head noise, then bad turbo?

[nick88]

Okay I bought this built SR and it had a small noise, I thought maybe it was the lifters, no big deal. Well it got a lot louder when I got it home. I was planning on bleeding the lifter or replacing the rockers if they were worn out (the car has 272 cams) or if they had been laid on their sides during the build. Thought worse case scenario I'd go with smaller cams and new rockers.

Then I started hearing noise from the turbo so I tried to boost it a little and it was making 1psi. So I checked it out and there is so much play that the wheel hits the housing, so now my turbo is shot (it's a garrett BB too :().
So there has to be an issue causing both of these, which throws out the idea of the lifters/rockers.
Only thing I can think of is oil delivery problem.
Pertinent oil information:
I have an oil relocation kit and the filter is in the bottom left corner of the bay.
There are no leaks.
I checked the oil after the 1.5 hour drive home and a few days driving around town and it was at the low line.

I just need some advice on things to check/do, this is my only car and I need to drive it!

And I already searched but I only came up with bleeding the lifters etc, which I don't think is my problem since what ever it is killed the turbo too.

[KaminaSan]

Okay I bought this built SR and it had a small noise, I thought maybe it was the lifters, no big deal. Well it got a lot louder when I got it home. I was planning on bleeding the lifter or replacing the rockers if they were worn out (the car has 272 cams) or if they had been laid on their sides during the build. Thought worse case scenario I'd go with smaller cams and new rockers.

Then I started hearing noise from the turbo so I tried to boost it a little and it was making 1psi. So I checked it out and there is so much play that the wheel hits the housing, so now my turbo is shot (it's a garrett BB too :().
So there has to be an issue causing both of these, which throws out the idea of the lifters/rockers.
Only thing I can think of is oil delivery problem.
Pertinent oil information:
I have an oil relocation kit and the filter is in the bottom left corner of the bay.
There are no leaks.
I checked the oil after the 1.5 hour drive home and a few days driving around town and it was at the low line.

I just need some advice on things to check/do, this is my only car and I need to drive it!

And I already searched but I only came up with bleeding the lifters etc, which I don't think is my problem since what ever it is killed the turbo too.

Was your oil full before the few days of driving? Do you have an oil pressure gauge?

Did you check your IC piping for loads of oil? Is your catchan filling up?

Come on buddy... you gotta check these things then we can go from there.

[nick88]

No it was not full before the few days of driving. It's not like I filled it up and drove it around and lost some oil. The previous owner just didn't have it as full as it should've been I think. Because once I topped it off it stayed there. So it's not like I'm losing oil. I do not have an oil pressure gauge. I did check my IC piping and it's fine. Catch can is not filling up.

[nick88]

Okay I pulled the return line off and not a single drop of oil came out. But I pulled the feed line off and plenty of oil was coming out.

Also I look off the oil cap and looked in and I could see oil getting in there while it was running. So oil's making it there, but not enough I guess?

Maybe they are two separate issues.

[nick88]

I can't get the tubular manifold off.
Tried a gear wrench and a swivel socket. How the hell do I do this?

[nick88]

is zilvia really this bad when it comes to tech questions?

[Davidna2fi]

The oil filter relocation might be an issue, if oil drains back and there is an air pocket for a while on start up, it might cause this. Or your oil pump is beginning to fail. I know this sounds strange but let it sit overnight, and then in the morning, loosen the oil filter a little and see if there is any draining, as soon as it starts dripping a little, I mean barely dripping, just enough to cause a leak, have a buddy turn the engine OVER, but do not start it up, just turn it over for about 30 seconds or until oil literally starts to ooze really fast out of the filter. Have a pan underneath and wear some gloves. Tighten oil filter back if the oil shoots out from the filter. If there is pressure there, then move onto getting a pressure gauge and hook it up on your oil filter housing if it has one, or on the oil pressure switch for the dash light. Be careful not to tighten the gauge fitting too tight, and make sure it's super clean when you put the old one on. It should thread easily about 1/4 the way in, and then become hard to turn since it's a pipe thread pitch. turn it with your wrist until its snug, and then do the pressure test by running the car at idle, and then at 3K RPM. At WARM idle the pressure should be 10-15 psi. Anything below 8 Psi is trouble with the SR. Also I think max reading should be about 50 Psi or so at high RPM. If it doesn't shoot up high when you rev it, I'd suspect oil pump issues. Which means removing the head if you don't want an oil leak when you put it back on. LMK how it goes. Hope that helps.

[nick88]

Okay I'm gonna have to read that a few times to try and fully understand, but would the air pocket cause the loud noise from the head and the failed turbo?
Is the loosening the filter and cranking procedure to bleed the air out if there is any? And should I pull the fuel pump fuse so we can crank it without starting?

[Davidna2fi]

Yes. the loosening of the oil filter is to see if an air pocket develops from the oil draining back to hte engine, which would cause an air pocket. Also you can pull the CAS connector if you'd like, or just remove the ECU fuse. Basically if the oil takes a while to shoot out, the lack of oil pressure on cold start ups and at high RPM will cause a turbo to fail as well as no lubrication to the cylinder head.

[nick88]

should I just delete the relocation kit and be done with it?
Also the lines look absurdly long, could that be a problem? They come off the block, go about a foot towards the firewall, then loop back and go all the way to the front of the bay.

[Davidna2fi]

I see no reason for an oil cooler kit in the winter time at all, my friend destroyed his engine at an event due to his oil being too cold and he could never keep it warm enough...7K RPM and cold oil, bad things happen. Add a thermostatic switch so that the flow will not be routed to the cooling unit until the oil temp gets too warm, so the oil will remain hot.

[nick88]

I'm lost, why are we talking about oil coolers?

But I took the turbo off and the feed line was clogged. I blew through it till it came out but I couldn't tell what it was, it was so small and there was thick black oil every where so it was impossible to see what it was.

So whatever clogged that line is probably clogging the oil galleries :(
It has an ISIS over sized oil pan, and they used red gasket maker to seal it, so I'm wondering if that oozed into the pan and it's picking it up now.

[fliprayzin240sx]

I'm lost, why are we talking about oil coolers?

But I took the turbo off and the feed line was clogged. I blew through it till it came out but I couldn't tell what it was, it was so small and there was thick black oil every where so it was impossible to see what it was.

So whatever clogged that line is probably clogging the oil galleries :(
It has an ISIS over sized oil pan, and they used red gasket maker to seal it, so I'm wondering if that oozed into the pan and it's picking it up now.

It cant be the gasket maker from the oil pan, oil sump got a screen on it that should be able to block large items from getting into the oil system.

Was the turbo good when you got it? Since you said its a BB turbo, what oil lines are hooked up to it (stock vs aftermaket?) If aftermarket, does it have a restrictor on it. Its not something that could cause the turbo to blow over night but its something that could cause the turbo to shit after a while (year or more).

Another thing to look into is how is the turbo drain line hooked up? You want the turbo drain outlet to be pointed straight down. If the neck isnt exactly pointed straight down, it could have cause the oil to effectively drain out. Could have contributed to premature wear on the turbo seals.

Lastly, I would invest on an oil pressure sensor and get an idea of how healthy the system is. Nothing else will eat an SR faster than low oil pressure (well that and alot of knock). That could be why you hear alot of shit in the head, it might not be getting enough oil to lubricate it.

[nick88]

It cant be the gasket maker from the oil pan, oil sump got a screen on it that should be able to block large items from getting into the oil system.

Was the turbo good when you got it? Since you said its a BB turbo, what oil lines are hooked up to it (stock vs aftermaket?) If aftermarket, does it have a restrictor on it. Its not something that could cause the turbo to blow over night but its something that could cause the turbo to shit after a while (year or more).

Another thing to look into is how is the turbo drain line hooked up? You want the turbo drain outlet to be pointed straight down. If the neck isnt exactly pointed straight down, it could have cause the oil to effectively drain out. Could have contributed to premature wear on the turbo seals.

Lastly, I would invest on an oil pressure sensor and get an idea of how healthy the system is. Nothing else will eat an SR faster than low oil pressure (well that and alot of knock). That could be why you hear alot of shit in the head, it might not be getting enough oil to lubricate it.
I've heard of the screen but never actually seen it...you don't think some of the gasket maker could be small enough to get through? I mean who's to say it had to be a big piece?
But if you're sure it can't be that, do you have any ideas on what else it could be?

Yes the turbo was good when I got it. It boosted nicely and you could hear how long it kept spooling after shutting the engine off.
And for your ideas on why the turbo failed, we know the turbo failed because of a clogged feed line; I just don't know why it was clogged.

But I'll answer your questions for the hell of it.
It has Taka lines. It does have a restrictor. But the setup only had only had a few thousand miles on it, so I doubt it was that, plus like I said it happened overnight. The drain line was set up properly. And the seals didn't go, the bearings just destroyed themselves.

But yeah I figured low oil pressure is why I hear the noise, it's still just a matter of knowing WHY it has low pressure. I thought I was gonna have some luck and delete the relocation kit and solve everything, but after seeing the clogged line I doubt the reloc. is causing the low pressure.

[Davidna2fi]

I agree on the relocation not cauing now that you mentioned that you have confirmed a clogged feedline, but I do have to agree that something has clogged or worn away your oil pump gears which are pretty tight tolerances inside the gear housings which create your low pressure. I'd take a bet that the clogged line is an issue and that your oil pump is going out, for bits that large to enter the line and clog it, would mean your oil pump clearances are too large as well.