The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

The below link mainly refers to EJ/wrx engines etc but same principle could be applied to my setup. good info for anyone with a Turbo sooby.

Anyways to give a little backstory on my situation for those not in the know. ive consistently been blowing turbos (mega shaft play the symptoms) ever since i converted to the td04. the VF4 died from the same thing too. After thinking it was just bung turbos i narrowed it down to either the water or oil line- but mainly thinking that the ea pump doesnt flow enough oil pressure which is why ive killed 3 td04's now. and decided to go ej because i didnt wanna waste more money on figuring it out.

anyways now read the article found by matatak last week
Oil Starvation of Turbos on Subaru Vehicles: Why and How.


Its then i realised that i had i had a mysteriously stripped and leaking banjo bolt from the bottom of the turbo feed, after installing the first td04. i had that professionally helicoiled and that particular turbo lasted like 4-5 months.
Its only now i think that small shaving could of blocked either of the two banjo's and not allowing enough oil and pressure to the turbo. (i know there is some getting there). so even if the ea82t doesnt have this filter thing i can check the lines are all good, replace banjos then think about whacking on another td04.
Any opinons on whether this is the likely cause or not?

Sounds plausable as to why your frying turbos. I'd get rid of that screen and maybe even enlarge the holes in the banjo bolt if there's enough meat to do this.

I'd also try and tap an oil pressure guage into the turbo line and get one for the engine near the oil pump too. This way you can monitor engine oil pressure AND turbo oil pressure - the plumbing of the turbo oil pressure guage line will be the tricky bit - I had enough trouble trying to find a T piece to get the oil guage in my L to allow the standard oil sender unit to fit plus my oil pressure guage - I ended up at a marine joint that happened to have one kicking around, it was a good find.

If you've made your mind up about the EJ i'd be working on that - then if you want to find out what was up with your turbo check out the banjo bolts etc. This way you won't be stringing yourself along with the hope of a good '82T.

Hope that helps you out with a decision/idea of what went wrong.

Cheers

Bennie

I'd say that would be an EJ engine issue , I WILL check my factory 87 WSM to see if EA82T engines have that strainer but I dont recall them having such a thing in the turbochargers oil feed line .

Also turbos do NOT like high lube oil pressure , they also don't like over supply of oil .
When oil exits a turbochargers high speed bearings it lookes like dirty whipped cream - basically airated oil foam . If the bearings are flooded you get HEAPS more oil shear drag and oil inside the bearing housing leaks through the turbine end piston ring seal and you get lots of burnt oil smoke .

Usually OEM turbos have an accurately drilled hole in one of the banjo bolts and this limits the volume and pressure of the oil entering the turbos bearing housing .

If all else fails you may need to make a new braided oil feed line if the std one has some sort of restriction in it . Did you take it off and blow compressed air throught it ?

Also before anyone asks ball bearing turbos need LESS oil than bush bearing ones , remember they have hardened balls and races and the contact area is less than a bush over a shaft . In bush bearing turbos the shaft is supposed to float on a boundary layer of oil so they need a slightly greater volume pumped through them .
If a BB turbo is over fed you get bearing lag er drag !

Cheers A .

PS did you gut any used up TD04's ?
If you want to send me some/one I can let you know what killed it .

i dont beleive there would be a Banjo bolt filter in Matts car either. (article refers to USDM EJ25 i beleive.

but having his oil feed Helicoiled and drilled will put shit through the oil ways and into the sump. if the Oil wasnt changed it culd send it to 'whoknowswhere', possibly even blocking small oil feed lines to turbos??


There HAS to be a plausible explanation to why it has chewed 3 Turbos.

and no old ones have been ripped apart yet its still something which should be done. (atleast i dont think any have been dismantled that came out his car)


The TD04 upgrade has been done a fair few times without trouble i beleive.