Turbo Seized at 108k miles

[Innovative Tuning]

I got my 4th legacy SS this summer and started driving it recently. After replacing the clutch, looping the power steering lines (they leaked. not worth fixing) and finding a belt to delete the PS pump, the car ran OK.

It never felt as strong as the one my wife drives, but I didn't worry about it until recently when it started stumbling badly like it was going in and out of limp mode. CEL came on with codes 22 and 33 (knock and o2 sensor). I put a new o2 and knock sensor in and the same codes remained. I changed the plugs, and it had new wires. I put a Perrin drop in wrx panel filter in the stock airbox since the stock one was beat.

None of that helped. I noticed a bit of oil around the turbo, so I decided to pull the intake off and check the turbo for shaft play. There was a lot of oil in the charge pipe and 90 inlet at the turbo. Very little shaft play but when I spun it slowly by hand it hung up and got stuck. I pulled the turbo from this car and pulled the turbo from our rally car and swapped that one over. Car runs fine now.

So if you have those two CEL codes I guess having a look at the turbo isn't a bad idea. An oily mess in the area of the turbo is a good tipoff. Both of my sensors were fine.

Anyone else have a turbo crap out with such low mileage on it? This car was bone stock it's whole life. One owner before I bought it. Of course after I fixed it I put full 3" turboback on it for good measure. Now it's fun to drive. I'll pretty much have to put an MBC on it now to finish it off.

edit: I wasn't sure if this you want this in Engine or Turbo since it involves sensor errors, drivability problems, and a turbo issue. Move it wherever you want.

-Mike

[georryan]

Strange that the turbo just up and seiezed on ya. I had my stock turbo end up having its wastegate have problems. It couldn't keep the boost down under a load, and it would raise to like 12-13 psi. I replaced the turbo and it worked fine.

Having a 3" exhaust is a lot of fun, that is true. I've had one for a while now and the car does wake up a litte just from that alone. Mine seemed to pull harder after the exhaust was put on.

[mhrallyteam]

Mine just died yesterday, it had at least 350000km, 220k miles or something. I had the same oily mess and CEL. I'm replacing it with a td04, much easier to find.

[Splinter]

Oh no I hope thats not whats gone on mine...

Im getting those codes and the car keeps limping

[Innovative Tuning]

My car is acting funny again. A few days ago the CEL started coming on, but only after I'd been driving for 15 minutes or so. If I turn the car off and back on it's there, but if I let the car sit off and cool down it's gone.

The car shows normal if I connect the green test connectors, but code 22 for knock sensor when I only connect the black test connectors. I put a brand new knock sensor in after I did the turbo swap last week, so this seems a bit odd. When I have some time I'll look into it further. For now the car drives like crap again. I went through the ECU reset procedure and that didn't help. I hear the timing being retarded heavily.

[Legacy777]

Check to verify that the surface is good where the knock sensor mounts since it grounds through that.

You may also want to check the wiring.

[Innovative Tuning]

Well after having the same problem on about 15 consecutive trips in the car, I pop the hood and look at then wiggle the wiring for the new knock sensor, close the hood...and haven't had a problem since. I've done about 5 trips so far since then without a problem. I guess the brand new sensor's harness has a crappy connection. If it gives me trouble again I'll get in there and solder it.

Now my speedometer is bouncy when cold. Guess I'll have to pull the cable out and grease it. Ah the joy of old cars...