It felt smooth, but I didn't really check it that much. It only makes the noise at idle or extremely low throttle pressure.

he should fix his obvious leaks that make whistling noises before he goes and figured out if bearings are good...

Nah, wouldn't it be better to rebuild the turbo, engine, ECU, transmission, and differential before fixing the obvious leak?

I have the gasket and studs on the way. I'm just concerned that the noise is not air related and I'm seeking "expert" opinions.

when you whistle, what do you do?

Right. But a couple of people I have talked to thought it did not sound like a whistle. I call it a whistle because that is what it sounded like to me.

So we'll see what happens after I get the gasket in.

Most people jump to the worst case scenario. My car has made noises that I for sure thought it was about to blow up. One time it happened to be the WG rod vibrating where it connects to the turbo. Noises under the hood are hard to pinpoint and diagnose.

but you could also see the leaks on your flanges, and watch the little wing nuts on your studs flap in the exhaust, plus all the soapy bubbles... i mean, what more do you need for me to tell you it's your camsprocketgeardrivespline.

I got the gasket and studs. I took out the exhaust manifold, turbo, and downpipe. I need to adjust the downpipe because it is too close to the stud holes to fit a nut on the studs without hitting the pipe.

Anyway, I took an air compressor and shot air into the turbo. The exhaust side sounded ok to me. On the inlet side I could hear the same sound as before, only it was much quieter.

In fact, it is so quiet I can't hear it in this video. I will take another video with an external mic.

I also noted some movement on the shaft. Not side to side, but front to back. It doesn't seem like a lot of movement to me, but I don't think there is supposed to be any.

This is the worst thread ever.

Just run the damn thing until it breaks.

I am trying to fix my car; not wait until it breaks.

There are 3 areas that I am struggling with in building this car: money, time, and knowledge.

Money is tight and I might get a couple hours of free time a week to work on the car.

I come here looking for knowledge. This is the first car I've ever done more than change the oil on. I've chosen to be a part of this community because of the vast amount of knowledge here and the willingness of the community to share it.

I doubt anyone here will ever be able to assist me with time or money. If you can't assist me with helpful comments and are only going to be rude to me, then please don't bother posting in my threads at all.

Thank you so much to those that have helped me in the last year! I truly appreciate it.:D

I will put the car back together today with the new turbo/downpipe gasket and see how it sounds.

Thanks again!

You are jacking off about a negligible "problem" that isnt even a problem.

If it is the turbo, the only way you get rid of the sound is by replacong it. That would be STUPID because the turbo might last forever in its current state, assuming there is even a real problem.

A whistling sound is not going to break your damn car. If you really are short on money and time you are likely throwing it at a nonissue.

And Travis, I actually am tryin to help you save both time and money.

I put in the gasket between the downpipe and turbo and I got the new studs and nuts and it fits better than ever. There are no air leaks that I could find.

However, the noise is still there. It is not a whistle like I originally thought. I took another video today of shooting air through the turbo. You can definitely hear a ringing noise. And I did discover that the shaft does also move side to side. Not enough to touch the wall, but it does move a little.

You can hear the ringing as it starts to slow down.


I'm guessing the bearings are wearing out and I think I will get a rebuild kit like this - Turbocharger Rebuild Kit - Garrett GT15-GT25/VNT

Unless anyone has any other suggestions.

watching you spin that thing up with compressed air makes me a sad panda

Why? I put oil into the turbo. How else could I test it when I want to take possible air leaks in other components out of the picture?

If your turbo is ball bearing you can't rebuild it.

Have fun wasting your money.

Unsubscribed.

Did that fix all the leaks?

I think so. I did not find any other leaks.
I don't think the sound is really a whistle or air related.

I believe it might be the bearings, so a repair kit would work, right? If that is the issue....

If it's a real GT2554, then you cant rebuild it.

Can you get another video of it running now?

The car is not currently at my house, but it sounds just the same as before.

So I just read more info on the ball bearing turbos. It sucks that they can't be rebuilt like the journals.

If you are convinced its the bearings and you don't want to "run it till it dies" there are a couple of options. I just looked into all of this for another project, so its pretty fresh in my mind.

If you want to stick with the GT2554R, its true that YOU can't rebuild it, but a authorized Garrett Performance Distributor can... kinda. Distributors can be found on Garretts website or call the guys at Turbos Direct in AZ and talk to Mike and he can probably get you in on the Garrett CHRA/ball bearing exchange program. You send them your CHRA, they inspect it and send you back a fresh CHRA. You reassemble your turbo and you move on with your life. Its about $380~ for the T25/T28 series turbos and another $25 to ship it back to you.

-or-

Replace it. New Garrett GT2554R is $949.00 @ Trackspeed. For $20 more you can get a GT2560R. Don't have that kind of cash? Buy an ISIS T25/28 journal bearing turbo from enjukuracing.com for $279 with a warranty, or any number of other china turbos from eBay. Another option is a used SR20 journal bearing Garrett T25 pattern S13/S14 turbo from a Nissan. These are readily available on the Nissan forums, incredibly cheap and easily rebuild-able with a kit from someone likeGPopShop or the equivalent kit of Chinese origin on eBay. (Full disclosure: GPops are probably Chinese too)

I'm a supercharger guy so take all this with a grain of salt and do your own research. I'm sure Fae and a couple others will come in here and scream about the Garrett CHRA cabal, but I can tell you that as a guy with a blower that the manufacturer offers NO rebuild program on, I'd MUCH rather have spent my money on a new T28 or a disco potato and get $400 rebuilds whenever its needed.

EO2K,
Thank you for the excellent information. I will look into some of these options.

A friend of a friend might be able to do a rebuild for me very cheap (free???) if I supply the parts. Any idea on bearing part numbers?

I'd rather fix it now for $100 than have it blow up and have to spend $1000 next week or a year from now.

Thanks again!

id like to hear it running again...and then id like to see you dangle a tissue all over the exhaust flanges while it idles and prove there's no leak.

There are no bearing part numbers, I'm not sure you are getting it...

These are not like your front wheel hubs or bicycle cranks or nitro RC cars or even rotary tools... the CHRA section of a ball bearing Garrett turbo is NOT designed to be rebuilt. The CHRA is a wear item that is designed to be replaced.

Someone from the internet would be HAPPY to sell you a rebuild kit for a ball bearing Garrett I'm sure, but keep in mind that its is not a factory part as Garrett/Honeywell never designed these to be rebuilt. If you choose to follow this path and you open the CHRA to screw with the bearings or remove the wheels, you will void your turbos eligibility in the exchange program. A straight purchase on a new CHRA for a GT2554R is $728 from ATP Turbo. This is almost double the cost of the exchange program.

$400 gets you what is essentially a brand new 2554 with all Garrett parts (assuming your housings are fine) or $100 gets you something your buddy cobbled together in his garage that could possibly destroy the entire turbo.

You have been warned, proceed with caution.

I'm with Brain. Let's see that again now that there are some gaskets on it.

I understand now. I will do some more tests as well.

Do I need to do anything special to be eligible for the exchange program like sign up for it when the turbo was purchased?

Nope. Just has to be a genuine Garrett, the CHRA needs to have never been disassembled, it needs to have at least one of the 4 major components intact (wheels, shaft, center housing & bearing cartridge maybe? Don't quote me on that) and it has to be an eligible model. Get the numbers off the CHRA tag, call a Distributor, get a quote. It's literally as simple as that.

From what I've been told, there are very very few ineligible models out there anymore. Most of them were goofy wheel combinations that were ordered by OEMs for specific vehicle fitments. Any "aftermarket" sourced turbo should be a standard eligible model.

But like you said, do more testing and we'll do what we can to help you. Lots of good people on this forum (shocking, i know) that are willing to help if you are willing to listen and try. No need to spend money on a replacement CHRA or pour vodka on your ECU and burn it until we figure out what the problem actually is.

I finally got back to the car yesterday. It sounds the same as before even with the gaskets. No air leaks detected.

The yarn in this video is moving because of me, not any wind.

I contacted one of the chra exchange companies via email today and I will see what they say.

I finally have an update. I sent the CHRA to Turbo Direct in AZ as suggested by EO2K.

They said "We got you CHRA taken down this morning and there is nothing wrong with it. Everything checks out fine."

I asked to double check since we believe the bearings are a problem and he said "The turbo is perfectly fine."

So... now what? I could continue with the exchange as planned or have them ship mine back. I was 99% sure the turbo was the problem, now I don't know.

Well, you spent $40-$50 in shipping to confirm the turbo was not the problem. While I don't particularly see an issue with that, I'm honestly not sure than spending $300-$400 on a new CHRA is going to accomplish anything at this point. Other than emptying your wallet.

Get it back, get it installed, continue troubleshooting.

Brianeack is such a moron, he recognizes that whistling is a phenomenon that occurs when air flows through a small hole.

we all know the earth is flat.

Brain, I described it as a "whistle" sound, because that's what it sounded like to me at first. Many people, even those who heard it in person, said it did not sound like a whistle but more like a metallic noise, like bearings.

expect everything else you posted also SHOWED leaks. Im completely dissapointed in everyone.

that's true

:cry:

I had a similar noise in my garrett t3s60. In my case it was probably the bearings in my "rebuilt" turbo going bad.

You know what I did with it?

I friggen ran it.

It spooled fine, held boost fine, made lots of power without issue.

So I just ran it and ignored the noise. And I mean I ran it hard, over 1000 miles on track with that turbo making a whine/whistle noise, and countless more miles on the street. Eventually melted a piston but, the turbo was and still is "fine"...

Ignorance is bliss, so is turbo bewst!

I appreciate everyone's help. :)

So if it is not the turbo, what would be the next things to look at?

I dunno, start eliminating variables? Your turbo is still in the mail, right?

This is my Miata.net style response: Put your factory exhaust and intake toob back on and run the car. Make sure its not something artarrded like your power steering or AC compressor by removing the belt and running the car. When was your timing belt service last done? Did you replace the idlers?

You know, my rotrex whistles and I was told that's just intake noise from having an open element filter. Back in the day when I had my NA with the Monsterflow intake, it also whistled.

...maybe learn to love the whistle? BrainBrain may have something here.

Did you try fixing that exhaust leak between your turbo and dp? Because I would probably start there.

Post #15

All air leaks are fixed as far as I can tell.

The turbo is still with the shop. I haven't told them to send it back yet.

I bought the car last year. Not sure off the top of my head when timing belt was done. There is no AC or PS. Don't know about idlers. I have the original exhaust manifold but no downpipe.

The noise is definitely coming from the immediate area at the turbo. It is loudest at the rear of the turbo. When I put my ear directly above the turbo and move my head slowly around the area it is coming from the rear of the turbo.

I don't think it is an air related sound. After studying it for the last few months I really thought (still think??) it is the turbo.

I finally have another update. I believe the issue is resolved.

I got the CHRA back after Turbos Direct told me twice that after they cleaned inspected everything that the CHRA is perfectly fine.

They put it back together and shipped it back to me for $270 ($250 + $20 shipping). That price still seems a little high to me, but when I got the CHRA back I thought for a minute is was brand new because they cleaned it so well.

So, I put everything back together this weekend. I let the car idle for a few minutes and no more funny noises from turbo. I took it for a short drive around the neighborhood and it sounded as good as new. Since then I put another 50 miles on it.

I'm guessing that the cleaning and/or re-balancing resolved whatever issue was there.

Thanks again for everyone's input over the last few months and I'm excited that I can drive it again.