Thread: help: smoking turbo

Hey guys
I just purchased a turboed sentra and when I got on the car it would smoke and smell like burning oil. I did some research and it basically lead me to believe I have bad seals in the turbo and it's letting oil into the exhaust.

I purchased a t25 rebuild kit and looked at alot of how to's to rebuild the turbo.

I pulled the turbo today and got a better look at the fins. The turbo has minimal shaft play side to side. It doesn't look like the fins hit the sides but it does look like something damaged the fins edges. Now I'm not sure if I can re build this turbo and keep the wheels the same or I would have to replace them as well.

I will be upgrading the turbo once I can get everything else for the turbo upgrade but in the mean time I would have liked to just rebuild this if possible and drive the car.

Any recommendation's would be appreciated

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Any damage to the fins would unbalance it. I'd definitely not run it like that. What ecu do you have? Can you run the car NA until you can get a new compressor wheel and rebalance?

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I'm not sure where I can get the compressor wheel. It's not my daily so I'm not relying on it as my only transportation what I ment was I want to drive it to enjoy it with the t25 until I Can piece together the bigger turbo setup

how big are you going to go? What are your power goals? I suppose if it's not a daily and you're going to be upgrading the turbo anyway... you could probably get away with it. Thing is once it's unbalanced it'll make those bearings wear out real quick, then you get shaft play and worse case scenario the compressor wheel hits the housing at high rpm sending fragments into the intake...

On another note, I'm wondering if the t25 journal bearing center housing (less turbine and compressor) is the same for the t28?

not sure the exact specs on your t25 but I found this.
Brand new Performance GT2560R Turbo Compressor Wheel
$60, then I'd guestimate $100 for a re-balance. Not a bad price for peace of mind.

Im not sure exactly how long it's going to take to get my upgraded turbo parts so I would want to make this a reliable rebuild. I was probly just going to go with the Gt28rs turbo as far as the upgrade. But between the turbo, injectors, maf tune it's going to add up.

Yeah I have to see what compressor wheel fits and also read about some being cheaper then others.

Thanks for the info

From what I have read the compressor wheel from a t28 will fit but the housing needs to be machined out so the fins don't rub

For sure, I'd find a genuine garrett wheel to use instead of any other brand. For the center section I was curious because if it's the same housing for the bearings then could probably get a gt28 turbine wheel/shaft and turbine housing. Then a gt2871 compressor wheel and housing and just assemble it together and have it sent for balancing. If the center t25 bearing section is the same, it would be a lot cheaper to go that route of turning it into a t28 than buying a brand new t28 for $1200 +

Yes they do convert t25's into t28's. But I think for $1000 a Gt28rs is worth it or even if I go with he Gt28r for around $6-700

Ok nevermind that. I just priced it all out, without a balancing it would be around $900 for a gt2871 turbine shaft, housing, compressor wheel and compressor housing. Not a huge significance in savings. While it would be easier to budget getting a piece at a time, not sure it would really be worth it!

BTW where have you seen the GT28r for that price?