Blouch 20GXT FAIL? (Now Build Thread)

[Turbaru]

What a day yesterday out at DSG. The plan was for me to install a TXS TMIC before heading out there and they were to cut out the 3" - 2.5" taper at the end of my cobb dp, weld in a flange, bolt up a 3" cbe and tune the goods. Got the new interwarmer last week, opened up the box and it just didnt look right, brackets were off, silicone hoses werent correct and my cast y-pipe didnt match the flanges on the under side of the txs. So I called up circuitmotorsports and got an rma number on. Getting ready to leave yesterday morning and I say, what the hell, I'll bring it with me and see what they say.
Got there at 10, they bring it in, cool down time, chit chat, jack it up etc...
Old Hayward and Scott comes off  , love that sound, dp off, over to the bench, chop chop, back on. Done.  
Dyno time!
Matt gets set up, warm up run, all is well. We head into the office cause it gets loud as hell when tuning inside.
1St pull, he gets to about 5K and, boost leak!
IC comes off, tightened down the four y-pipe bolts, snap. Cast piece busted on both sides. Back over to the bench. Turns out it does need wrx cast pipage cause the flange thickness is different, luckily they have a set lying around. So now he has to use the shitty silicone y-pipe that came with the txs and it barely fits over the blouch outlet.
Matt does a warm up, 2nd pull, coming into boost, SCREACH. Nick's like WTF. Had to double up with gaskets on the bypass. 3rd pull, money, all sealed up.
So were in the office having lunch while Matt is doing pulls 4-11, all is well.
Pull 12, matt shuts down a little early.
He says 2 pulls earlier, boost came on 800 rpm late, and that the last pull was 800 rpm later than that. He lets it cool down for about an hour and tries it again. No boost till 6K, shuts her down, Done.
At this point its like 4. For the next hour they ruled out all other possibilities without actually taking the turbo off for inspection. Turns out that oil is leaking into the compressor housing, ? bearing failure. So I limp my ass the 3 hours home on wastegate pressure only, stopping every half to 3/4 of an hour to check the oil and constantly pearing back for black smoke.
Turbo was installed on 5/20 and has seen 2700 miles of moderate use.  
On a good note, made 316 wheel with a failing turbo

[RedRoof2]

Several questions, some will be obvious:

What condition is the oil feed line in?
Did Blouch recommend purchase of a replacement feed line for this turbocharger?
I assume there is no banjo filter in there anymore?
Was the turbocharger center cartridge primed on installation?
How does the return line look?
How's the oil pressure in the rest of the engine?
How many miles on the engine total?

Might've run across a defective unit, sure.  Not a definite, but possible.

[Turbaru]

Oil feed appears to be fine from here. I hope to have it out tomorrow for further inspection.
Yes, and I got one.
No banjo filter.
I assume so. They installed it back in May.
Return line too appears to be fine as it sits.
Oil pressure is good. Matt said the car was running perfect before peak boost was coming later and later, and the pulls he made while losing boost were fine as well as far as vitals go. Ran good on the way home too, didnt lose a drop.
105K, all up to date on service as well.
 Im curious what the vertical and lateral shaft play will be.

[RSlow25]

That sucks to hear man, I hope Blouch steps up and do the right thing 

[TheBigChill]

 You should find out what size restrictor orifice Blouch sent to you with the new supply line.

 I'd like to hear what Blouch recommends for this journal bearing turbo, if you were to call and ask.  I'd call and ask this before you even explain what happened to them.

 I think the OEM STi restrictor orifice is ~.055".  

 As I'm sure you know, a lot of times if you're pushing oil past seals on a new turbo, the supply line could have a restrictor orifice that is too large for that CHRA.  I feel like the old 16g's used to prefer a low volume / low pressure oil feed (still more than a BB turbo though), but those were old 16g's...  

 Too small of a restrictor orifice or not priming the turbo can prevent proper suspension / stabilization of the journal bearings, and overheat them.  Oil starvation Is the largest single cause of turbocharger failure & premature wear.

 I'm just thinking out loud.

 

[RedRoof2]

Its always possibl that the stock oil pump is not fully up to task, but id bet on a faulty turbocharger.  It tends to be rare these days to have one fail so quickly.  Many companies are too quick to jump down the customer's throat by assuming abuse, improper installation or external factors.

[Turbaru]

Called Blouch. They will take a look at it no problem. Just gotta get that sucker outta there.  
Tech said could be bearing failure or other motor issues, as we all know, so no enlightenment for today!

[turbotekray]

Called Blouch. They will take a look at it no problem. Just gotta get that sucker outta there.  
Tech said could be bearing failure or other motor issues, as we all know, so no enlightenment for today!

Let us know how you make out , i have to say that i personally know those guys over at blouch and they back their product 100% if it is in a fact a defect of course.

[SideshowBob]

Aw man, that's a long ass drive for all that. When you go back tell them Josh says hey.

[Turbaru]

The tech I spoke to seemed like a good guy.
I pulled it last night, quite a bit of shaft play, got it sent out this morning.
They said about 2-3 day turn-around, sounds good to me! 

[Turbaru]

Sooo, Blouch called on Wednesday, spoke with Mike and he mentioned that there is nothing wrong with the 20!
I asked for his input and he said ring lands or a scoured piston...
Called DSG, spoke with Matt and he tells me he doesnt think it could be either, he said he would have known something was up with the motor; AFR's, timing, black smoke etc..
He advised me to check the up-pipe and mani for cracks, which I have, and it looks legit. Then he tells me I may have jumped a cam gear.... REALLY? Im certainly no expert but I have never heard anyone here or elsewhere ever say anything about that with a subie. 
I'll try a compression/leak down too once its back together.
Anyone have any insight, suggestions on what to approach next. I feel I am getting a little out of my minor league expertise of mechanical knowledge!

just to reiterate a bit, the car made 8 pulls with no problem and then started to reach peak boost 400 rpm late each consecutive pull after until peak boost wasnt achieved until 6K

Thanks!

[skyphix]

It seems like if you had an issue with your valves (, the valve itself, springs, etc) this could happen, but I'm no engine builder.

[RedRoof2]

That's really odd.  I can see the camgear jumping a tooth, but that won't explain the oil you saw.  Is there abnormal oil consumption?  Any noise or odd behavior from the motor?  (hesitation, roughness, noises).  Do you have a tactrix or other cable that you can plug up and take a readout of what your knock sensor's seeing?

[Turbaru]

That's really odd.  I can see the camgear jumping a tooth, but that won't explain the oil you saw.  Is there abnormal oil consumption?  Any noise or odd behavior from the motor?  (hesitation, roughness, noises).  Do you have a tactrix or other cable that you can plug up and take a readout of what your knock sensor's seeing?

Oil consumption has been normal i suppose, have to add about 1/3 - 1/2 Q between 2.8K - 3K change intervals.
I did notice about a month after install that at times on the highway at 65-70, when adding a little throttle to keep pace on an incline or to pass without downshifting, the car would 'hic-cup' a little before it started to pull nice and evenly, and it wasnt lag. Now that I think about it, on the way back from DSG at a couple stop lights the car did feel as if it was shaking more than usual, at least enough for me to notice.
I'll have to take a look at the motor mounts.
If I remove the camcover will it be obvious if it jumped a gear? Will I need to turn the crank to TDC to know?
Nope, no tactrix! 

[RedRoof2]

If I remove the camcover will it be obvious if it jumped a gear? Will I need to turn the crank to TDC to know?
Nope, no tactrix! 

Yep, TDC it until the cam marks (or at least one of them) is at the designated mark at the head.  See if they're both where they should be.

[cazwrx187]

How many miles on the engine and when did you replace the timing belt?  Did you replace all the pulleys, tensioner, and the water pump as well?

[Turbaru]

Engine has 105K and the timing belt, water pump, tensioner and pulleys replaced at 96K.

[RedRoof2]

Any further information?  I"m curious if you've found what's going on.  I'm thinking if it's internal engine damage catastrophic enough to cause a turbocharger to spool late and affect a powerband, there would be other symptoms present that you wouldn't be able to ignore, much less drive home several hours from a dyno tune.  Has to be a simpler explanation than that.

[Turbaru]

Nah, nothing yet to report. I appreciate your concern. Said fuck it yesterday and took the little man fishin.
Yea, it did seem a little odd with everything they said couldbe wrong, but on the flip, you can drive it home, just be careful. Matt K does seem confident that its not internal, i hope hes correct. Going to try and check camgear this afternoon. Turbo should be back this week and then I'll rent a compression tester.
After that...

[darroj]

After that...

= tan(x/2)  !! (+c if you want to get technical)

[Turbaru]

haha I dont miss those days, at all. The prov I had couldnt even speak Ind-glish.

Update: Possible culprit is a blown out lower uppipe gasket.
Much thanks to Fred for his suggestion and expertise and endless supply of gaskets!
 

[Turbaru]

[RedRoof2]

Bravo.  Now go get it redone and post some results 

[spoolordie]

nice,  can't believe the luck right

[Turbaru]

Back at DSG yesterday. First couple pulls went well, then same damn thing, late boost.
Blew that gasket out again. They pulled uppipe and the lower flange was warped/cupped downward. They ground it flat, installed, and it held for one pull 
Ordered an invidia, gonna throw it in at home and head out again on the 6th! 
This is all starting to get rather humerous!