Shoplus80
Member
rgr i will look FWD to hearing the out come once you get them back.
Experience installing CHRA turbo cores from CR Performance
- Thread starter BradM
- Start date
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Following up on this issue which I will now label as “resolved but a mystery remains”. I will say upfront that CR Performance stood behind their products and I believe they went above and beyond working with me on my situation. CR Performance sells upgraded turbos and does their own engineering and modifications. They source their cores from Melett, a UK manufacturer, and do not use the eBay Chinese cores, which is why I chose CR for my cores. I would use CR Performance again.
However if you think you can just blame the turbo without doing your homework first, then don’t bother the seller. There are a large number of possible causes of leaking turbos to eliminate before you would ever get to the turbo itself (PCV system, blow by, oil drains, oil feeds, oil level, oil pressure, catch-cans, etc.). While both of my cores were noticed to be leaking at 600 miles after install (smoking under boost), the Bank 2 core had a very dramatic event. It went from smoking under boost to full-time smoking including at idle just within a few days. It actually leaked oil outside of the turbine housing (see picture). The Bank 1 turbo leaked on the compressor side (visually confirmed) and left oil pooling within the charge pipes. There was no debate that the turbos were leaking oil, it was only a question of why.
I eliminated everything but the cores themselves and then sent them back. CR Performance disassembled the cores and did a visual inspection and found no catastrophic failures. CR Performance then returned the cores to Melett for them to inspect. They returned a 7 page report which did not find anything out of specification (this included measuring the seals, seal gaps, etc.). This is why I label this issue as “resolved”.
But here is why a mystery remains. Instead of reinstalling my Melett cores, I installed a new pair of OEM turbos (with housings). I did not change anything else besides oil and I did take the opportunity to verify that my oil drains were not blocked. I have now driven 643 miles, have done (16) ¼ mile passes at the strip, and had many dozens of boost sessions on the street. No leaks. No smoke. No pooling of oil in the charge pipes. Thus the mystery.
Was it some sort of intermittent failure? Did the PCV valve stick open for a week or more? My Bank 2 PCV sensor would have triggered a CEL and the car would have run like crap. Did something temporarily block the oil drains on both turbos? That would be just plain bizarre. I can’t think of any reasonable scenario but I’m open to ideas.
However if you think you can just blame the turbo without doing your homework first, then don’t bother the seller. There are a large number of possible causes of leaking turbos to eliminate before you would ever get to the turbo itself (PCV system, blow by, oil drains, oil feeds, oil level, oil pressure, catch-cans, etc.). While both of my cores were noticed to be leaking at 600 miles after install (smoking under boost), the Bank 2 core had a very dramatic event. It went from smoking under boost to full-time smoking including at idle just within a few days. It actually leaked oil outside of the turbine housing (see picture). The Bank 1 turbo leaked on the compressor side (visually confirmed) and left oil pooling within the charge pipes. There was no debate that the turbos were leaking oil, it was only a question of why.
I eliminated everything but the cores themselves and then sent them back. CR Performance disassembled the cores and did a visual inspection and found no catastrophic failures. CR Performance then returned the cores to Melett for them to inspect. They returned a 7 page report which did not find anything out of specification (this included measuring the seals, seal gaps, etc.). This is why I label this issue as “resolved”.
But here is why a mystery remains. Instead of reinstalling my Melett cores, I installed a new pair of OEM turbos (with housings). I did not change anything else besides oil and I did take the opportunity to verify that my oil drains were not blocked. I have now driven 643 miles, have done (16) ¼ mile passes at the strip, and had many dozens of boost sessions on the street. No leaks. No smoke. No pooling of oil in the charge pipes. Thus the mystery.
Was it some sort of intermittent failure? Did the PCV valve stick open for a week or more? My Bank 2 PCV sensor would have triggered a CEL and the car would have run like crap. Did something temporarily block the oil drains on both turbos? That would be just plain bizarre. I can’t think of any reasonable scenario but I’m open to ideas.
Ta2dResqr
SHO Member
Did they send the same cores back to you or refund you? You say you would use them again but went with OEM this time, is there a reason?
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