Turbo 3.8 Spun bearing failure

[ssms5411]

Nice , good deal.

[Turbovert01]

Yeah, I would think so when I went from a M5 to A4 we just put a flexplate on. No problems. Hows the L32 coming along? You doing the cam,heads and double roller on to the L32?

All of the above ;) . Working on it as I type this, almost fully built and ready to be dropped back in.

[Turbovert01]

I am trying to understand the issue so others following in your path can avoid the pit falls along the way, so bare w/me. Your thoughts are, the fuel leaning caused KR to beat the bearing, resulting in the "spun bearing" correct? Can you tell if the fuel lean was on all cylinders or just #6?
I am very familiar w/turbo charging and know the importance of the fuel system which leads me to my next question. Were you able to monitor the fuel psi rise w/the applied boost? Or doesn't hptuners monitor that? I don't have much knowledge of Hptuners, sorry. Any info on #6 cylinder in the event that the problem was caused by the injector and not the fuel pump being able to keep up w/the demand, because in order to reach your goal of 16#'s of boost, the minimum pressure supplied by the pump would have to be ~70#s.

No info on fuel pressure whatsoever sadly, should have had a temporary gauge in at least but got too excited and skipped it. This time I will hook one up and see if thats what happened for sure. pump and Injectors should have handled it (320 LPH pump) and 60# injectors but maybe something else is wrong. I’ll know when I get this new engine what is wrong for sure.

[SHADOWII]

It was the L36 block I spun the bearing in, I’m replacing it with the L32 block, but yea it was a spun bearing. It was cylinder 6 rod bearing. I’m sure it was oil that actually did it, as we dropped pressure, but I think what triggered the oil problem was running lean from lack of fuel for some reason. I will now hook up a fuel pressure gauge so this doesn’t happen again.

I am trying to understand the issue so others following in your path can avoid the pit falls along the way, so bare w/me. Your thoughts are, the fuel leaning caused KR to beat the bearing, resulting in the "spun bearing" correct? Can you tell if the fuel lean was on all cylinders or just #6?
I am very familiar w/turbo charging and know the importance of the fuel system which leads me to my next question. Were you able to monitor the fuel psi rise w/the applied boost? Or doesn't hptuners monitor that? I don't have much knowledge of Hptuners, sorry. Any info on #6 cylinder in the event that the problem was caused by the injector and not the fuel pump being able to keep up w/the demand, because in order to reach your goal of 16#'s of boost, the minimum pressure supplied by the pump would have to be ~70#s.

[ssms5411]

Hey quick question guys I can’t find a solid answer online, can I use the L36 flexplate on my L32 block? Some people say it’s fine some say it will spin a bearing.

UPDATE: This is a flexplate not flywheel so I’m pretty sure we can, ZZP says so because it’s internally balanced

Yeah, I would think so when I went from a M5 to A4 we just put a flexplate on. No problems. Hows the L32 coming along? You doing the cam,heads and double roller on to the L32?

[Turbovert01]

Have you torn down the L32 block to determine the cause of the failure? Was it actually a spun bearing and what bearing failed? In my experience it is usually a blocked oil passage or pump failing or failed. Which could be from something as simple as a poor choice in oil filters. Many oil filters have allowed trash to pass thru. Napa or WIX(I think WIX supplies NAPA?) have proven to be the most reliable. It was discussed in the buick community and that was the conclusion.

It was the L36 block I spun the bearing in, I’m replacing it with the L32 block, but yea it was a spun bearing. It was cylinder 6 rod bearing. I’m sure it was oil that actually did it, as we dropped pressure, but I think what triggered the oil problem was running lean from lack of fuel for some reason. I will now hook up a fuel pressure gauge so this doesn’t happen again.

[Turbovert01]

Hey quick question guys I can’t find a solid answer online, can I use the L36 flexplate on my L32 block? Some people say it’s fine some say it will spin a bearing.

UPDATE: This is a flexplate not flywheel so I’m pretty sure we can, ZZP says so because it’s internally balanced

[SHADOWII]

Update: tore down L32 to the block, dropped my K member and am beginning to transfer parts. Here’s a pic from last weekend when I had just dropped the K member.

Have you torn down the L32 block to determine the cause of the failure? Was it actually a spun bearing and what bearing failed? In my experience it is usually a blocked oil passage or pump failing or failed. Which could be from something as simple as a poor choice in oil filters. Many oil filters have allowed trash to pass thru. Napa or WIX(I think WIX supplies NAPA?) have proven to be the most reliable. It was discussed in the buick community and that was the conclusion.

[ssms5411]

Always run a intercooler with a turbo , meth is just a added feature to run more boost with no KR. You'll burn a piston with no intercooler.

[LETZRIDE]

That’s a good price for the 5th gen blowers.

Meth is a good thing to look into- even if you don’t tune the car on edge and use it for safety. You can have it only spray at WOT, so it lasts a long time before having to refill. A lot of guys actually hook it up to the windshield washer fluid and use the washer fluid which is 40% meth in their cars.

You could actually not use a intercooler too if you wanted as meth cools the intake charge quite a bit

[Turbovert01]

How much for the blower? My fiero is gonna need that! Lol

ZZP sells them used for 400$, I was going to ask 200$ + shipping for it. 04-07 generation 5 Eaton M90, Spins freely and has 85k on it.

[alex553]

How much for the blower? My fiero is gonna need that! Lol

[ssms5411]

Looks good, and you can sell the left over parts.

[Turbovert01]

Update: tore down L32 to the block, dropped my K member and am beginning to transfer parts. Here’s a pic from last weekend when I had just dropped the K member.

[Turbovert01]

Have you looked into Meth? I want to run meth even on my NA car. Aside from the cooling benefits pure meth will give you an octane rating of 116 when sprayed with the use of 91 octane in the tank.

Especially being a turbo car the benefits are way bigger than NA cars

Hmm I had not considered that, I don’t have any knowledge on meth, but this is a DD for me so I didn’t want go too crazy with the fueling it’s set up for 93 right now. Maybe in the future :)