New VNT-17 installed. Turbo boost hose popped out of intercooler pipe.

[timsch]

I just installed a Garret VNT-17. The vendor supplied related parts, including a Gates turbo hose. When installing it, the hose did not look to be shaped well. To get it to mate as well as possible, I had to loosen the brake line bracket and slide the brake line as much as possible away from the turbo. To connect the hose, I had to remove the 10mm nut & slip the intercooler pipe off of it's mounting stud. Once the hose connection was inserted into the pipe, I then had to use a bit of force (hand only) to get the pipe back on the stud. I did make sure that both ends were fully seated. At this point the hose was distorted and under stress, but was the best I could do and thought it would be OK.

I was wrong. On the 4th drive since installation, the hose popped off when driving @ about 50mph and accelerating in 3rd or 4th gear.

Top picture shows the hose from above. To the right of the hose, the hard line with the braided section is the brake line that had to be shifted. Both images show the hose as it naturally came to rest after popping out.

I pulled into a parking lot a few hundred yards away, shut it down and got a tow home to avoid having anything suck into the turbo by running it. I assume no damage to the turbo, but let me know if that may not be the case.

I didn't see any other way to route the hose. Let me know if this could be anything other than a poorly designed/made hose.

 

[timsch]

Let me guess. I've got the hose on backwards....

 

[454k30]

It happens. The only thing holding that hose into the pancake pipe is a spring clip. It's a design meant to speed manufacturing, not meant for 2x operating pressures of the aftermarket. The straighter that hose fitting can align with the pipe, the less likelihood of it being blown back out. Also, it's very easy to not fully install the hose to the pipe. What happens is that one of the hose barbs will lock in well, but the other will only be slightly engaged by the clip.

Your alignment isn't real bad. I would suggest loosening that nut that holds the pancake pipe to allow for some play. Then get the hose fully installed, ensuring that the spring clip is truly fully engaged, and then wiggle the pancake pipe back onto that stud.

 

[timsch]

I swapped the hose orientation and saw why I installed it the way I did the 1st time. The 1st picture shows how far off from mating with the turbo connection, and the 2nd shows how bent the hose is when the connection is made. Too much loss of inside x-sectional area that way.

Your alignment isn't real bad. I would suggest loosening that nut that holds the pancake pipe to allow for some play. Then get the hose fully installed, ensuring that the spring clip is truly fully engaged, and then wiggle the pancake pipe back onto that stud.

That's what I did the 1st time. It looked fully engaged, but maybe your right that it wasn't fully engaged on both sides. That spring clip on the plastic pipe doesn't give me warm fuzzies with the tension on the hose once I get the pipe back on the stud. I'm left with just thinking this is a poor hose, but I've thought Gates was generally good. If the hose was just an inch longer....

 

[burpod]

maybe you need to reclock the turbo a little? also loosening the intercooler + pancake pipe might buy you a little room and tighten all down when/if it seems to be fitting better

i'm really not a fan of those boost pipe connections, why i always think it's easier/better to just get a turbo with a plain barbed outlet and make your connections with off-the-shelf silicone adapters and sturdy clamps

 

[454k30]

Oh my! That is a tremendous amount of preload in that hose. As burpod suggests, you can clock that turbo outlet to have better alignment. It will wont be perfect, but it should be better than this. You can also go with a barbed fitting in both the turbo and pipe, and then create your own interconnect with rubber or silicone pieces and a short bit of pipe.

 

[timsch]

Oh my! That is a tremendous amount of preload in that hose. As burpod suggests, you can clock that turbo outlet to have better alignment. It will wont be perfect, but it should be better than this. You can also go with a barbed fitting in both the turbo and pipe, and then create your own interconnect with rubber or silicone pieces and a short bit of pipe.

If you're referring to my 2nd set of pics, those were from when I reversed the hose. I just did that to show a comparison to my 1st set of pics which were how the hose was connected initially in case anyone thought the hose was initally put on reversed. There is a label on the hose that looked to show a direction arrow which was pointing opposite of flow as originally installed.

I'll look into clocking the turbo, which I assume means loosening the bolts where it mounts to the manifold.

 

[burpod]

loosen the 6 8mm bolts on the compressor housing (bolting it to the cartridge) - then you can rotate it. it would seem that you would want to rotate it to move the compressor outlet a little farther to the front of the car. if you get under there you should be able to imagine if that might help or not before you go through the trouble... i *think* you should be able to do that without removing the turbo. might be tricky to get at one ore two of the bolts

i would first try loosening the pancake pipe and smic bolt points and see if there's any more wiggly room there first

 

[timsch]

loosen the 6 8mm bolts on the compressor housing (bolting it to the cartridge) - then you can rotate it. it would seem that you would want to rotate it to move the compressor outlet a little farther to the front of the car. if you get under there you should be able to imagine if that might help or not before you go through the trouble... i *think* you should be able to do that without removing the turbo. might be tricky to get at one ore two of the bolts

i would first try loosening the pancake pipe and smic bolt points and see if there's any more wiggly room there first

I'll look at the old turbo & manifold to try to understand what you're saying about rotating/clocking.

I'm not seeing how doing anything with the pancake pipe will help as long as it needs to connect to the stud with the 10 mm nut shown in my 2nd pic.

 

[mittzlepick]

Gates pipe suck doo doo. I sent mine back not worth the savings. Tried reclocking the turbo to make it work. Could not even get mine close to clicking on. Eventually set up the bew with alh pipes and intercooler.
And I thought i had mine backwards also. I dont think that the gates pipe was made for this application or they are really bad at hoses?

 

[timsch]

I've got access to all 6 8mm bolts and have turned the most difficult to access one from below.

Not having done this before, what should I watch out for to not screw up? How much to back each bolt? They seem lightly torqued down; they backed off pretty easily.

 

[burpod]

they should be snug, but they're small little bolts, don't over-torque thm. they just need to be loosened enough so you can rotate the housing. like 2 turns at most. they're short bolts. i think 1 full turn is probably plenty

 

[timsch]

Clocking of the turbo was completed without issue. I was able to access all 6 bolts without removing the turbo. Removing the heat shield above the turbo allowed access to the one deep bolt on the top. The hose fits a bit better, but it's wishful thinking to think that it is THAT much better.

I did tweak the spring slightly on the pancake pipe to get better engagement.

Fingers crossed at this point. Thanks all for the recommendations.

 

[PakProtector]

Yeah...I have a VNT17 headed for an ALH. The compressor housing is going to visit the bandsaw and then TIG machine. Again...

Douglas

 

[Shenandoah]

I used the same Gates hose on one of my BEWs. The first hose I received I just couldn't get it to connect unless I twisted it about 90 degrees. Sent that one back and received another one. Same issue. Frustrating........

Eric