VNT 17 billet compressor wheel???

As the title says, is there a billet VNT17 (GT1749VB) wheel available in North America (or Europe for that matter)???

Mamm's car is showing a LOT of erosion on the inducer blade leading edge, and I would love to replace it. Problem is, when "local" turbo shop (Alamo) tried to order one, Garret told them in no uncertain terms - NOT available in North America.

So, I figured if I have to look around for a replacement, might as well make it good. Any billet wheels out there?

Failing that: where the heck to I get even a cast wheel?

Are you trying to put one in a 15, or replace your current 17 wheel? Borg Warner or Garrett?

BleachedBora said:

Are you trying to put one in a 15, or replace your current 17 wheel? Borg Warner or Garrett?

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I want to replace the wheel of a 17 that has eroded inducer vanes. I think I will stay with the Garret 17, but would like a better wheel than just cast replacement - if for no other reason than I like nice parts on the cars.

For now, had the shop just go through the cartridge and balance the rotating assembly. Not perfect, but will keep it driveable until I can get around to taking the whole thing up one small notch.

http://www.xsboostturbochargers.com...essor-wheel-vw-audi-1-9tdi-alh-ahf-1997-2003/

I am having this company Rebuild my Vnt17. Making it a 17-22 and it will have a billet compressor wheel. They have a good reputation and seemed to know a lot about TDI's. I will post a review and some pics when I get it back.

benarmstrong83 said:

http://www.xsboostturbochargers.com...essor-wheel-vw-audi-1-9tdi-alh-ahf-1997-2003/

I am having this company Rebuild my Vnt17. Making it a 17-22 and it will have a billet compressor wheel. They have a good reputation and seemed to know a lot about TDI's. I will post a review and some pics when I get it back.

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Definitely interested in those results

benarmstrong83 said:

http://www.xsboostturbochargers.com...essor-wheel-vw-audi-1-9tdi-alh-ahf-1997-2003/

I am having this company Rebuild my Vnt17. Making it a 17-22 and it will have a billet compressor wheel. They have a good reputation and seemed to know a lot about TDI's. I will post a review and some pics when I get it back.

Click to expand...

Thanks very much for posting this. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for, just wish I hadn't had the shop close mine up and send it back two days ago! Oh, well, I will put it into the old turbo on next opportunity...and buy one of their billet wheels for my 7.3 while I am at it!

A twofer! Who'd a thunk it?

Now, I will ask this same question on 7.3 Powerjoke site, but with reference to the VNT17 wheel: does anyone have any experience with them here??? By "them" I mean XSBoost Turbochargers in Massillon OH - and their billet wheels?

Unless I missed something, you don't just buy a billet wheel and install it. The entire rotating assembly has to be VSR balanced after changing any of the parts. You could drop a vnt-17 rotating assembly into the manifold of a vnt-15, (yes it fits) and have something commonly referred to as a Stealth-17. This video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPgFAL6U0tA is my personal turbo I had made into a 17/56 from a junked vnt-15 turbo and manifold. There are lots of options available these days and lots of reputable re-builders to choose from. I spent a month doing research before I decided on who I would have build my turbo for me.

EDIT: I just re-read your post, you already have a 17 turbo and your location is 2300' above sea level. A 17/22 will make a lot of noise and won't be happy if you drive at higher elevations often. A 17/56 will provide more air at higher elevations, but it will will provide that air at a lot lower shaft RPM than anything else in the "17 family" of turbos. Just a thought...

ben... 17/22's are notorious for surging and making strange noises; granted, this is no surprise to those that own them, but chuff, chuff, chuff, freaks most people out. I have a few hundred miles on my new turbo, and the difference is HUGE. She spools w/o having to hit WOT, and the throttle response difference makes me think I have a new engine. I live at 4600' elev., and I am glad I chose the 17/56 instead of something else. The price was right; I got more turbo for less money by sending the re-builders a core to start with than I would have gotten if I had purchased a "regular" vnt-17 as a complete unit, and I didn't have to spend $500.00 to have it installed by a shop just to have a valid warranty from you-know-who.

So ben... and Pat..., did you get your turbos done and have you installed them yet?

I will get some pics of the turbo up. It looks as a rebuilt turbo should, took xsboost about a month turn around. I will probably start a build thread. This turbo is going on my newly acquired 59k TDI. I am currently laid up with a surprise shoulder surgery so wont have a installed update for a little while.

Ben, sorry to hear you are laid up, get well soon and please keep us posted.

Turbo finally Installed

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I have finally made it back to the shop. The rebuilt turbo from xsboost looks as expected. I am hoping the billet center and blade design help the infamous 17/22 lag. A quick low speed trip around the block with stock tune and it seemed to spool as quickly as the stock turbo it replaced. Still trying to decide on tuner and which south bend clutch to test the performance of the turbo.

My 17/56 with .230 nozzles hasn't seemed to stress my Stage 2 Daily Driver clutch in the least. I have used and will be using again TDTuning, Mike is very well regarded as a tuner and trouble shooter.

EDIT: ben, just so I am clear, you had them install a 52mm compressor wheel into your VNT-17 housing, correct? I wonder why they used an 11 blade wheel instead of the (newer) more common 6+6 blade wheel?
Until you add some more fuel, I don't believe you will really notice any major difference either good or bad, but with some more fuel it should spool like crazy. The first test run I took on mine when I cracked open the throttle, it blew the hose out of of the clip on the pancake pipe. I thought something much worse had occurred actually, so I took her home reconnected the hose/clip double checked it see it was aligned correctly, and went for another test drive. It blew the hose off again. In all the years I have owned this car I have never had a hose blow off of the turbo, and not wanting to keep crawling under my car I simplified the resolution to the issue; I used 2 self-tapping screws to prevent future blow offs.

I was thinking stage 2 endurance to be safe. Unsure on tuner, still researching that.
It is a vnt 17 rebuilt into a 17/22. Nevada tdi you are unfortunately correct on the wheel. xsboost had small mix up and standard cast wheel was installed. I called today and they want to make it right, they are shipping me a new center section with billet wheel right away. Will update when I receive. That much boost sounds like it's a good problem to have. Can't wait!

Making a 17/22 out of a "stock 17" is a pretty standard thing, bummer they used the wrong wheel on your install, but they are doing the right thing and sending you a new assembly with the correct compressor wheel on it.Based on my experience with the 6+6 wheel (and I am glad I noticed yours was wrong) even w/o more fuel you should definitely know there is something different about the turbo. Check out this info page: http://www.darksidedevelopments.co....56vk-turbocharger-with-vacuum-conversion.html

You should be fine running 26 PSI and with enough fuel 210 HP is easy to reach.
Somebody once said to me, "that is a really expensive hose to be driving screws into." Okay, but if I spend the money to buy the new parts to fix it and it blows off again, I have just purchased a very expensive paperweight. Mine is broke and for 10 cents and 10 minutes work and my problem is fixed, maybe not perfectly but it won't blow off again.
If you have a set of calipers, I would physically measure every spot possible on the new wheel vs. the old one. It is possible the profile of the two wheels are identical, but I am not going to bet on it. It is likely the hub on the billet wheel is thinner and that is okay as it will allow more air and likely higher tip height going into the inlet likely grabbing more air. If you don't already know 0.0010 is the standard Garrett spec for the distance between the wheel and the housing; too little and you may have contact occur, too much and the flow and pressure will not be as high as expected and the air will be heated excessively before it leaves the turbo. That is why the "Stealth 17" of old really wasn't as cool as people thought it was. Bunch of crap to learn about these things isn't there?

Hybrid Time

My son and I just picked up a VNT17 of a BHW. Could you help us with the info on the 56mm compressor. What brand and a part number would be appreciated. I can see from your description that you are happy with the way it works. We are going to put it in my sons 06 BRM. We will port the head, along with multi valve angles,and add a Colt stage 2 cam. w
We have access to CNC equipment to oversize the compressor housing.
Some of this might be carry over from the billet compressor wheel thread. Thank you for your help in advance. Stephen

Double post.

Which exact turbo is it you have?

I sent them an email asking if they would tell who manufactured the wheel I have, I will let you know. I don't know how many actual manufacturers there are of compressor wheels at present.

Look here:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Turbo-Compr...2056-436563-0012-39-65-mm-56-mm-/282061759285

And here:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Billet-Turb...9bd05df:g:DYAAAOSwMmBV535s&vxp=mtr&rmvSB=true

If you scroll down on the 1756 page you will find a lot "other application" part numbers; let me know if I can be of any more help.

K.

And yes, I am very happy with my new turbo. I realize some of the credit for the new power is due to the increase in nozzle size, but the thing that still amazes me is how completely different my engine runs without changing the tune. Relatively speaking, the same boost curve and pressure (boost) setting that was used for a vnt-15 totally kicks a$$ with with the hybrid.

I would say to anyone reading this: if your old, dinky, tired, vnt-15 gives up the ghost and you don't have a grand or so to go brand-new, consider getting your dead turbo a new lease on life as something else; a 17/52 or a 17/56, or even something bigger depending on your rebuilder. I actually could have had a bigger compressor wheel installed, but then I would have had to chase down the appropriate adapter(s) to match a non-stock diameter inlet flange, and the next up-sized turbine wheel was from a very expensive Mercedes Benz turbo.

There is a very nice 6+6 billet wheel available that does not require any machining; just the required balancing for a stock size 49mm compressor wheel as an upgrade for a stock 1749 (vnt-15.) I would think using that particular wheel and a set of .205 nozzles would be an amazing upgrade and a lot of fun to drive. For those of you that haven't read my expos'e on the "Stealth 17", please do read it before you spend your money. And then don't spend your money that way.

Just to throw this idea out there in the fray... I am speaking in generalities and not in scientific specifics: theoretically speaking, for every
1mm increase in compressor diameter it could be worth 14 HP, and every 1 PSI increase in boost could be worth 10 HP per PSI. Granted, you will need more fuel and a more efficient way to get the air both in and out of the engine, but our little diesel engines have a lot of potential left in them from the factory.

Cool

Thank you Nevada TDI for the links. I believe Kinugawa is a reputable company. I will email them a few questions. Certainly looks like a good place to start. I will figure out what nozzles will cross over from your .23 size ALH to my PD BRM. 180 BHP here we go. Thank you.

morpwr, you are welcome I am glad I could be of help. PD 150 nozzles can do 180/300 easy. Check out this dyno: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=352348

Great thread,

Are the turbine wheels the same on the VNT 15 as the 17? Can't seem to find that info. Also, is the KP39 turbine smaller than the 15?

I have a nice core VNT 15 here that I would love to install a larger compressor wheel if the turbines are the same. TIA.

These is a thread somewhere that discusses the sizes of the turbines. Due to the fact a early vnt 17 cartridge will drop into a early vnt 15 exhaust manifold as long as you're not trying to make 200 horsepower or more you should be fine.
With your cartridge being in good shape, I would suggest you pay the 80.00 to have it rebuilt before upgrading the compressor wheel. Your total will probably run around 450.00 with parts and labor but having that wheel in that size housing gives almost instant spool just off idle. I am installing a pancake pipe to see if it makes any difference on the top end. If I may be of any more help PM me.

Thanks. I have a turbo shop here that can balance it and do the machining, I can do the rest.

Any thoughts on clipping the turbine wheel to trick it into being a larger wheel, ala VNT20?

My 17/22 just bit the dust
Do they sell a rebuild kit for it?

I found a company in the UK that sells the whole CHRA with billet wheel. My stock VNT15 went bad and i needed a quick cheap fix so i found the CHRA to be the fastest and cheapest.




Ive put 6k on the turbo since and i havent had a problem. Also i would upgrade your oil feed, the stock line uses a compression fitting at the turbo.

heykw said:

My 17/22 just bit the dust
Do they sell a rebuild kit for it?

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Bit the dust, how? Turbo Lab America sells non-Chinesium vnt-17 rebuild kits for $80.00 IIRC. But the real question is, which version of the 17/22 do you have, i.e. who built it? I am sure TLAmerica has a kit for whichever turbo you have. Everybody in the repair/upgrade turbo business are really busy it seems; that is a good thing to keep pricing under control for those of us that choose to save money wherever we can. I now own a 17/56 made from a dead vnt-15; the cold side was machined to support a 56 mm wheel. I realize it likely won't likely move as much air as a 17/56 made with a vnt-20 cold side, but I am not looking to break the 200 HP barrier either.

I believe I still have my VMT 15 on the shelf.
I believe I got it from ID parts, Peter

TLAmerica
Anyone have a number for TLAmerica?
It made a pop. The whole turbine wheel is loose. It probably broke the shaft.