What exactly happens when a stock turbo blows up

[RustspecS13]

I may be getting a second s13 with an rb20, and I have no idea how high its been boosted up to. I've looked at a few and this particular one may have been up to 15psi, which is pretty high for a old stock turbo.

Say it comes apart on the trip home (6ish hours) as long as I keep the throttle floored while its blowing up, I should be ok. But my question is, can I continue home like that, or will oil leak from the center housing into the exhaust side and burn off? And will the compressor wheel being almost completely free pose a problem?

Basically, would I have to by pass the turbo oil lines and the compressor housing or can I just leave it as is?

~Alex

[Carl H]

exploding turbos either mean a turbine wheel will come spinning out the exhaust or the compressor will shatter and send metalic bits all thru the intake track and into the engine if it makes it past the intercooler.
you cant drive the car once the turbo has lost a wheel, the shaft will have no way of being retained and you WILL be leaking oil profusely and causing not only oil into the intake but also oil contaimination.

just dont boost the car, simple as that.

[RustspecS13]

Thats what I thought.

Theres no way I'm NOT going to boost it, gotta make sure its healthy and all that. Plus I've been driving a non vtec B18 CRX. I wont be able to control myself.

I guess I'll make some block off plates then just in case.

~Alex

[s13point5]

[RustspecS13]

What? its not like I'm planning on running 20psi, I just want a plan in case the thing blows up on the way home. I'm replacing it with a holset any way.

~Alex

[Sil240]

Yeah I would stay outta boost if I were you.
Drive it home, then just swap out to the holset.

[d356bud]

my stock one went boom on 10psi when I was 200 miles away from my garage. It made it home with no damage to the engine.

[Cjmartz2k]

I've popped a couple of stock turbos (not all on RB's.) At best it was drivable a couple of miles billowing smoke and I was down a quart or oil after the few miles. Also, the compressor wheel was sedged sideways so it really killed even my n/a power. I'm sure some small bits went through the engine, but RB's are cheap over here. I know a couple of guys that have blocked off the oil feed AND drain (same with the coolant) and put the MAF on the intercooler piping bypassing the turbo. They ran it like that for a couple weeks.

[SullivanRacing06]

What? its not like I'm planning on running 20psi, I just want a plan in case the thing blows up on the way home. I'm replacing it with a holset any way.

~Alex

idk why people say thry blow up at 15 psi? ive seen people push 17psi with PROPER EGTS the turbo will hold up, dont beat the hell out of it on your way home, return the boost ref hose straight to the w/g actuator so itll run factory setting for psi

[RustspecS13]

That's what I thought, I figured I could just move the maf and block off the oil lines. Are the coolant lines really necessary to block off? I don't see any way they can cause a problem.

~Alex

[SullivanRacing06]

WHY ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT BLOCKING OFF ALL THE LINES?

if the turbo isnt blown dont mess with it!

its called common sense! drive it normally!

or is the turbo already blown and your trying to figure out how to get it bk home?

[robbie2883]

you really only need to block off the oil feed only. return won't matter and neither will the coolant. if it goes...stop oil supply and limp it home. the only damage that could come from doing that is heating the turbo up so much it seizes...but at that point it's cheaper to replace then repair anyway so who cares

[RustspecS13]

WHY ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT BLOCKING OFF ALL THE LINES?

if the turbo isnt blown dont mess with it!

its called common sense! drive it normally!

or is the turbo already blown and your trying to figure out how to get it bk home?

Did you read all of my first post, I said IF it blows up on the way home. I'm not planning on it blowing up I'm just preparing myself so I don't get stuck on the side of the road 4 hours from home. I'm just weary because of any time I've heard of a stock turbo going to 13psi or more they tend to blow up soon from what Ive read. Any where from weeks to months later. He said high boost and didn't say what that was, so it could be 12, 15, or 18psi I have no idea.

Any way the guy isn't responding to my txt or calls so I might not be getting the car any way. Grr and I spent about a total of 4 hours txting/calling him.

~Alex

[Cjmartz2k]

you really only need to block off the oil feed only. return won't matter and neither will the coolant. if it goes...stop oil supply and limp it home. the only damage that could come from doing that is heating the turbo up so much it seizes...but at that point it's cheaper to replace then repair anyway so who cares

Sorry, not correct. I've found out first hand. The exhaust actually siphons oil UP the drain and into the exhaust. Stangest thing, but it happens. Bernoulli's Principal at work. I'm not talking from theory or even what seems intuitive, I'm speaking from experience.


Alex, abotu the coolant lines, I've seen coolant get in to the exhaust with a blown turbo a long with oil, so I'd say block those off too.

[SullivanRacing06]

how? the coolant passages dont touch the shaft?????? even with the shaft removed no water/coolant will come out

[Cjmartz2k]

Well, the coolant was on a 660cc 3 banger, not an RB, so that might be different on a RB. I just saw the oil getting sucked up the drain tube thing on an SR about a month ago though, and that's no the first time it's happened.

BTW, I've never seen the insides of a stock RB turbo, but couldn't it be feasible if the center cartridge got so banged up and sideways it could get some coolant leaking? Just guessing, not speaking from experience there. Trying to imagine a scenario, but like I said, I haven't seen the inside of a RB turbo other than looking into the a** end or down the inducer of the impeller and admiring the damage.

[RustspecS13]

I have a center cartridge from a stock rb20 turbo laying around some where I can take a look. But I highly doubt there's any way for those to leak.

~Alex

[SullivanRacing06]

no water is going to leak on a blown turbo!

back to the first question.... dont beat the dog snot out of the car untill your close to home or already swapped the holset on it

if i were you id do a compression check instead of worrying about a 75.00 turbo breaking.....

[robbie2883]

you really only need to block off the oil feed only. return won't matter and neither will the coolant. if it goes...stop oil supply and limp it home. the only damage that could come from doing that is heating the turbo up so much it seizes...but at that point it's cheaper to replace then repair anyway so who cares

Sorry, not correct. I've found out first hand. The exhaust actually siphons oil UP the drain and into the exhaust. Stangest thing, but it happens. Bernoulli's Principal at work. I'm not talking from theory or even what seems intuitive, I'm speaking from experience.


Alex, abotu the coolant lines, I've seen coolant get in to the exhaust with a blown turbo a long with oil, so I'd say block those off too.

hmmm....that's weird...must be an SR thing cause i've done this on a few cars with blown turbo without issue. BUT they did have longer oil return lines. either that or there was positive crank case pressure. and the coolant lines...well the water jacket SHOULD be sealed off from the rest of the turbo so it must have cracked inside the turbo to cause leaking like that (which is really rare) or there was a HG leak.

either way chris is right..better safe then sorry.


oh...and alex...i'm not fond of the "don't boost over 10-12 psi on stock turbo" opinion. 1.5 years strong on 1 bar of boost on stock turbo on this motor. and my buddy in europe has been running 2 years at 17 psi on stock turbo (as well as many others over there). it's all about safe tuning. oh...and for the record i beat the piss out of my motor.

[SullivanRacing06]

no water is going to leak on a blown turbo!

back to the first question.... dont beat the dog snot out of the car untill your close to home or already swapped the holset on it

if i were you id do a compression check instead of worrying about a 75.00 turbo breaking.....