Garret T3 Turbo...need some help
Garret T3 Turbo...need some help
Me and my buddy are fixin up a 81 280zx turbo we got for free. We still dont have the car but we are picking it up soon. From what the guy told us (hes my buddies dads friend thats why were gettin it for free) the engine is in good shape but one thing that is wrong with it is the turbo is broken (thats all we know) Any one know of a service manual or factory manual for the garret t3 turbo? thats what i was told is in this car online from some guy on here. We got the 280zx manual but it doesnt have anything about the turbo. Hopefully we didnt get the wrong manual . any help is appreciated! thanks
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evildky
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the turbo was a late offereing in 81, the 81 fsm might not have the turbo info, and the 82 will have slightly diferent info as the injection system changed a bit
but ont he topic of a bad turbo, take the air inlet hose off the turbo, anc check for free play, the turbo should spin with little to no effort form your finger tip, it should also have just a hint of movement side to side and none fore and aft, excessive side play is a bad turbo, next take the air discharge pipe off and look for signs of oil int the "J" pipe, if there si oil in the :J: pipe you likely have a bad oil seal in the turbo, if the turbo turns and displays no signs of leaking, fior the car up and look for smoke, a bad seal ont he exhaust side will rusult in a car that runs fine but has bluish or dark grey smoke coming fomr the tail pipe leaving an oily residue
if the turbo is in fact bad, I do NOT recomend rebuilding your stock turbo, I highly recomend either replacing the turbo or at the very least installing a new center section
for a new turbo contact MSA (zcarparts.com) I'm nt sure if anyone sells a new center section for this particular turbo but a decent turbo chop can machine your housings to accept a more standard center section
standard off the shelf replacments won't fit due to the unique wastegate housing bolt pattern
but ont he topic of a bad turbo, take the air inlet hose off the turbo, anc check for free play, the turbo should spin with little to no effort form your finger tip, it should also have just a hint of movement side to side and none fore and aft, excessive side play is a bad turbo, next take the air discharge pipe off and look for signs of oil int the "J" pipe, if there si oil in the :J: pipe you likely have a bad oil seal in the turbo, if the turbo turns and displays no signs of leaking, fior the car up and look for smoke, a bad seal ont he exhaust side will rusult in a car that runs fine but has bluish or dark grey smoke coming fomr the tail pipe leaving an oily residue
if the turbo is in fact bad, I do NOT recomend rebuilding your stock turbo, I highly recomend either replacing the turbo or at the very least installing a new center section
for a new turbo contact MSA (zcarparts.com) I'm nt sure if anyone sells a new center section for this particular turbo but a decent turbo chop can machine your housings to accept a more standard center section
standard off the shelf replacments won't fit due to the unique wastegate housing bolt pattern
Re: (evildky)
How much would a new center section cost? A brand new turbo would be a little out of reach but if we have to i guess we have to. Right now i have $150 to put into this and he has nothing. hes gonna get a $500 dollar loan from his parents and i have very unsteady income of only $40-$80 every two weeks. I have two jobs but one of them is completely dedicated to buying a car this spring because i absolutly have to have one for the summer for an internship....Yea its a tight budget but heck the way i look at it knowin nothing about cars i think just looking at the damn thing and studying it will be fun enough and probally better in the long run haha
Re: (bdgerfn20)
Hell you should be able to get a nice running rebuilt full T3 for about 150. Check HBZ and Zcar, there's usually one on there, or someone that has one.