Although i have a few theory's of my own i would like to hear some if you guys input on what happened to this turbo.
how in the world does this lock nut brake off the blade shaft?

 

Oi. Were they rebuilt at some point?

There are some old threads about that nut coming loose when they have been rebuilt.

 

Either someone hemaned it on there and stretched the threads or maybe compressor surge.I still think it was hemaned

 

These turbos came off a imported Japanese engine and all seem from factory. But I guess it must have been a defect on the threads.

 

This was my first thought as well. From what I can see on the center shaft it looks like the metal was stretched in a manner of over-tightening and then when the compressor wheel started spinning it eventually just turned loose.

 

This happened to me on an old 2nd gen. It was factory turbo, never figured out *why*... almost a moot point at this stage in the game.

Sorry for your loss... but at least you have an excuse to upgrade! =)

 

I had the primary nut back off because I didn't put loctite on it.

Looks like someone stretched the threads and then what was left failed from fatigue.

I hate to be the one to tell you this but you now have a rebuild in your immediate future. I bet you dropped compression right after it happened and will slowly lose more as time goes on.

The aluminum grooves/defects the rotor housings and causes accelerated apex seal wear.

When I lost similar pieces of compressor down my intake my BRAND NEW engine lasted a whopping 1000 miles before the compression dropped too low to start it.

Don't let anyone tell you the intercooler catches everything. It doesn't. I pressure washed and scrubbed all my intake components too. Flushed the IC multiple times.

It's bad news bears, sorry.

 

you showed pics of the compressor and turbine both being damaged, i would guess that the turbine let go first and spun the compressor wheel which either sheared off the shaft at the nut or spun the nut off after the compressor wheel dug into the housing. that or something foriegn went through the compressor first, then the engine and then damaged the turbine, in which case you will have nonexistent compression from the engine(this is not likely though, because it's very difficult for anything to get past the compressor let alone the intercooler in a big enough chunk to take out the seals).

 

You hit it nail right in the head. What i did not mention in the beginning was that this turbo came off a blown motor. The apex seal damaged the exhaust wheel, i installed this damaged turbo because i had no other choice.

Conclusion: because of apex seal damage the exhaust turbine,the wheel lost balance and dug into the exhaust housing's cast iron.

 

So, you installed a turbo you knew was damaged and out of balance? Not trying to be an ***, but that is crazy. And now the cycle continues... keep an eye on that compression/vacuum; you may have torched that engine too.

 

Yess... The car needed to be moved and i had no time to search for a turbo, I didn't think it would cause all this damage as i was not boosting and only driving the car lightly. You guys are making me paranoid on the engine compression thing but so far the engine seems to be 100% healthy.

 

We have a custom-made 'FD non-turbo header' at the shop you could have borrowed..... bolts right up to the main cat/midpipe.

I'd take a close look at your intercooler and charge piping for metal particles.

 

I'm just trying to be helpful and I made a stupid mistake too when I didn't loctite the compressor nuts. I wish someone had told me that the compressor fragments had probably messed up my sealing surfaces rather than the opposite.

It cost me alot diagnostic time and time removing/reinstalling the turbos when I just could have pulled the block to begin with. My engine dropped 10 or 15 psi on both rotors after the incident and slowly lost compression over 1k miles.

Now, I did have JHB Cermet B coated housings on that block which may have a softer coating than the factory mazda housings. It's just something that I suggest you keep an eye on.

When I finally pulled the engine I was probably a couple miles away from throwing out my apex seals, trashing my rotors and the new turbos. I got lucky there, though I wouldn't call the experience lucky...

 

Since the incident I have not boosted the car or driven it hard. What would you guys suggest i do to clear the intercooler? Fill with water and flush it out or would an industrial vaccum work?

 

I would clean all of the intake you can from the compressor to the block not just the IC.

You could use an industrial degreaser that is safe for plastics, kerosene or one of those solvents for parts washers.

I used oil eater and a pressure washer. Washed many times. Used a bottle brush to scrub any surface I could get to.

 

Buy my stock twins !! I can ship it within 2 days

 

a little update. I removed my Intercooler to flush it out and guess what i found!!! A piece of a rag or something..

 

So is there an established "best way" to clean out an IC?
Might as well clean out my Greddy SMIC before I install it

 

dishwasher

 

I doubt a dishwasher would clean the inside of the IC very well..

I would do what alexdimen said pressurewasher/degreaser many times over.

you need lots of flow and/or high speed fluid like the pressure washer idea to move the particles out along with degraser to keep the particles from sticking to the walls only to come loose later..

 

had a presentation given today by Norlock. They make some special locking washers that help prevent fasteners from loosening. Their design is suppose to do a better job of keeping initial toque by basing their locking system on tension rather than friction. They did several on site demonstrations with different types of fasteners. It was pretty cool stuff. Their results showed a lot better results that other methods including loctite. It might be something to look at for things like turbine nuts.