Thread: Turbo seized this weekend

So yeah...less than 5k on this turbo and it seized up on me while cruising around Ocean City, MD.

I have a few questions...does anyone know the name of the turbo that comes with the Stattama turbo kit from ZZP? It says "Garrett M24 A/R .60" on the inlet side and ".81 A/R" on the exhaust side. I'm trying to find either a replacement turbo or a rebuild kit, and I can't get anywhere without some more infomation.

Also, what do you guys do about saving your turbos from this happening? Some of my friends told me I should let the car idle for about 30 seconds after some hard driving to let the bearings cool down. I've never heard of this, but I doubt it would hurt anything. They also mentioned something about a Turbo Timing that continues to circulate oil/coolant after the car shuts off.

This is my first turbo car, and I'm already kind of pissed that it's down due to my lack of knowledge, so any input would be great. Thanks.

with my dads 87 turbo regal he always lets it idle for a minute before shutting it down. make sure to not get into the boost before you are about to shut it down, thats what kills alot of turbos. if i think of anything else ill post.

edit: he opens up his hood too to cool it off. not sure if it actually does anything though lol

I do know that many good remote starters etc will have a turbo timer built in to cool the turbo etc. Sorry to hear about it and that I don't have more info for you.

Stattama LLC -- Turbo Kits and Parts Stattama- High Performance Automotive

Turbo timers let the car run for a few minutes to cool things down after key off.

You sure there wasn't any debris in the oil feed lines that may have caused the failure?

The make of turbo is Garrett the model of the turbo is M24

Pretty much any local diesel shop can rebuild the turbo for you, and that in most cases will cost less than buying new.

I borrowed this explination of A/R from moddedmustangs.com (source link: Forums at Modded Mustangs)

Originally Posted by 2000Si

A/R Explanation
A/R is the rated volumetric efficiency of a turbos 2 sections, so to speak. Imagine if you have a garden hose spraying water out at a pinwheel
with the hose open ended, the pinwheel spins okay. Put a nozzle on it an the pinwheel will spin like mad.

There are issues with the nozzle on the end, you lose volume but gain pressure. With the nozzle off you gain volume, but lose pressure and you can't turn the pinwheel as much.

Simply put, on small displacement engines a smaller A/R is better, on large displacement engine a larger A/R is better due to exhaust volume.

A larger A/R will spool later and provide a higher power band, if your engine is capable of reaching the RPMS it should be used in.

You can't cross compare different types of housings and wheels, but if you have a typical T3/TO4E 57 trim with a stage 3 exhaust wheel and a .48 A/R housing, it might have a powerband of 3000-7000, with the .63 it might be 4000-8000, and with a .82 A/R housing it might be 5000-9000. If you have headwork and cams that stop pulling at 8000 RPM's, it's smart to run the .63 A/R housing. If you have a fully ported head and huge cams that will make power till 9000, the .82 A/R housing would be a better choice. <Source>


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This rx7 link I provided tells you how to calculate the trim of a compressor wheel. Just a little fyi when calculating trims, you can calculate it in inches or mm it doesn't matter. Trim is just the ratio of inducer/exducer. The trim will come out the same whether you calculate inches or mm. The link also tells you how a higher or lower trim number determines where the compressor is the most efficient. Also check out the previously provided Garrett link to look at the products menu and the tech menu. You can use the products->turbochargers menu to calculate the trim of the compressor wheels. Use the formula in the rx7 club site or Garrett site to calculate the trim.

I have been hunting for the same exact information as to what I can use as a direct replacement for the Stattama turbo kit.

Explicit_Spade post makes sence as to why Stattama's website says
"With the .68 AR exhaust housing, this turbo is a perfect choice for street/strip 3800 powered vehicles. We have equipped dozens of FWD 3800 cars with them with 500 WHP achieved many times on pump gas. With the optional .81 AR ratio, this turbo works well for twin-charged 3800s or for a primarily street driven V-8 car or truck.

With the twincharge setup there is tons of low end torque and you don't need the turbo to start build boost until the upper RPM range, hence why they went with the .81 A/R exhaust housing.

From reading on their website it looks like they combing a Precision T4 .68 or .81 A/R exhaust housing with the Garrett M24 intake housing to make their own unique turbo. When I was looking everywhere I wasn't able to come up with much more infor on the intake housing or the A/R of the housing.

Who did you get the kit from? Some people have installed restrictors in the oil line to keep the oil pressure to turbo lower, the problem is that these restrictors can get clogged with debris if there is no pre-filter, which can lead to failure. It's just something to look into as to why it failed before you stick another on.

Originally Posted by FoSHO99

Stattama LLC -- Turbo Kits and Parts Stattama- High Performance Automotive

Turbo timers let the car run for a few minutes to cool things down after key off.

You sure there wasn't any debris in the oil feed lines that may have caused the failure?

Thanks for the link.

While diagnosing the failure on the side of the road, my friends and I pulled the feed line off and started the car. Oil came out of the line, so I'm assuming there wasn't a clog.

Originally Posted by Explicit_Spade

The make of turbo is Garrett the model of the turbo is M24

Pretty much any local diesel shop can rebuild the turbo for you, and that in most cases will cost less than buying new.

I borrowed this explination of A/R from moddedmustangs.com (source link: Forums at Modded Mustangs)

Great info, I'm friends with the local diesel shop, so I'll get them to look at it.

Originally Posted by Quick99GTP

I have been hunting for the same exact information as to what I can use as a direct replacement for the Stattama turbo kit.

Explicit_Spade post makes sence as to why Stattama's website says
"With the .68 AR exhaust housing, this turbo is a perfect choice for street/strip 3800 powered vehicles. We have equipped dozens of FWD 3800 cars with them with 500 WHP achieved many times on pump gas. With the optional .81 AR ratio, this turbo works well for twin-charged 3800s or for a primarily street driven V-8 car or truck.

With the twincharge setup there is tons of low end torque and you don't need the turbo to start build boost until the upper RPM range, hence why they went with the .81 A/R exhaust housing.

From reading on their website it looks like they combing a Precision T4 .68 or .81 A/R exhaust housing with the Garrett M24 intake housing to make their own unique turbo. When I was looking everywhere I wasn't able to come up with much more infor on the intake housing or the A/R of the housing.

Great...frankenstein'd turbo...at least I know where to find a replacement if mine can't be rebuilt.

Originally Posted by FoSHO99

Who did you get the kit from? Some people have installed restrictors in the oil line to keep the oil pressure to turbo lower, the problem is that these restrictors can get clogged with debris if there is no pre-filter, which can lead to failure. It's just something to look into as to why it failed before you stick another on.

I bought a car that had the entire kit in it. I swapped the engine (L32) and turbo kit to my car. The feed line is unbroken (no restrictor from what I can see). I'm going to remove it and have it blown out of all debris. Is there anyway I can put a filter on this line since it is before the actual oil filter?

Originally Posted by acidcrashdburnd

Were you in your GP last weekend? I think I might have seen you around 45th street. I was there for the LS Meet, everyone was checking out my top swap. felt good man.. lol

Yeah, 2-door with a cowl hood. I was blowing off the turbo every chance possible, lol.

Originally Posted by acidcrashdburnd

Viper 5900 and 5901 should do it

I'll look into it.

On my passat 1.8t i always ran synthetic oil and let it run for a minute or 2 after driving so the turbo could cool.

I believe you are looking for something like this...
Sinister Drag Designs - Turbochargers and Accessories - GM- 3800 Series II/III V6 - Content

Yes the turbo should be cooled somewhat before killing the engine. Turbo timers are nice but leaving the car running for half a secondwjll yield the same results. The only difference is that the turbo timer is a lazy mans device or one whose always in a hurry.

I currently do not run a timer and probably will never. If I'm out playing with the car I'll drive normally a few blocks before arriving at my destination. Then I'll just idle for 20-30 seconds before shutting it off. If I drive without getting into boost then I'll just shut off the car.