How serious is a chipped or bent blade?

Bersaglieri

Bersaglieri

Ron Swanson's Brother
Somehow during my compounds disassembly I chipped one blade and bent the one next to it on my HX35. I will probably replace it but I am hearing two different views from people on this. One is that any size chip or bent and the turbo will explode, the other says a small chip or bend will run ok in a pinch or a little while but not something to put 100,000 miles on. Is it all about the balance of the assembly or does these defects create an integrity issue with the wheel? I thing its a cast wheel.

On the same topic it was suggested a buy a billet wheel from XSperformance and have him balance it. Or should I just slap another HX35 wheel on and go?
 
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If it is a cast aluminum wheel and it is bent, it will eventually break off. Cast anything does not like bending. If it is a considerable sized bend/chip then yes it is wise to get it balanced. The further from center you go the more weight changes change balance.

Yes, some get away with it. Some get away with recap tires as well.

If it is two blades next to each other with damage you are double the imbalance on the wheel should/when the bend blade breaks off. I wouldn't spend too much money putting a billet wheel in an HX35. If you plan to go that far you may as well upgrade the HX35 to a larger inducer or upgrade the high pressure all together. If you want to gamble, put another stock cast hx35 wheel in. If you want it right and inexpensive, buy a new/good used cast wheel and get it balanced.

$.02 you'll hear many opinions on this. All I do is turbochargers all day every day.


edit: that isn't all that awful. There will be some imbalance but If the hX35 is tight: check over the blades and keep an eye on it.
 
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I don't normally half ass stuff, but was hoping to run it for a little bit while I decided on either fixing it with another wheel or doing something different altogether. Having the truck down is killing me on farm work. And yes the blade are next to each other. If you do repair/balance can you PM me a few quotes zfaylor? The turbo is tight, if it wasn't I would just buy another stocker and bolt it in there.

Originally my compunds had a HX34-40 hybrid with the 14cm ported housing, and the blade or cover was damaged. So I put a plain jane HX35 in there to get going. Not sure if there is an advantage to having the HX40 cold side, but any other change to this setup is going to require a down pipe change at the very least. HX35-14/HT3B-26.
 
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zfaylor said:
If it is a cast aluminum wheel and it is bent, it will eventually break off. Cast anything does not like bending. If it is a considerable sized bend/chip then yes it is wise to get it balanced. The further from center you go the more weight changes change balance.

Yes, some get away with it. Some get away with recap tires as well.

If it is two blades next to each other with damage you are double the imbalance on the wheel should/when the bend blade breaks off. I wouldn't spend too much money putting a billet wheel in an HX35. If you plan to go that far you may as well upgrade the HX35 to a larger inducer or upgrade the high pressure all together. If you want to gamble, put another stock cast hx35 wheel in. If you want it right and inexpensive, buy a new/good used cast wheel and get it balanced.

$.02 you'll hear many opinions on this. All I do is turbochargers all day every day.


edit: that isn't all that awful. There will be some imbalance but If the hX35 is tight: check over the blades and keep an eye on it.
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I was getting ready to bust your balls until I saw that edit.
Set one up out of balance and run it until it fails for us. ?

Something smart goes here
 
The way I would look at it is if it did fail how much damage, money, and time would it cost you. Now is that risk worth the reward of using it now vs waiting and fixing it correctly. IMO, no that risk is not worth it. Your opinion may be different though.
 
I think the determining factor is the operator. If that person is cognizant of the situation, they should hear a change in the turbo note before it goes catastrophic. Even so, the opportunity for engine damage is, in my opinion, low.

This situation does require due diligence. You can't ride around (like a truck driver) and let it eat ****. You have to check the oil periodically, check the inlet of the turbo, listen to it at shut down.
If you aren't the kind of person that does those things, you should get rid of the turbo.
The last turbo I had fail changed sound. I dyno ed it at 499 whp and could hear it scuffing at shut down when I got it home that day.
If you can, change it, if not, send it to assisted living ?

Something smart goes here
 
If he's using that charger in compounds there is a good chance it might damage the primary turbine if it comes apart.
 
Ghostman said:
The way I would look at it is if it did fail how much damage, money, and time would it cost you. Now is that risk worth the reward of using it now vs waiting and fixing it correctly. IMO, no that risk is not worth it. Your opinion may be different though.
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I agree 100%
 
The high pressure compressor would not damage the primary turbine. That is unless it comes apart, makes it through the intercooler, through the head, through the cylinder without mating itself to a piston, back through the head, through the manifold, through the high pressure again, and then decides to damage the last thing in the tract.



OP if you are feeling ballsy take an inducer and exducer measurement for me. I may have an HX35 wheel that would could have. If you aren't feeling ballsy shoot me a PM.
 
zfaylor said:
The high pressure compressor would not damage the primary turbine. That is unless it comes apart, makes it through the intercooler, through the head, through the cylinder without mating itself to a piston, back through the head, through the manifold, through the high pressure again, and then decides to damage the last thing in the tract.



OP if you are feeling ballsy take an inducer and exducer measurement for me. I may have an HX35 wheel that would could have. If you aren't feeling ballsy shoot me a PM.
Click to expand...



I think what he was meaning was if the secondary let go the secondary turbine could throw chunks at the primary turbine.


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zfaylor said:
The high pressure compressor would not damage the primary turbine. That is unless it comes apart, makes it through the intercooler, through the head, through the cylinder without mating itself to a piston, back through the head, through the manifold, through the high pressure again, and then decides to damage the last thing in the tract.



OP if you are feeling ballsy take an inducer and exducer measurement for me. I may have an HX35 wheel that would could have. If you aren't feeling ballsy shoot me a PM.
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We must be getting old. I went back and re-read the OP to make sure what we were talking about.

Something smart goes here
 
I have seen many customers come in for repairs at the shop with worse on CAT engines in machines and keep running them. Though they are on bought time and it isn't as effective/efficient as it could be and there is always a chance of grenading but it will work. If you are in a pinch it will work. But I would plan to replace it in the near future especially if you have plans to work the truck hard. In the end it is just a hx35.
 
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Zfaylor helped me out with a turbo rebuild, price was right and service was great. Someday my HT3B might take a tour of his shop.
 
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