Starved for oil/Is my turbo damaged?

[violacleff]

As some of you may have read, the tranny shop pinched the oil line inbetween the block and the motor when they changed the tranny. When I drove the car, it started making a "clink clink clink" sound after about 8 miles of driving, and wouldn't boost well. So I took some pics, and towed it back to the tranny shop to show them what they had done. I figured that noise was the bearing in the turbo, since it would only make the noise after 3k rpm or so.

 

Anyhow the shop changed the oil line before starting it up, and told me that they are not hearing the noise. My fear is that now that it is lubricated, it may not be making the noise, but the turbo may be damaged and fall apart after putting some miles on it. Am I paranoid or is this not even a possibility? I was think that if the bearings were damaged, it would have problems even after it got oil again. What do you guys think?

[nienberg.11]

Ouch. that is a very bad situation. I have my own turbo oil supply horror story, which was completely my fault, but I can tell you from experience that turbo bearings wont last long at all with insufficient oil. I ruined a t3 for life driving it less than a mile without enough oil during a blonde moment. Don't let the shop convince you it's all right and let it slide. If you have time, remove the compressor housing and check the edges of the compressor wheel blades. Mine were beaten to hell from hitting the housing, which was the noise I heard when I killed my turbo. The turbine wheel was the same way. You'll probably have to replace the turbo, as well as thouroughly clean any metal shavings from your intake piping if in fact the compressor got beaten up. Sorry man. -Mike