940 anybody ever had a brand new turbo fail ?

bought a rebuilt and balanced t3 on the forum last month and just got to putting it on my new engine. has good oil flow and drain, and good coolant flow. turbo was primed well before stating it and then the boost was set to 7 psi and drove to town a few times..about 20 miles. when i got got home the second time it started puffing some blue smoke so i shut it all down and checked the plugs, they weren't black and the intercooler lines were clean. let the car totally cool off and the smoke was gone. went out and dove it a few miles and then it started doing the same thing but only once it got warmed up, smoking when you come to a stop and its get progressively worse while its sits there and idles. exact same symptoms an when the turbo failed on my old car. i can feel quite a bit of shaft play in it now to. what could have caused this ?

By chance did you check for shaft play before the turbo was installed?

ya i did and there was a bit but from what i was told all t3s have a small amount. now its a fairly large amount.

Rebuilt does not equal new.

Who rebuilt it?

Have you contacted the seller?

Last time I installed a new turbo, the supplier wouldn't warrantee it unless I bought a new oil feed line also.

Tryingbee on the forum sent it to me, said it was re-built and balanced which i still assume to be 100 % true, i dont want people to think im mad at him. and yes i sent him a PM

it ha brand new oil feed and return lines braided stainless and 5/8 silicone straight to the block

Ask him if he'll spring for a G-Pop kit and rebuild it yourself.

^He rebuilt my 15G, no issues at all from it...

Factory turbo car or a +T?

Crankcase ventilation is good?

factory turbo b230ft from a 94 940 in my 1991 940

yup pcv holds the oil cap down against the cam cover and has all new parts.

Are you positive oil is coming out of the feed line?

Which turbo was it that needs a restrictor in the oil feed? Too much pressure can cause em to bind up.
Though I'm not sure its a T3 that does that.

New and rebuilt parts can fail. I've seen it when I worked at the dealership.

MistrThou said:

Which turbo was it that needs a restrictor in the oil feed? Too much pressure can cause em to bind up.
Though I'm not sure its a T3 that does that.

New and rebuilt parts can fail. I've seen it when I worked at the dealership.

Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking.

Answer: YES!

At this point, unfortunately, the turbo is fubared. I've been in the same situation- T3 turbo rebuilt, by Herman of Cherry Turbos no-less, then installed by experienced mechanic, and boom! nasty smelling light blue smoke... sometimes these things happen.

Did you change the oil before starting new turbo? Dirty oil will kill turbo. All that crude from previous turbo gets recirculated through the nice clean high-precision re-built turbo.

Does the turbo's oil drain pipe flow freely, with minimal bends, big diameter??

Tryingbe has a solid reputation so you should be discussing this with him. Remember, the turbo is not just a part, it is a Turbo System.

p.s. restrictor isn't necessary on the old T3 design, if anything, more oil flow is needed...

oil was brand new with the turbo (mobil 1 10-30)
flexible 5/8s drain line flowing the stock route with no kinks or sharp bends
i realize that now i was incorrect on the restrictor and its not a necessity but it does supply a good oil flow so we can rule that out.

and yes the turbo is shot...what bothers me is the way he is handling the return. he wants a receipt for my exhaust, muffler, catalytic convertor ( not equipped) all were installed my a local muffler shop that doesn't give receipts. also wants pictures or my recirculation valve, intercooler piping and engine bay. as well as reciepts for my oil feed and drain. then he will submit it to a turbo builder for warranty....so contrary to popular belief he doesn't build, rebuild or balance turbos he sends them off.and even though he sold a garbage turbo i have to pay all the shipping back to arizona. this guy is not standing behind his product at all.

and yes i did check the feed line for oil i also unhooked the drain and used a funnel to our oil through it and it takes the oil as fast as i can pour it.

hunterkent said:

he wants a receipt for my exhaust, muffler, catalytic convertor ( not equipped) all were installed my a local muffler shop that doesn't give receipts. also wants pictures or my recirculation valve, intercooler piping and engine bay. as well as reciepts for my oil feed and drain. then he will submit it to a turbo builder for warranty....so contrary to popular belief he doesn't build, rebuild or balance turbos he sends them off.and even though he sold a garbage turbo i have to pay all the shipping back to arizona. this guy is not standing behind his product at all.

Click to expand...

The receipts for the exhaust work sounds out of the ordinary to me, but asking for receipts for the oil feed & drain tubes is pretty standard fare for anyone trying to have a turbo warrantied. Pictures of your installation, CBV, etc seems about normal to verify proper installation, goes hand in hand with the proof of new oil supply lines. I.E. You can't get a fuel pump warrantied without showing proof that you replaced the fuel filter at the same time. This practice is common.

Paying for return shipping is also normal, until root cause of failure is determined. I wouldn't be surprised if your return shipping (or a portion thereof) was refunded to you if it turns out that the turbo failure wasn't your fault, but they need to inspect it first. Much of this sounds like standard operating procedure for a warranty claim. It's not as cut-n-dry as we'd like it to be. Manufacturers and rebuilders have to protect themselves as much as anything else. It's all business.

iPd doesn't build turbos either, or most of what they sell for that matter, but everyone is quick to say that their turbo is a iPd 19T, or iPd strut brace, etc because that's where they bought it from. All iPd is, is just a company providing parts & service. Not unlike Tryingbe with the turbos. He's providing a turbo rebuild service. Sounds to me like he's trying to stand behind his product and help you get this situation resolved. But his hands are tied as much as yours, you'll both need to adhere to the rules set about by the company that rebuilt the turbo. You'll have to help him, help you.

(...and think of it this way; for every 1 turbo that is installed and setup correctly, there are a dozen more that aren't. Shops would be out of business overnight if every person with a "new" smoked turbo got a warranty job without first investigating why it failed.)

your probably right. guess ill just pitch this turbo in the trash and go buy a new one cause i have to have the car back ASAP and without receipts for the oil feed and drain they wont even consider warrantying it out. I'm sorry but with a proper installation that has been looked at by a respected Volvo mechanic this guy should be a little easier to deal with.