you checked the heatshields on your car, one may be rusted and banging causing knock.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Max Capacity

[jasqi]

Yeah I’ve been working quite a lot lately so I’m just waiting till xmas eve to pull the downpipe, but yeah my intake silencer is removed. I didn’t even begin to consider my turbo was going out until someone at a meet heard how loud it was and told me it might be going out. I plan on going vf52 and everything at some point, but I need to sort out some body work and a steering rack first so it would suck if I had to replace the turbo right now.

[Max Capacity]

The only steering rack my trusted mechanic will use a from Mavalgear.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=mavalgear+steering+rack&rlz=1C1OKWM_enUS906US906&oq=mavalgear+steering+rack&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i299l3.15505j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[jasqi]

I bought an oem one with low miles from a junkyard already, I’m slapping the whiteline bushings and bump steer kit on as well. Mine didn’t go out, but it’s bent on the driver side and my alignment right now is wild.

[jasqi]

Alright pulled the downpipe today, tried to move the compresser wheel with my fingers and it wouldn’t budge whatsoever, got a video of it but can’t seem to upload it. Anyways does no shaft play mean I’m good or should I look out for some other things? I will say the wheel looks pretty dry, idk if that’s normal or if it should be oily?

[whitexc]

No shaft play is indeed a good thing. A dry wheel is also a good thing, although you are likely to see it more on the cold side than the hot side. Did it spin well?

 

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[jasqi]

Yea I spun it around with my fingers and it spun very well, no audible noise or resistance.

[jasqi]

I just uploaded the videos of the turbo noise and my attempt to move it for shaft play to youtube.

 

Everything sounds normal to me except the supercharger type whining it does when slowing down

 

 

[Max Capacity]

Turbo looks good.

 

"Everything sounds normal to me except the supercharger type whining it does when slowing down"

 

Is that when the turbo spools down or is that drivetrain noise ? can you put the car in neutral while driving down a hill ?

 

Again, my 5mt wagon is pretty loud when the turbo spools up and the tranny in gear accelerating under power. I can push in the clutch and coast and all is quiet.

 

I was pulling off a stop sign the other day, going up a slight hill using about 3/4 throttle through the gears. About a 1/4 mile ahead was a teenager pushing his bicycle near the top of the hill. After my first shift, he turned and give me a big thumbs up when I pasted him in third gear.

 

I do put my tranny in neutral when going down long hills, because the tranny is so loud under decel. I've been doing that since changing out the DMFW to a SMFW. The tranny has been rebuilt a few times and this is the different 5mt then what came in the car. I also have stiff bushings on the tranny mounts, etc.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Max Capacity

[jasqi]

Yeah now that I think about it’s really only in 1st and 2nd, any other gear and I hear a nice spool noise when building boost. I also believe I’m running a smfw because the previous owner mentioned swapping out the clutch for something more aggressive. When I grenaded my tranny a few months ago I saw aftermarket clutch pieces through the pressure plate hole. I can also feel the clutch, I have 2 friends with lgts, and a few others with wrx’s and their clutch pedal feels so light, but my car’s clutch pedal is so stiff that when I first bought it I was questioning whether I could actually drive the thing, and it was quite the learning curve controlling that thing. Big sigh of relief, now I can get my body work done in peace lol. Thanks everyone, especially you Max.