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Got a bad turbo? Let's track the issue...

wy2sl0

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Ontario
Afr tables are a go in maestro. Full control now.

Go Garrett or BW. I will hopefully be switching come spring.
 

WOLF

Ready to race!
Location
San Antonio
Car(s)
MkV GTI
UPDATE:

We have now numerous brand new IS38's inspected and the cause of failure is very clear....oil starvation....many of the bad IS38's - installed by either our Audi Master Guilde Techs, VW techs or hobby mechanics, at some point, did not get proper lubrication.

We had 3 out of 3 blow on us in a matter of days - all installed by different individuals. I myself blew one in a matter of minutes. I am not perfect - I make mistakes - but literally having a checklist and triple checking each step, I can comfortably say that I believe the turbos are to blame.

Pics form brand new failed IS38's:



Turbine wheel /shaft has extreme bearing transfer on the shaft (the softer brass metal of the bearings (straw color) transfers to the harder shaft metal if there is not proper lubrication in the turbo, ......nothing else can cause this to happen or for the parts to look like this.)
Thrust ring also shows bearing transfer!
Journal bearings are scored on inside and outside!

We got tired of this happening and decided to invest effort into our own in-house IS38, which is still in production.
Featuring a machined cartridge housing with a MUCH LARGER oil feed and drain, significantly improving flow and overall lubrication properties. The turbo is also fully balanced by our partners at G-Pop Shop Arkansas.

We also used this opportunity to enhance the performance of a stock IS38 significantly without the need for custom tuning, making it %100 compatible with APR IS38 software (and likely others however no testing has been done with other companies).

Once dyno numbers are in and further testing has been completed the turbo will be available at BMP Tuning.
More info and specs can be found here:

BMP Tuning IS38+ Turbo Kit

Here are some pics:

 

Mk7GTl

Go Kart Champion
Location
USA
UPDATE:

We have now numerous brand new IS38's inspected and the cause of failure is very clear....oil starvation....many of the bad IS38's - installed by either our Audi Master Guilde Techs, VW techs or hobby mechanics, at some point, did not get proper lubrication.

We had 3 out of 3 blow on us in a matter of days - all installed by different individuals. I myself blew one in a matter of minutes. I am not perfect - I make mistakes - but literally having a checklist and triple checking each step, I can comfortably say that I believe the turbos are to blame.

Pics form brand new failed IS38's:



Turbine wheel /shaft has extreme bearing transfer on the shaft (the softer brass metal of the bearings (straw color) transfers to the harder shaft metal if there is not proper lubrication in the turbo, ......nothing else can cause this to happen or for the parts to look like this.)
Thrust ring also shows bearing transfer!
Journal bearings are scored on inside and outside!

We got tired of this happening and decided to invest effort into our own in-house IS38, which is still in production.
Featuring a machined cartridge housing with a MUCH LARGER oil feed and drain, significantly improving flow and overall lubrication properties. The turbo is also fully balanced by our partners at G-Pop Shop Arkansas.

We also used this opportunity to enhance the performance of a stock IS38 significantly without the need for custom tuning, making it %100 compatible with APR IS38 software (and likely others however no testing has been done with other companies).

Once dyno numbers are in and further testing has been completed the turbo will be available at BMP Tuning.
More info and specs can be found here:

BMP Tuning IS38+ Turbo Kit

Here are some pics:



Not bad at all. Is this something you send in to convert?
 

WOLF

Ready to race!
Location
San Antonio
Car(s)
MkV GTI
Not bad at all. Is this something you send in to convert?

We may consider accepting used/bad customer units to be sent in for conversion, however we are currently only dealing with new OEM units featuring specific cartridges.
The whole idea is to take it a step further than the OEM IS38 in terms of both performance and reliability, for both peace of mind and BOSS-500 / APR stage 3 performance at SIGNIFICANTLY lower price point and hassle/effort.
 

Reggie Enchilada

Autocross Newbie
Location
nowhere
Car(s)
yes
We may consider accepting used/bad customer units to be sent in for conversion, however we are currently only dealing with new OEM units featuring specific cartridges.
The whole idea is to take it a step further than the OEM IS38 in terms of both performance and reliability, for both peace of mind and BOSS-500 / APR stage 3 performance at SIGNIFICANTLY lower price point and hassle/effort.

Are you using journal bearings or ball-bearings in the upgraded units?
 

Oldschoolmk7

Go Kart Champion
Location
Yonder
Very nice Wolf. Does the IS20's have the same oil starvation issues? Guessing not being you beat the piss out of yours.
 

crxgator

Autocross Champion
Location
Raleigh, NC
Car(s)
All the MQBs
Wow I'm kind of pissed at g-pop shop now. I asked them if they had any upgraded turbine wheels coming up in the near future and they told me no. This was about three weeks ago.


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WOLF

Ready to race!
Location
San Antonio
Car(s)
MkV GTI
Wow I'm kind of pissed at g-pop shop now. I asked them if they had any upgraded turbine wheels coming up in the near future and they told me no. This was about three weeks ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No need to be upset at them since development on the wheel specs as well as testing came from our end. :)
@oldschool I cant say for sure. IS20 failure rate seems to be significantly lower.
That put aside, balancing is still an issue as well but these kind of catastrophic failures are hard to blame on a slight off balanced factory turbo, which is why we decided to dig deeper.
 

ACE2

Ready to race!
Location
texas
Sssooo what does this mean for my is38 I got back from littco?? That there's a giant chance of it breaking once I installed it with a Apr tune? I'm just worried now as I was under the impression that the is38 turbos (newer versions) were actually decent and didn't blow like old versions and many GTIs have been running with no such oil starvation issues that I've heard yet

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

WOLF

Ready to race!
Location
San Antonio
Car(s)
MkV GTI
Sssooo what does this mean for my is38 I got back from littco?? That there's a giant chance of it breaking once I installed it with a Apr tune? I'm just worried now as I was under the impression that the is38 turbos (newer versions) were actually decent and didn't blow like old versions and many GTIs have been running with no such oil starvation issues that I've heard yet

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I heard of quiet a lot of Litco units go in my personal friends circle alone.
Likely not because of Litco themselves but because of the pre-existing oil flow/bearing issues which we addressed on our units.
 
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