sm

Sorry for all the questions, but...

I was just wondering how many miles does the stock turbo last. I know it depends on how hard it was used, etc, but just in general. My car has 137k and runs pretty strong, so says the mechanic. The turbo does have a nice kick to it, but then again I don't have something to compare it to.

I'm about to change the oil-line seals for the turbo, so I was just wondering if now is a good time to take a look at the turbo since everything is off...or soon will be.

Thanks,
sm

Antonio

Apart from a catastophic falure, usually the need for a turbocharger rebuild manifests itself by the amount of oil blowing through the seals and by the blue smoke from the exhaust. The harder you push the car the more oil it consumes and the more smoke it produces. Even if your car does not smoke now, since the turbocharger is going to be off the car, having it rebuild might save you money in the long run. A stock rebuild is fairly inexpensive compared with pretty much everything else on this car (~$250).

Perry 951

Easy check is to see if there is any end play in the compressor. With the j boot (intake boot) off, you can grab the nut on the comoressor wheel and try to move it up and down, side to side, in and out. Any play is not great, but a lot is bad. This can allow the blades to hit the housing on a hard boost or decel. That is when bad things happen and shrapnel gets into the motor. I have only seen 1 happen, and it was on my stock '84 Daytona Turbo Z with 135,000 on it.

My old turbo had some blowby, and a good abmount of play on the shaft when I pulled it at 125,000.

sm

Thanks! I'm going to check out the compressor in the next couple of days. I'm exhausted at trying to reach all the bolts for the manifold...

sm

sm

In case I do need a rebuild, where do you guys recommend?

Antonio

Try http://www.majesticturbo.com/.

Greg Hammond

I second the recommendation for Majestic. They're not the cheapest service, but they do great work and the turn-around time is excellent. Be advised that if you send them your turbo for a rebuild or conversion, you might not get YOUR original core back, but one just about like it. Their 1-day turnaround is actually a "swap" unless you tell them otherwise.

Greg

951Tom

I used this place and I was very happy with the service. They're an authorized Bosch dealer too for fuel injection items. I dropped it off & they had it back to me in less than a week. They're a little bit south of Wash D.C. I now get very little oil in the intake track and it's been 10K miles. They wanted $500. It looked brand new when I got it back.
www.dieselpump.com