BIG. PROBLEM. Apparently stock VF40 turbo...

So I bought my 05 LGT last summer with 84k stage2 plus "VF52". Well since then I've dumped what I payed for it into it with a new shortblock, new CVs and some other misc stuff, Im now at about 90k on the car and 4k on the motor. Im now being tuned by cryo for the 52. Today I was taking off my TMIC to tighten my heat shield and low and behold... Turbo looks small as hell and reads what I think "VF40". The car is running lean under high boost and I believe is caused by needing a fuel pump, and also 1 piston on both front calipers is seized. Knowing this now im not really sure what to do with the car... What would you do?

Guess it all depends on how much you like the car. It's 10 years old now like mine. And more things like this will pop up than you can think of.

if things make sense "financial and fiancée" wise keep it. If no other options sell it while you can

Do you have stock downpipe?

 

Clearly the previous owner lied to you about the VF52 or they were taken themselves. Have you told Dave you found the car actually has a VF40? This would help fix the tune. Which also begs the question, why are you tuning the car with suspected mechanical issue? Are you sure the fuel pump is bad? Have you pressure tested the system?

 

I'd fix the brakes if they were seized. They aren't that expensive to fix and your life is worth more than the $200 or so it costs to fix it yourself.

If you can see the VF40 on the upper left corner of the surface on the turbo then that's what you got. Even a VF52 is not that much bigger.

 

The calipers replacements should be less then $200.

 

Can you data log and send Dave a log ?

Do you have stock downpipe?

 

Clearly the previous owner lied to you about the VF52 or they were taken themselves. Have you told Dave you found the car actually has a VF40? This would help fix the tune. Which also begs the question, why are you tuning the car with suspected mechanical issue? Are you sure the fuel pump is bad? Have you pressure tested the system?

 

I'd fix the brakes if they were seized. They aren't that expensive to fix and your life is worth more than the $200 or so it costs to fix it yourself.

 

Aftermarket shorty dp with an aftermarket bottom as well. I have not told Dave yet as I just found out about this an hour ago. I was not aware I had a problem, I found out when we started logging and saw that it is running lean under high rpm and high boost. I agree with the brakes, they will be fixed in a few days.

If you can see the VF40 on the upper left corner of the surface on the turbo then that's what you got. Even a VF52 is not that much bigger.

 

The calipers replacements should be less then $200.

 

Can you data log and send Dave a log ?

 

Well one of the plaques on the turbo is sanded clean (kinda weird) and the other is very hard to see due to placement but I think it does say VF40. As just said the brakes will be getting done in a few days. Yea im going to email Dave and see where to go from here.

Hm. How would I go about finding this out?

Give BNR Supercalls (Brian) a call. He might be able to help you out.

Take a look at the difference here between a VF40 (all black on LH side) and a VF52 (yellow letters on RH side). There is not a lot of physical difference in appearance BUT, if you look at the bottom coolant line, you can see that the VF40 is bolted to the compressor housing and the VF52 is not. That's a complete tell tale. Another place to look is at the compressor housing and you can see that the VF40 is smooth down from the flange all the way past the vacuum line while the VF52 has a kind of wide groove cast into the housing across the passage right under the vacuum line. Third way is the wastegate actuator on the VF40 comes straight out of the middle of the pot while the VF52 comes out and turns 90 degrees towards the vacuum line on the compressor housing.

 

Good luck.

Thanks for all the help everybody. Looks like a VF40, however managed to blow my last short block with only about 85k miles on it which makes me think its not stock. Thinking it might be an early 16G. Gonna call BNR tomorrow and see what they can do for me.

Wow hope this is a lesson learned... no offense but in the future before you buy a car, especially a turbo subaru you should inspect everything on it and get it checked out by a specialist if you aren't familiar with what your looking at. Best of luck to you going forward! Research as much as you can here on the forums as it will only benefit you. Cheers

Yea as this isn't the first time ive said it on here, this whole car is a lesson learned. I definitely know much more know then when I bought the car and do regret the stupid mistakes like this that I made when purchasing it. Thanks, really hoping is a 16G!

In retrospect, you can look at the turbo and tell if it is a 16 or 18g by the compressor inlet. Brian machined the old housings. You should be able to see the upgraded turbo as the boring left a non-polished surface versus the IHI's very smooth surface.

 

http://i.imgur.com/Xpf6q.jpg

If it is a BNR hybrid turbo, he uses an adapter/plate ring similar to this one to graft a Td05 Mitsubishi clone CHRA housing onto a VF40 compressor housing.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garrett-GT3582-Turbocharger-Backplate-back-plate-/281266339533?hash=item417cc7becd&vxp=mtr

 

You can tell by looking at the back of the compressor housing and if there is an adapter plate/ring like this with a big snap ring inside of the lip holding the CHRA onto the adapter plate/ring itself and then it's put in with the normal IHI bolts on the VF40 compressor housing.

 

You can't really tell by looking at the inlet because all of the machining is inside of the compressor housing because the base of the 16G wheel is 68mm versus a normal VF40 wheel is 56mm. Visually from the front, they don't really look much bigger because the inducer is not that much larger-it's all in the exducer out of sight.

 

For reference, upper left of the photo (#1) is a stock VF40 with upper right (#2) being a Custom VF40 that I use. Bottom left (#5) is a 16G Custom (BNR's use a much heavier, much cheaper cast version of a 16G) but you can see the difference in the base size.

 

Look for the adapter ring and send me or post a photo of the back side of the compressor housing and that will instantly tell you if it's a BNR or not.

 

Good luck.

Stop it with the wheel porn! Now I need to send you a blown 16g too.

If it is a BNR hybrid turbo, he uses an adapter/plate ring similar to this one to graft a Td05 Mitsubishi clone CHRA housing onto a VF40 compressor housing.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garrett-GT3582-Turbocharger-Backplate-back-plate-/281266339533?hash=item417cc7becd&vxp=mtr

 

You can tell by looking at the back of the compressor housing and if there is an adapter plate/ring like this with a big snap ring inside of the lip holding the CHRA onto the adapter plate/ring itself and then it's put in with the normal IHI bolts on the VF40 compressor housing.

 

You can't really tell by looking at the inlet because all of the machining is inside of the compressor housing because the base of the 16G wheel is 68mm versus a normal VF40 wheel is 56mm. Visually from the front, they don't really look much bigger because the inducer is not that much larger-it's all in the exducer out of sight.

 

For reference, upper left of the photo (#1) is a stock VF40 with upper right (#2) being a Custom VF40 that I use. Bottom left (#5) is a 16G Custom (BNR's use a much heavier, much cheaper cast version of a 16G) but you can see the difference in the base size.

 

Look for the adapter ring and send me or post a photo of the back side of the compressor housing and that will instantly tell you if it's a BNR or not.

 

Good luck.

 

Damn those look good. What is wheel 6?

Bryan's old hybrids came with the actuator and hard lines coated metallic grey and the exhaust housing in heat-resistant black. It would have an adapter to fit the IHI compressor cover to the MHI bearing housing, the housing being held to the adapter with socket head screws. Yours looks completely stock.

Can anyone tell from the shot if it is a BNR?

 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5kRdluB9mSMZ3ZHdUdCSVBFd2s/edit?usp=docslist_api

Stock IHI guts.

^^^What he said. That is a stock VF40 my friend. Can also tell by exhaust housing having the actuator arm down close to the housing itself. VF52 has a long bushing and the arm is about 1" above the actual exhaust housing itself.

Damn those look good. What is wheel 6?

Wheel 6 is a Custom 18G

This is so weird... If its stock how did it manage to hit 20psi on a stage 2 cobb ots map and blow my short block?

Vacuum hose popped off. Or has a crack the opens under pressure.