docwyte

So today was my first track day in the car, since I missed the first 3 events because the car wasn't done.

Loaded up the car last night, woke up early, hitched up the tire trailer and hit the road.

About half way there I hear a loud "Pow!" and lose all power. Been there, done that, blew a boost hose off. Pull over, get my tools from the trailer, pop the hood and reattach the clamp. Put everything away, jump in the car, drive off.

3 minutes later, you guessed it, "Pow!". Cursing, I pull over, get the tools, fix the problem, this time throw the tools in the passenger seat and drive off.

I make it the track without incident, unpack, swap front brake pads and put on my race wheels/tires. Check the boost clamp, looks good. Check the oil and add a quart. Hmmmm, that seems like a lot...

Suit up, grid up, hit the track. First time with this car on the track and I don't have as many days on this track (HIgh Plains Raceway) as all the other local tracks, so I'm tentative. Car seems to have plenty of grip, so I begin to ramp it up after the first 2 laps. Coming out of a gentle right hander, I roll into the throttle. "Pow!"

Off goes the boost hose! I curse. Luckily I'm not in traffic and I'm able to coast to a stop right near a corner station. Now I spend the next 25 minutes baking in my nomex, with helmet, HANS and 6 point harnesses on while I wait for the session to end and them to tow me back to the paddock.

Swap the clamp out for a thinner clamp and tighten the crap out of it. Check the oil. Hmmm, have to add more...

Go out for the 2nd session of the day. Not sure if the boost clamp is going to hold, but nothing ventured, nothing gained! Luckily it does hold up and I start going harder and harder every lap, car has tons of grip! Power isn't particularly impressive though...

Before the last session of the day I check the oil again and have to add a quart. Not so good. Have fun the entire session, really beginning to pick up the pace, tires are beginning to sing in the corners and I'm drifting through some of them. Power is particularly unimpressive, although the boost gauge is showing proper boost. Oil temps are quite high, even with the KISS cooler.
I lift off and let the car cool down and bring it into the paddock.

Pack up, check the oil before I leave and have to add yet another full quart! This definitely is NOT good. Leave the track, hit the A/C button and to add insult to injury, the A/C is not working. Great.

Additionally volt meter is reading around 12.5 volts, so the car is not charging properly either.

Drive home 60 miles stewing, literally and figuratively.

Get home without incident, but blowing copious blueish/white smoke out the exhaust. Low oil light comes on right as I arrive home. So that means I've gone through 4+ quarts in a 120 mile commute and 60 minutes on track.

Compression and leakdowns are excellent, so it's not the motor, it's the turbo oil seals.

I'm about ready to shoot this thing and put myself out of my misery. My wife comments that I shouldn't have bought this car and my old M3 was far more reliable. "Yes dear..."

#1 How much does a turbo rebuild cost?
#2 Where should I send the turbo for the rebuild?
#3 Is it time to just put an LS1 in this thing???

CPR

Hey Doc...just been thru what you are going thru now. Not fun, and very, very frustrating.

First all,
~what turbo are you running?
~what was its condition when you installed it (new, used, rebuilt)?
~...and no to the LS. You are almost there with this one, just a few more things to tidy up.

docwyte

It's the original Vitesse stage 2 turbo. Turbo is used, as the kit didn't come on the car. Not sure how many miles were on the turbo. I inspected it before I installed it and it seemed fine, no shaft play, etc.

I'm getting really close to pulling the trigger on the LS1. Figure I can get the vitesse stage 2 turbo rebuilt and sell the entire kit with DME/KLR, then sell the motor (widefire HG, rebuilt head, new rod bearings). Then pick up a wrecked Camaro, take what I need, sell off the rest to net zero that car and have all the cash from the stock motor/Vitesse kit to pay for the needed Renegade parts etc.

Then I end up with a 360rwhp motor that's dead nuts reliable.

CPR

These guys are one of the best turbo rebuild shops out there (IMO). VERY friendly and helpful to talk to and have an extremely quick turn around time, and reasonable pricing:

http://www.evergreenturbo.com/index.html

Give them a call Monday if you like, I think you will find them to be stand up guys.

Sorry to hear of all of your recent problems and wish you the best of luck.

docwyte

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll call them Monday.

hp18racer

My boost hose problems went away when I bought silicone hoses and a set of t-bolt clamps. The only place I still use a hose clamp on the big couplers is on the throttle body.

Probably around $400 for the turbo rebuild and another $200 worth of seal rings/exhaust hardware.

If you find a priest that does a good job with the exorcism let me know. I am sure that my cars are cursed too.

docwyte

Yep, silicon couplers and T-bolt clamps are in the works. I think that one clamp kept blowing off because it was too wide to fit in the factory coupler groove. The thinner clamp held on fine.

Any other recommendations on turbo rebuilders?

hp18racer

www.majesticturbo.com is another that I've heard good things about.

DrZ1

+2 for Evergreen, I have been having my turbo work done there for years, Porsche and Nissan prior. I have been more then satified.\

Charlie has been in the buisness a long time.

Steve

arthropraxis

If you are thinking of going the the darkside there are better options than Renegade PM me for details if you can't find them in other recent LS1 posts.

gregeast

I'd check with Vitesse on a recommended rebuilder Doc. And bummer man, just bummer.

lart951

I don't care what people think but I believe you the car might be cursed. I have seen it.

Jeff N.

I have a less than perfect turbo and oil in the intake track. I also track the car . A few suggestions re the hose pop off. The oil consumption does sound worrisome...bummer.

MOST important:

- use brake cleaner to clean all the mating surfaces. ANY oil in the hose or on the mating surface will guarantee that the hose will pop off again, especially under long periods of high boost and hot underhood temps. You need a rag and blast some fluid on the rag and wipe the crap out of the inside of the hose and hard connector. THEN, torque with a good clamp. This alone will fix 99% of any hose popping problems.

Other good ideas:

- swap to content torque type clamps. Better than stock, no experience with T-clamps but suspect they are just as good.

- I have a mix of silicon hoses and stock hoses. My silicon hoses are between the intercooler and hardpipe and the stock hoses are between the cold side outlet and the hardpipe and the hardpipe to throttle body. Silicon hoses helps - especially if you cut them a bit longer than stock so you get more clamping area however they alone are not the answer.

Jeff N.

PS - how hot did the oil get? What was the ambient outside temp?

Jfrahm

I would wonder about the crankcase vent and AOS before going straight after the turbo seals. I also dimly recall the Vitesse turbos do not run oil restrictors but you might check on that also.

Any chance the oil pressure relief valve is stuck? Was it messed with during the oil cooler install?

The good news is that the voltmeter in the cluster can read a bit low so check out your voltage with a good meter before reacting to that reading. If need be there is an adjustable voltage regulator or a mod you can do to bump up the charging voltage, but if your gauge is reading low that's be pointless.

-Joel.