Banging my head! Multiple turbo failures

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letsgetthisdone

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If you are so sure about that, then what’s the problem?

It takes a lot of things wrong with a tune to blow up a turbo. Too much boost resulting in overspeed is the most common one, but Garrett's are very resilient to being run beyond their rated RPM. And these trucks. especially on pump gas, don't take that much boost. These Garret's are on easy mode for a pump gas tune in these trucks. And OP did a boost leak check, which is the most common cause of over speed that I see at my shop.

You "can" melt the turbine from excess EGT, but that generally only happens with spark cut anti-lag where combustion is happening in the exhaust manifold and turbine housing. Otherwise the turbine can handle more heat than the piston, so usually the piston melts first in applications where motorsport style anti lag isn't being used.

Regardless of all that, his photos show clear over heating due to lack of cooling/lubrication in the rotating assembly, and when the rotating assembly failed the turbine was allowed to contact the housing and it then broke off the shaft. They do not show that the turbine melted.
 
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Bryan_Arlaud

Bryan_Arlaud

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UPDATE!!

its alive and runs like mad. The truck absolutely rips.

What we found out was an air flow issue. the new hood that was installed has a cross brace in the front for support. That brace has about 1/4" to 1/2" of clearance in front of the snorkel from the air box and about a quarter of it completely blocked. We simply couldn't get enough air. We removed the clear cover off the S&B intake box and just like magic it works great! We were all so focused on oil issues that we never thought to look at air flow.
 

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New recaros

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It takes a lot of things wrong with a tune to blow up a turbo. Too much boost resulting in overspeed is the most common one, but Garrett's are very resilient to being run beyond their rated RPM. And these trucks. especially on pump gas, don't take that much boost. These Garret's are on easy mode for a pump gas tune in these trucks. And OP did a boost leak check, which is the most common cause of over speed that I see at my shop.

You "can" melt the turbine from excess EGT, but that generally only happens with spark cut anti-lag where combustion is happening in the exhaust manifold and turbine housing. Otherwise the turbine can handle more heat than the piston, so usually the piston melts first in applications where motorsport style anti lag isn't being used.

Regardless of all that, his photos show clear over heating due to lack of cooling/lubrication in the rotating assembly, and when the rotating assembly failed the turbine was allowed to contact the housing and it then broke off the shaft. They do not show that the turbine melted.
Just like you said. Lol insert foot now!
 

letsgetthisdone

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Well, it still wasn't the tune :)

Intake restriction is a new one for me. Haven't had that happen. It can cause over speed. Or if the pressure ratio is really bad, the compressor is trying to pull its self out of the inlet, and as a result the thrust washer is seeing loaded in the direction it wasn't designed for.
 

NickW

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UPDATE!!

its alive and runs like mad. The truck absolutely rips.

What we found out was an air flow issue. the new hood that was installed has a cross brace in the front for support. That brace has about 1/4" to 1/2" of clearance in front of the snorkel from the air box and about a quarter of it completely blocked. We simply couldn't get enough air. We removed the clear cover off the S&B intake box and just like magic it works great! We were all so focused on oil issues that we never thought to look at air flow.

What a journey. Glad you got it figured out. The hood causing this is the first time I've heard this type of thing on any vehicle, it's crazy. Sucks that it cost so much time and money! Truck looks sick too
 

nikhsub1

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Well, it still wasn't the tune :)

Intake restriction is a new one for me. Haven't had that happen. It can cause over speed. Or if the pressure ratio is really bad, the compressor is trying to pull its self out of the inlet, and as a result the thrust washer is seeing loaded in the direction it wasn't designed for.
Turbos are just centrifugal pumps. The worst thing for a centrifugal pump is to restrict the inlet. I'm talking in general terms here of course, you can restrict the outlet of the pump all you want. This is why I jumped on the AMS inlet tubes.
 
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Bryan_Arlaud

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Yep moral of the story don't fixate on what your think it is. The new ram air hood looks cool but it now the most expensive hood in custom car history.

Also just want to mention @GooseTuned is my tuner and he is amazing. We had several great conversations about the tune and possible issues. He was basically right by my side for the entire journey. This truck has the power it does because of him and the amount of customer service he provides for the cost is unmatched.

Please don't tell him I may order a built short block from New Jersey that may or may not be able to handle 1000 hp. lol. sure hope he wants to tune it. lol
 

letsgetthisdone

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Turbos are just centrifugal pumps. The worst thing for a centrifugal pump is to restrict the inlet. I'm talking in general terms here of course, you can restrict the outlet of the pump all you want. This is why I jumped on the AMS inlet tubes.
The stock inlet tubes may be "restrictive" but they don't cut off air flow. Stock VS AMS inlet tubes wouldn't be a factor in the issue the OP had.
 

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