BW, Garrett, Holsett. Reliability.

RonA

RonA

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Feb 26, 2008
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I see alot of people getting S300's rebuilt. I usually don't keep one long enough to know how long they last. Pulled my 64/71 secondary off to do a wastegate mod and noticed a bit of thrust bearing play(.008/.010). It has 10-15k miles on it and doesn't get abused. Is it normal to rebuild every year or so? I know the s300 platform is stronger than the HX35 and HX40's, but do they last longer in normal usage?
 
So far I have had pretty good luck out of my Holsets. I had right around 200k on my WH1C and my HX35 before they gave out. And i think a lot of the reason they gave up then was because of barking them.

I think holset makes a pretty strong turbo myself. I know of an HX55 that has been on SEVERAL trucks. At least 4, and it made probably 45psi or better on all of them, and is still going strong. Its also one of the best running 2.5 chargers i have seen. Maybe even better than an S465.

I cant say for sure which one is the most reliable of the 3, but i have had good luck with my holsets.

Eric
 
I've had the best luck with Schwitzer/BW. The current turbo is a mutt; BW, holset and KKK thrown in the mix with a few custom Woodruff parts.
 
So what kind of life can one expect from HTT,II or ATS? I didn't have my first HTT long enough to get it good and broke in before I out grew it.Now I have another one but don't daily drive the truck to give some real life numbers.I always see "rebuilt" S300 and S400 turbos for sale in the classifieds and it makes me wonder why did it need rebuilt?Lots of miles?Lots of abuse? Weak design?
 
I imagine some of these turbos are getting rebuilt as "preventative maintenance." When a HX35 dies, you're out 300 bucks for a used one. When an S300 is used till it dies, you're out 900-1200 for a used one so why not get it rebuilt for 250-300 bucks and ensure that expensive compressor wheel, housings, and shaft don't become ruined.

One would also expect that performance turbos are subjected to more abuse than stock turbos.
 
So someone who is not abusing an S300 turbo can expect the same life span as an HX-35? I have 2 01 3500's, both with 180k plus miles on the stock chargers and no signs of problems.It woulsd be nice to know this $1500 HTT will perform the same.I also want to add it is usually the S400's that I see listed as fresh rebuild.I have twins in mind in the near future and don't want to have to be pulling either turbo out for rebuild on a yearly basis!
 
I have alot of play (up/down/in/out) in my silverbullet. Its got about 1000 miles on it.
 
Broken more HX35's than I want to count, destroyed a S480 with about 2500 miles on it, dropped a hand grenade inside a Garrett GT4088R, etc, etc, etc.

I've had about the same luck with all of them...but keep in mind, a lot of the stuff I run I bought cheap to see if it works, so I don't get too worked up if it breaks!

Chris
 
I've seen them all break and I've seen them all live a long life. The harder you run them the shorter they seem to live.
 
My stock HX35 lived for 220,000 miles before giving up the ghost. and about 15,000 of them were at a wastegated 38-42psi.

My S465 I had rebuild before I installed it, it didn't have excesive play or anything but I knew it needed a balance. I was also replacing it because my HX35 died so I wanted to be extra sure I wasn't going to need to have it redone anytme soon. It only has a couple thousand miles on it now and still feels brand new.
 
My S465 felt great before last Saturday... Not so great anymore... Where is the broke turbo smilie?


On another note, my SPS 62 has about 12,000 miles on the excursion and has noticeable play in it. No housing contact yet, but very dissappointed so far. Only has a smarty on it (lvl 5) and isn't ran hard at all... Thinking of swapping to a HE351...
 
On my 02, I have currently have ~109,000 miles on the twins since I put them on. Neither one has been been rebuilt. I keep checking them for end play, but they both seem to be doing fine. There are both HTT turbos, with a 62/65/14 on top of a S475 with a 1.32 AR. The truck also has over 1,800 1/4 mile passes on it, with about 1200 since the twins were put on. I went through a couple of hx 35/40 hybrids, and a 64/12 prior to putting twins on. The oil gets changed at the most every 3,000 miles, and during race season as often as 1,500 miles.

My 05, I have a 66/16SS on top of a S480, and other then problems with the wastegate on the 66, they have been fine too. I do not have that many passes or miles on either of those, yet.

I am interested in seeing if there is a common cause for some of the thrust failures, so I can make sure I avoid the problem. At this point though I haven't had the problem. The turbos I did have fail were obviously from over speeding them.

Paul
 
In speaking with a very knowledgable turbo guy recently the premature turbo wear a lot of people are seeing is due entirely to having too restrictive of a breather on it, causing the turbo shaft to torque against the bearing harder tryin to suck air
 
I also believe that you need to change the oil every 3000-4000 miles. Running excessive fuel really makes the oil dirty which causes the bearings to get sloppy.
JMO
 
^^^ I agree with that, I have never gone over 3,000 miles on a change and would usually put an additive of some sort in it after about 1,000 to help keep the lube up.
 
Drive pressure kills thrust bearings. Keep dp's in check and all of them will be happier.
 
The stock HX35 on my 95 Junker with 240K miles is tight like a brand new turbo. The 160 p-pump is stock so it has had a measly 160 HP pumped through it it's whole life. I believe stock wastegate is set around 18-19 psi on the 95' autos so it has had an easy life.
 
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