08-10 SS Turbocharged General Discussion Discuss the 2008 - 2009 Chevy Cobalt SS Turbocharged. On sale since the second quarter of 2008.

Dying/dead Turbo? No power + Buzzing.

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Old Sep 3, 2013 | 09:13 PM
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Dying/dead Turbo? No power + Buzzing.

I was driving home from work getting on the highway and after letting out in third gear I immediately lost power and any time I would put any load on the engine instead of a turbo noise I hear a very high pitch buzz. Almost like something is dragging on the turbo blades?

I'm guessing its a blown turbo but it doesn't sound nearly as much like a blown turbo does on Youtube. I've never heard one in person to gauge it by. Blown turbos on youtube sound more like a roots blower.

I recently changed out the BPV to the forge one (about three days ago). Swapped back to stock and the same problem. Is it possible the BPV killed my turbo?

So, no boost. No traditional turbo sounds. Buzz under load. No power.

Blown turbo?

I'm trying to diagnose as quick as possible so I can order a new one. Luckily I've got a furlough day this week so I can have a "free" day to work on it.

Counting on you guys. If you need any more information I'd be happy to supply what I can.

I wouldn't be surprised its the turbo...
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Old Sep 3, 2013 | 09:21 PM
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take off the intake and wiggle the compressor wheel, see if theres a lot of play.
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Old Sep 3, 2013 | 09:22 PM
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Also, I popped off the intake and tried to wiggle the shaft. Didn't really feel any play. Turbo spun smooth as well. I didn't have a mirror to have a less obstructed view.
EDIT: Wow you barely beat me to asking it.
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Old Sep 3, 2013 | 09:23 PM
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Sounds very similar to

I guess I should order one in the morning...

Last edited by Bleu; Sep 3, 2013 at 09:50 PM.
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Old Sep 3, 2013 | 11:22 PM
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ZFR forced upgrade
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Old Sep 4, 2013 | 09:22 AM
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Maybe check the blades on the compressor to see if they got chewed up by something. Maybe ur bpv somehow broke and put some metal into the compressor blades
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Old Sep 4, 2013 | 09:44 AM
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Originally Posted by andrewcarr1993
ZFR forced upgrade
As much as I want to I'm currently building a twin turbo stealth and it gets all the big turbo money. The cobalt stays a DD.
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Old Sep 4, 2013 | 09:52 AM
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Can't see your sig, I'm on my mobile. What mods do you have? And the oblivous question did you check your charge piping and intercooler for cracks, breaks, or disconnected
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Old Sep 4, 2013 | 10:07 AM
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TUNED - K&N SRI - ZZP DOWNPIPE - ZZP INTERCOOLER KIT

Intercooler connections all look good but that doesn't mean I don't have a tiny boost leak I can't see that grew into a bigger one. I'm going to pull the bumper today and give it a good look see.
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Old Sep 4, 2013 | 10:10 AM
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I used my phone to get a good pic of my turbo when it went kaput. I only had a little up and down play but it was enough to contact the housing.

This is one of the pics I showed the mechanic, although I still had plenty of boost, just not max.

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Old Sep 4, 2013 | 03:20 PM
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my car had a issue like that when my turbo blew but I had a lot of white smoke I would have to play with the throttle n eventually got boost
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Old Sep 5, 2013 | 03:05 PM
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Another update: After a lot of dicking around since I have maybe 2/3 of the tools I need I've gotten the O2 housing off. Playing with the turbine side I can feel a lot more shaft play than the intake side.
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Old Sep 5, 2013 | 09:29 PM
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Turbo is replaced. Fixed the problem.
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Old Sep 5, 2013 | 09:39 PM
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Link to the Dodge Stealth Build, what year is it? If you say 96'' I'll <3 you. Almost got a 94 VR-4 before I got the cobalt.
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Old Sep 5, 2013 | 09:58 PM
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I don't have an official build per se (did I use that right?)

Its a 1991 stealth with the 97-98 front bumper, the 2g stealth side skirts and the 2g stealth rear bumper. I've currently got 13T turbos and 550cc injectors. I'm going to get the interior back together before I installed the electronic boost controller and the water meth and push it to ~21lbs.


It has the cianci non vented wide body kit on it with Rota P45Rs installed.
The guy said its painted "WRX blue" not sure which year of blue

Also has a stand alone computer. Should be 450-500 AWHP when done depending on how happy the dyno is

Not sure what else there is to say but I can't wait to drive it! Only did one quick down the street drive with no boost and a stuck idle at 2500rpm. I've since fixed both of those problems
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Old Sep 5, 2013 | 10:02 PM
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Nice, you buy the cianci parts new? I know they were having lots of problems with their fitment recently and the guy made a new company with the same name since then.

I'm assuming you've built the motor and sent quite a few paychecks over to 3SX by now
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Old Sep 5, 2013 | 10:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Bleu
Turbo is replaced. Fixed the problem.
That's great to hear Bleu. Please let us Chevrolet reps know if you need any assistance by sending us a private message.

Jackie
Chevrolet Customer Care
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Old Sep 6, 2013 | 08:03 AM
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Originally Posted by andrewcarr1993
Nice, you buy the cianci parts new? I know they were having lots of problems with their fitment recently and the guy made a new company with the same name since then.

I'm assuming you've built the motor and sent quite a few paychecks over to 3SX by now
The cianci parts came with the car. I bought the car as a project car from someone who bought the car for parts since it was at one time a single turbo build. I'm pretty much returning it to mostly stock.

I don't know when the Cianci ---> C7 Carbon transition took place but the car has been pretty much sitting since 09.

The motor is a stock OEM 2 bolt, supposedly bought from the dealer. I'm thinking that means it has the forged crank but I guess I'll find out sooner or later!

I've luckily been able to avoid sending paychecks to 3sx and mostly stuck with just a few hundred dollars in parts needed since my project came with a parts car. I'll try to get pictures loaded on here sometime, but I'm incredibly lazy with the amount of effort involved in loading pictures.
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Old Sep 7, 2013 | 09:02 PM
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Just a reminder: New turbo has the wastegate adjusted different. Over boosting.
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Old Sep 7, 2013 | 09:10 PM
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Load pics now, but anyways I know the 91 isn't normally forged but there are lots of articles on 3SX about that if you want to read.
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Old Sep 7, 2013 | 10:05 PM
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Stealth had 13g turbos from Mitsubishi, what's a 13t? I got one sitting in my shop
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Old Sep 9, 2013 | 10:06 AM
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Originally Posted by andrewcarr1993
Load pics now, but anyways I know the 91 isn't normally forged but there are lots of articles on 3SX about that if you want to read.
I also know the 91 isn't normally forged. I just don't know anything about this motor really besides it has good compression numbers, idles amazingly smooth, and is a 2 bolt. Supposedly is a new short block from Mitsubishi... we'll see about that.

The euro spec 3000gts came with 13g turbos from the factory. The Americans were stuck with the tiny 9b. The 13t is the cartridge from a Subaru WRX. You hone out the exhaust housing so it'll fit and then it bolts on. The most cost effective turbo upgrade because they have been recorded reaching 500AWHP and if you pop a turbo its only $200 for a new cartridge from Ebay!

I didn't make the decision for 13t's or the 2bolt but the 2 bolt came in the car and the turbos came with the car. If I had to buy my own I'd be debating between the 13ts or DR750s.

I'm working on pictures for you guys -.- I just tore out the interior yesterday to put the seatbelts back in it. The last guy had harnesses because racecar.


EDIT: All new OEM short blocks 2 bolt or 4 bolt come with a forged crank. So if it is new like I was told then it is forged. We'll see

Last edited by Bleu; Sep 9, 2013 at 01:18 PM.
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Old Sep 9, 2013 | 10:11 AM
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Basically the TD04L-13T will flow about 400 CFM ( compressor maps are hard to find for this one ). The TD04L-13G had a rated max flow of about 360 CFM.


I stole that from this thread on a WRX forum. Stock WRX turbo is not a 13G it is a 13T

It goes into the ins and outs of the TD04 line up a little bit more and the repercussions for the WRX platform.
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Old Sep 9, 2013 | 01:20 PM
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The single shot is going to be replaced by the IPS quad tip.
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Old Sep 9, 2013 | 01:27 PM
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That's how it sits right now. Engine bay has been cleaned up and organized more.
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