Anatomy of an Instasplode: K03 carnage explored.
08-23-2004, 12:57 PM
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Anatomy of an Instasplode: K03 carnage explored.
Here's some pictures of my blown Drivers side K03 that instasploded. It just shuddered and started making the "AM radio" noise upon WOT acceleration from 1st. It still produced 10# of boost (mostly from the other turbo, I'm sure) when it was pulled.
Chicken and the egg scenario: The shaft is bent and there is clearly an impeller that broke off. Did the shaft bend first or did the impeller break loose, bending the shaft? Both possibilites are plausible, but given the point close to the center of the turbine which the impeller broke I'm going to say the impeller broke off first. Harmonics at over the speed of sound fractured it? Jacob could probably give some more info on this. Also the fact that the shaft is bent opposite the missing impeller may indicate consequences of imbalance or of a nasty chunk of turbine flying off at some amazing speed.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/38083/cimg0816.jpg">
Look at how tiny the K03 Turbine is. Used a nasty old RS4 **** for comparison. At first glance, it doesn't look "all that bad".
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/38083/cimg0812.jpg">
Looks like a harmonically induced fracture on the missing blade to me.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/38083/cimg0814.jpg">
The rest of the blades got chewed up by their wayward counterpart.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/38083/cimg0808.jpg">
The turbine housing fared pretty well. I could only make out a couple little scratches, though it may have gotten a bit "machined" by all that debris.
Lesson learned: If you're going to chip, use an MBC in parallel to keep spikes at bay. Two devices pressurizing the wastegates will help keep the turbines from overspinning. I'd say 17psi or so is a good limit. Of course, lower should be even better.
I believe this failure had nothing to do with oil, cooling times, or anything like that. It looks like it was a part that simply fractured and flew apart at great speed. Food for thought.
Oh, and since everyone will ask. The oil was up to temperature >200, which was Mobil 1 0-40 and I was running an MBC solo, set to 22#. Positive note: It did make the upgrade an easy sell on the wife
Chicken and the egg scenario: The shaft is bent and there is clearly an impeller that broke off. Did the shaft bend first or did the impeller break loose, bending the shaft? Both possibilites are plausible, but given the point close to the center of the turbine which the impeller broke I'm going to say the impeller broke off first. Harmonics at over the speed of sound fractured it? Jacob could probably give some more info on this. Also the fact that the shaft is bent opposite the missing impeller may indicate consequences of imbalance or of a nasty chunk of turbine flying off at some amazing speed.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/38083/cimg0816.jpg">
Look at how tiny the K03 Turbine is. Used a nasty old RS4 **** for comparison. At first glance, it doesn't look "all that bad".
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/38083/cimg0812.jpg">
Looks like a harmonically induced fracture on the missing blade to me.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/38083/cimg0814.jpg">
The rest of the blades got chewed up by their wayward counterpart.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/38083/cimg0808.jpg">
The turbine housing fared pretty well. I could only make out a couple little scratches, though it may have gotten a bit "machined" by all that debris.
Lesson learned: If you're going to chip, use an MBC in parallel to keep spikes at bay. Two devices pressurizing the wastegates will help keep the turbines from overspinning. I'd say 17psi or so is a good limit. Of course, lower should be even better.
I believe this failure had nothing to do with oil, cooling times, or anything like that. It looks like it was a part that simply fractured and flew apart at great speed. Food for thought.
Oh, and since everyone will ask. The oil was up to temperature >200, which was Mobil 1 0-40 and I was running an MBC solo, set to 22#. Positive note: It did make the upgrade an easy sell on the wife
08-23-2004, 01:15 PM
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haha, yea the 04/16's have been in for a while.
Too busy tweaking that setup to check out the K03's. Finally got a few minutes to take em apart for a look-see.
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08-23-2004, 01:16 PM
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Great pics. I'm sure that's what mine is going to look like......
Car is in the shop now getting K04/16's. The K03's are off and the K04's are almost in. Just have to wait for an O ring to arrive in the am. My driver's side is also the one that blew. I had zero boost right after it happened. I was hoping to get to the shop today to shoot some pics, but looks like I'm working late tonight. I'll post my instaslpode pics sometime this week.......
