Garrett GT2860R-5 Turbos just blew up

[curtisgoodman]

Hey everyone I'm pretty sure I just blew up one or both impeller wheels on my turbos... I'll have them off tomorrow afternoon to be sure but I'm looking for info on getting them rebuilt... winnipeg or toronto area... I've read some good things about Cherry Turbos in GTA, anyone have anything to help me out with this?

Thanks,

Curtis

[leung23c]

I have been told Alamo turbocharger is a very reputable place. That's in alberta however.

[AL91GTR]

Cherry out of St.Thomas (an hour or so West of GTA) was great to deal with. I had my turbo's rebuilt and balanced there and know a couple of others who had good experience there also.

[Fred-R]

Can you tell us what happened?

[curtisgoodman]

for sure was doing a pull in 3rd like many before let off switched into 4th coasted did a turn around to go back the other way no boost would build... so pulled over and could hear slight metal tinking noises coming from turbo side towards the firewall... immediately i figured i had exploded a compression or exhaust wheel so i shut it down and trailered it home... checked for couplers being blown off and other boost leak orientated lines and vacuum lines etc etc... nothing was loose or off... so ripped out the turbos today and front one was fine minimal play spun freely felt ok although i have nothing to base that on cause it was the first turbo wheel ive felt and spun by hand. anyways the rear turbo had lots of play and was hard to spin by hand did not spin freely and would bind and touch the edges of the housing... one edge of one fin was slightly bent from scraping... so yea that turbo has had it for sure but the other was fine so thats why i wonder why i couldnt build at least 5-10psi or anything...

[curtisgoodman]

going to send them both out for a rebuild and get a scope and pull my plugs and check the cylinders for anything at all then when its back together ill do a compression test and see how the engine is fairing... its only got like 8000kms on it since rebuild so it should be fine but better to check it now while ive got it apart.

[rvander1992]

Cherry turbos are awesome. He offered to let me ship to him and receive shipping back once fixed or to go down in person and have a free diagnosis then decide what to do. I went down, he had a look at my 1 turbo and gave it the thumbs up, then had the other one apart in less than 10 minutes. Found the issue(small piece of steel had gotten stuck in the thrust bearing and starved it of oil). Told me about 450 + taxes + shipping to do it up. I said go for it, and asked to skip the cleaning cause I was on a budget(it was an extra 50$ or so). 1 or 2 weeks later he shipped it back and I swear he just went out and got a new turbo. Everything looked brand new except the center portion(still looked kinda rusty :P). The cold and hot sides both looked brand new, there was hardware that I didn't even drop off to him with it, and everything looked so shiny. Plus the price was less than what he quoted me even with the extra work put in.

[curtisgoodman]

Wicked yea I just talked to Herman this morning... gonna send them both in and see what he says... just stripping the lines off the turbo now and getting them packaged and bubble wrapped then off to the UPS store to send them...

[DougTaylor]

It would be interesting to know what happened. Many of us have -5s. I've never checked with Garrett on warranty, but maybe it would be covered? Wheels / bearings shouldn't just come apart..

[curtisgoodman]

yea i have no idea the turbos have barely any km's on them... like 8k kms since installed... but i was running them at 28psi for most of their life which may have something to do with it... I'll be backing off and running them with a little less boost from now on

[curtisgoodman]

i dont have the original bill of sale i purchased it from a member on here in like 2009 and they were bnib but i never even saw them i had them ship it to my engine builder

[DougTaylor]

28 psi, you must be making serious HP! I'm making 498 whp at 19.4..
Make sure you check the oil system before you replace them..

yea i have no idea the turbos have barely any km's on them... like 8k kms since installed... but i was running them at 28psi for most of their life which may have something to do with it... I'll be backing off and running them with a little less boost from now on

[leung23c]

If you run on 28psi or even more you should get the GTX2863R instead of the GT2860R-5 because you may make an extra 80hp at identical boost level. ATP turbo sell them bolt-on. You will kick T88's ass.

If you run on 22~ psi then just rebuild your GT model

[curtisgoodman]

i make good power for what i have... the numbers may seem low to u but it was in awd on the mustang dyno at racing greed in van they dont call it the heart breaker for nothing... when i was there i was told that very few cars hit over 500hp... i made 505awhp and 443ftlbs of torque... conservative tune i suppose i... tuned on 94 octane with water meth injection at 28psi...

I dont wanna change or upgrade these turbos because they are pretty new... its just a bummer one wore out, when Herman at Cherry Turbos rips it apart he'll let me know what happened. And i havent been running 28psi since ive been out in NW ontario cant find 94 octane up here, running 22psi and hitting 11.5afr at full boost so its good...

[Skym]

Sounds like oil temperature failure due to oil breaking down (check w?? rating of oil and if oil cooler is up to the task) or maybe lack of oil when first starting the engine (crank engine with CAS disconnected to get oil to turbo's before reconnecting CAS and starting engine). Lack of oil on first startup can cause damage to the turbo CHRA. Accusump tank can help to prevent this from occuring.