98 TRD 3.4L Turbo , Methanol , LT

Not really it just coats where the race and cup meet and keeps the corrosion down. Most off road shops install them dry which is fine for a truck that is in the southwest all the time but if you plan on driving in the snow/winter they will seize. Lube all your bolt too when you go to install. It's messy but helps in the long run.

 

Shit! The fpr hose was totally disconnected from the manifold! The one where you rerout for boost to increase fuel pressure. No wonder things were haywire with codes. I can only guess how long its been like that. I wonder if the extra boost just shoots it off. Stock it didn't come with hose clamps so I didn't think it was a necessity, but I'm putting some on now. I'll see how that responds.

Oh, and the hole I just found on the vaccum tube between the turbo and the ebc surely wasn't helping my cause. Somehow it must have melted or got hot enough to tear where it was rubbing against the charge tubing.



One more thing. CX Racing is badass. My turbos bearing is thrashed (I think). It went from a clean whining like on a diesel truck to a sort of squeel under boost? Bearing shot, anyone chime in please. They are sending me a rebuild kit for free! I was under the impression that if your turbo was water cooled you didn't need to turbo time it on shut down, so I always just shut it off. May have covered the bearing in coke.

 

You'll have to rebalance after a turbo rebuild fyi. Are the wheels rubbing on the housings?

 

They might be? I just know it sounds fine at low speed but when I go into boost it starts to sound like when a belt slips on a car. That's the best way I can describe it. It used to sound sweet and whine like a diesels turbo. But now it sounds hideous. All I can think is to break it down when I get the rebuild kit. If it was a wheel what would I do?

 

Inspect it to make sure the wheels are ok. The housing is typically a softer metal than the blades. good chance you caught it early enough. Basically make sure you don't have any chips in the blades. If so take a picture of it and see if cx will get you a new wheel or even better a new chra so you can avoid the balancing. I never rebuilt a turbo before, but there are youtube videos for days. Once you get it back together see if there is a shop local to you that can balance it. They shave off a small section of the nut.

video better explains it. Skip to 3:00 if the link didn't do the skip already

https://youtu.be/0oXMH9sp7LM?t=3m

 

Was anything done to ensure that there were no air leaks in the charge pipes? Air coming out between a silicone coupling and an aluminum pipe WILL squeal under certain conditions. You might even have a tiny hole in one of the silicone couplings that you won't know existed without blowing air in there or smoke checking it. Spin the turbine shaft with your finger to see if it spins freely and also check side to side play. A little wiggle room is perfectly normal as long as it doesn't easily touch the housing. It would be highly unlikely for even a cheap Chinese turbo to burn out so fast on 4-8 PSI and an engine that redlines at 5.5k
Good find on the FPR hose. A disconnected vs connected FPR hose at 4 psi full boost and stock fueling makes the difference between 13 AFR and 11.5 AFR.

 

Absolutely! My afr was all crazy and as soon as I hooked it back up afr dropped 5 at idle from 20 to my normal 15. The turbine spins freely like it did when I bought it. I tightened all the clamps. It doesn't make noise until I get to boost, 0+psi.

 

Well your screwed up idle AFR was due to the vac leak from the AFR hose (I'm guessing that vac leak is what kept your cel on) but with no leak and an unplugged FPR hose your boost AFR will surely be above 12. I would absolutely do a smoke check in your charge pipes though. I remember having a tiny hole in one of my couplings that blended in with the weaves of the white fibers in the coupling and it made a squealing noise until I fixed it.

 

Yeah I will. You just let smoke go through the compressor and see if it comes out the charge pipes at idle I think rihht? Balancing turbo is $75 bucks, but they recommended not rebuilding a ball bearing turbo. I don't get that?

 

No, take the first coupling off right after the turbo (truck off), fill your mouth with anything that creates vapor or smoke and actually blow through the charge pipes while fitting the coupling tightly around your mouth, making it air tight. A tiny bit of air will leak through some of the valves within the engine, but you'll be able to tell really quick if there's a leak anywhere in your intake.

 

Sounds good, I'll do that soon.

Put on fiberglass fenders. The fit isn't perfect but I'm happy with them.

 

Maybe time to ditch the bug guard lol

 

Dunno. I kinda liked it. Lemme see what it looks like off.

And a new bumper. Haha.

 

i was gonna ask if u were gonna go with trail gear front bumper b/c it seems pretty popular for first gens and they're a really reasonable price it seems, but then i saw this and decided it may be the best lookin 1st AM bumper ive ever seen may not have sufficient air flow for your IC

 

Yeah that thing definitely won't allow the charge air to cool anything great. You might be able to get away with skipping the IC all together since you have meth injection but I suppose there's nothing wrong with leaving it alone. Some cooling is better than none.

 

I'm going to fab up a bumper out of rectangular tube. I already have everything, just need to do it. That is a nice bumper, I am trying to go lighter.

 

i did mine out of 4" 3/16 c channel and and a 3/16" skid plate, also used 3/16 2x1 1/2 angle for all my mounting bracket, and it weighs about 85 lbs as best i remember so like 60 lbs more than stock plastic cover and crash bar

nothing too fancy but it works ha and looks pretty good i think for ~$100, i have a ~1" gap top and bottom of the plate and was gonna cut some more holes in it but i've got the torque app and bluetooth adaptor and my coolant temps still look really good. if and when i go turbo ill add some more flow

 

Don't forget the winch

 

The winch is a maybe for me right now. I have like 100 projects first including putting on the LT. Yours looks really nice.

 

I think your right gio! I still have to smoke test it but when I listen to the noise my boost is making it does sound like rubber vibrating or blow through on the silicon somewhere. It's just strange to me that it overpowers the whine of the turbine.