How can I tell if my turbo's have ceramic or metal turbines without taking them apart. Someone once told me that the ceramics spool-up quicker, is this true and would I be able to tell? My car is an R33 GTR and it's been running 1.2 bar of boost ever since it came over from Japan. I know this is over the top for ceramic internals which is why I am hoping they are metal. I just need a bit of reassurance!
Ceramic or Metal - Can I tell without taking them to bits?
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I've heard 1 bar, 1.1, 1.3 being the max on the stock ceramic turbos. Ceramics do spool quicker but can shatter under extreme heat conditions or during some particularly nasty detonation in the exhaust tract, like that anti-lag that WRC cars use. I think the Japanese think 1.3 is the max on stock ceramics, but then again they have better gas over there. Did you remap your car for your local gas? I think it's avoiding detonation that's the main thing.
btw, if you do blow a turbo, pray that your foot is on the gas, and the bits will shoot out the tailpipe. If you lift right when it shatters, the vacuum will suck the bits into your intake, which I think is not so good.
AFAIK, there is no way to tell without actually taking a visual look at the turbine inside the housing. You don't have to disassemble the turbo, just the intake pipes so you can take a look at the innards.
btw, if you do blow a turbo, pray that your foot is on the gas, and the bits will shoot out the tailpipe. If you lift right when it shatters, the vacuum will suck the bits into your intake, which I think is not so good.
AFAIK, there is no way to tell without actually taking a visual look at the turbine inside the housing. You don't have to disassemble the turbo, just the intake pipes so you can take a look at the innards.
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my bad, got it backwards. 12 point eh? how many points on a steel wheel center nut? Aren't the ceramic wheels whitish in color? My engine is out which is why I'm asking, ought to take another look myself at my own turbos.NigelR32 said:
The Ceramic wheels are white, but stain with use. Some people assume the turbo's they have are ceramic, because the wheels are non magnetic...ALL the wheels are non-magnetic.
The nut in the centre is either 3 or six sided on a "Steel" turbo, in my experience.
The nut in the centre is either 3 or six sided on a "Steel" turbo, in my experience.
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One of the tuners may have a borescope? they could remove the Oxygen sensor and look that way.
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righto, going to take a look at the nut again, but it looked dingy white to me when I had a look see this weekend, which means ceramic.NigelR32 said:
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Quote - If the nut in the centre is a 12 point, they're ceramic.
What do you mean by 12 point ? - 12 blades ??
What do you mean by 12 point ? - 12 blades ??
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just looked at mine R34 one's waiting to go on - the nut looks like a xex screw and i've go twelve :bawling:
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yep - exacrly like mine ! damn i'll have to get steel blades then !!
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simple way to tell is stick i fridge magnet on the exhaust wheel, if it sticks its got to metal doesnt it?
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One way of telling without dissembling
The Steel internal ones take a lot longer to spool down when you shut the engine off, [park on a concrete floor in a garage to maximise the sound] so if you have a friend that knows exactly which type they have you could compare the amount of time it takes for them to stop rotating.
The Steel internal ones take a lot longer to spool down when you shut the engine off, [park on a concrete floor in a garage to maximise the sound] so if you have a friend that knows exactly which type they have you could compare the amount of time it takes for them to stop rotating.
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