Turbo options

[willroach8908]

Folks,

I currently have a 1989 1st gen. I was inspecting the turbo yesterday and notice excessive play in the shaft bearings. Its not bad enough that i see any sign of scraping on either the turbo blades or the housing, or resistance in rotation, but i would like to either repair it or replace it within the next year. Are the h1C rebuild kits you can buy online worth getting, or should I just plan on paying more money and replace the turbo? Any info would be appreciated.



Thanks,

Will

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

I recommend getting a quality rebuilt turbo from a turbo shop. It should be balanced for 100,000 rpm and you won't be able to do that at home with a bearing kit!

 

[willroach8908]

Thanks Joe for the response, I appreciate your help.

Will

 

[NIsaacs]

You will have some movement even on a new turbo, so yours might not be wasted. The bushing to shaft clearance is built in to allow it to run in an oil film. Under normal oil pressure some of the excessive clearance will go away. If there is no sign of oil seeping past the seal, I would run it.



Nick

 

[JLEONARD]

With a 1989 you have what is called a "baby H1C". The compressor outlet is smaller than the intercooled H1C.

So just be careful if you buy an H1C turbocharger unless you want to upgrade or modify the compressed air plumbing (which is not a bad thing to do).



I have rebuilt several Holstet turbos without balancing them and have not had an issue. The nut and shaft have to be marked for orientation before you take it apart, then re-assembled back to original.



You mention the play in yours is "excssive" which may not be true. You can find the axial and radial play limits online if you do a search for Holset. Basically if the compressor blades don't hit the housing either radially or axially with say "light finger pressure then you should be ok.

 

[willroach8908]

Thank you for this information. The previous owner had put in the aftermarket intercooler, so would they had to of changed to a different turbo to work with that set up? the blades do not touch the housing, so maybe its not as bad as I had thought. Thanks again!

Will

 

[JLEONARD]

The previous owner had put in the aftermarket intercooler, so would they had to of changed to a different turbo to work with that set up?

They could have used the original turbo and adapted it.

I think the "baby" has a 2 inch compressed air outlet and the "grownup" has a 3 inch outlet.



Hopefully someone can verify that.

 

[roachcoach]

I agree with every one else. A little shaft play is alright. My brand new 64/80/14 had a little play in it.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Learn something new every day. I wonder what the original H1C on mine was considering it was also Banks intercooled. Could be stock or adapted. Hmmm.