Thread: Turbo gurus, a question:

So, I'm in the midst of swapping a ball-bearing T28 onto my S13. I got everything running right, and on the dyno the seals and/or bearings in the exhaust side gave out.

This was a used turbo, but it was bought from a very reputable shop, had low miles, blah blah. They've already given me a refund and I've already ordered a new turbo. They sold it in good faith and even warrantied it, and it seemed great with basically no shaft play when it arrived; I don't think anyone would have predicted this problem.

This turbo, despite being used, was attractive because the exhaust housing was coated in SwainTech's White Lightning.

My question is this - is there any reason I shouldn't swap the exhaust housing to my new turbo? I've already got it off; I can't find any indication of rubbing/abrasion inside it at all. The turbo still takes a long time to spin down after I shut off the car, which I understand is an attribute of the BB center section. The failure on the dyno was evidenced only by a fair amount of blue oil smoke out the tailpipe. A LOT of diagnosis indicates that the engine is as healthy as ever, and the shaft play/wobble on the turbo says it's done, or will be soon.

Anyway, I don't know if there's some logical or mythical reason I shouldn't use the Swain-coated part on the new turbo.

Any advice appreciated.

I would for sure use re use it. My new turbo has a tech line coated exhaust housing and o2 housing. My friends and i pretty much have all of our turbo stuff coated. performance wise i am not really sure how much it helps, but the reduction in underhood temps and the ability to adjust parts that would normally take forever to cool down is great.

Just make sure it spins freely with oil pressure going to it and you should be good to go. Well actually BB turbos arent really balanced by a film of oil like journal bearing so if you put it on and the turbo spins freely your good to go. Just make sure your running a restrictor thats the right size as you know...