Turbo repair kit

[RDBuck]

Has anyone used the turbo repair kit listed in the Cummins Parts Catalog for our 6BTA5. 9 engine? Cummins part #3545652. It consists of seals,bearings,thrust washers,retaining ring and other misc. pieces. It would seem like a smart thing to do before the bearings wear enough to allow the impeller to dig into the housing and cause expensive damage.

 

[JLEONARD]

I plan on rebuilding my turbo in the next couple months as a pm thing. There is a little radial play, not too bad, but like you I want to catch it before it does damage.

I don't know the part number, but I got quoted a price of $65 for the kit from Janetty in Waterbury,Ct.

I have rebuilt a couple other turbos in the past and it is a pretty easy job normally. Cleaning everything is the most time consuming.

Drive to Connecticut, we'll do them together. ?

 

[MikeO]

I think you would be much happier having a professional rebuild it.



I race a turbo car and go through about one turbo a year (usually break the shaft and the turbine imbeds itself into the housing at about 100,000 rpm). I can tell you from first hand experience that the key to good spool up and reliability is professional balancing.



I haven't looked into it yet for the Holsets, but I wonder if anyone makes a ceramic ball bearing CRHA (center rotating housing assembly, aka cartridge). In gas engines, the BB CHRA has much faster spool up and greater reliability.



Mike O.

 

[R.E. Miller]

Mike,

I was wondering the same thing, but I don't think that Holset offers one. The one thing that really makes me wonder, why has no one tried to run a turbo from Turbonetics? Ceramic bearings, housing choices, and hey, they are for high performance applications..... right?



Russell

 

[MikeO]

Turbonetics is one of a slew of high perf turbo shops. They do a great job. Majestic is another one in TX as is turborepair.com. Reid at turborepair.com build some serious hybrids.



There shouldn't be a problem with using a CRHA from a different turbo - it's just a little machine work.



The only thing that concerns me, after thinking about it some more, is the amount of ash present in a diesel engine's oil. This may or may not be bad for a Ceramic BB setup. I think a call to Turbonetics would ferret that out though.



Mike O.

 

[RDBuck]

turbo rebuild

Called High Tech Turbo in Utah, gave them Cummins #3545652 for a turbo rebuild kit and they had one in stock for $55. Their # is 1-801-268-9721. They said it should be no problem rebuilding so long as the impeller has not suffered any damage. My point was to do some preventive maintenance. I plan on changing from a 16 to a 12 and thought while I have it out-----.

 

[MikeO]

I wish I had a dig pic of a balanced unit. Here's a review of what is done by a good turbo shop:



Obviously, they dip the parts and clean the hell out of them. They then assemble the shaft, turbine and compressor wheels. It is then balanced as a unit which is the important part.



They remove material from the locking nut to balance it. Think about this, the amount of material they remove is less than the size of a pea and is at the center of the rotating assembly. The assembly is marked, retested for trueness, and disassembled. When reassembling the unit in the CRHA, the orientation of the turbine, compressor and shaft are the same as when it was balanced because it was marked and reassembled in the same way.



I won't even install fresh factory turbos in my car any more. They all get disassembled by Turbo Specialties (turborepair.com) and balanced. The $160 it costs me is worth it considering the turbo costs about $1200.



Is the Holset any different? I know that the Hoslet doesn't see EGTs like I get in the car (1850F). I also know that the wheels in the Holset are bigger than in the car. That being said, there is more of a chance for an unbalanced wheel because rotating mass is farther from the center of the shaft.



I assume that Holset balances the turbos at the factory. If that is so and you are going to still do this yourself, please ensure that you orient the shaft and wheels in the same way as when you disassembled them. Use some paint or a sharp point to mark the end of the shaft. Do not mark the shaft (bad idea, don't ask how I know).



Mike O.