How hard is it to rebuild your own turbo? Looks too easy on videos? What about keeping it balanced? Any tricks or advise? Thanks

 

The actual task isn't super complicated and doesn't require specialized tools. As far as balance is concerned, this blurb from the guys at Gpopshop addresses that question,

http://gpopshop.com/services/turbo-balancing/

 

Thanks for that info. Looks like I'll probably tackle it in the near future.

 

It's pretty easy. Just make sure things are marked any way you can so that the turbine wheel and the compressor wheel are aligned on the shaft so the balancing is as close as possible. I didn't one about 3-4 years ago and didn't mark anything. Just ripped it apart. Slapped it together with new seals and stuff. It's still running today. It's not building big power like mine. It's on a bone stock motor. But it's still working.

 

I guess I should have asked this first but how do you know if you need it to be replaced/rebuilt? What are the signs?
Thanks

 

There are a few indications starting with a dentist drill type noise when at high boost. Second is white / light blue smoke which would indicate an internal oil leak. Third would be loss of power / boost which probably would also light the MIL indicator with the associated engine codes and lastly, external oil or coolant leaks but these would be due to failed oil or coolant lines or banjo fittings so not really calling for turbo rebuild.

On mine, which had 200k on it, I suspected an internal oil leak as I was getting some smoke intermittently. So I pulled it apart and replaced the seals and the bearing as well as the oil feed line. I found it coked up pretty bad so it was due and it runs much better now with very little whine on spool up, about normal in my experience. My turbine was loaded with carbon! It took a long time to remove but I'm sure it is more efficient and certainly lighter now.
Here is the before,



And the after,

 

Thanks. How did you know the line was coked up?

 

The line wasn't coked up. It started to leak at the banjo fitting the minute I touched it so it had to be replaced. The coking I was referring to was behind the turbine on the heat shield. You can see the buildup of oily carbon that the turbine was rubbing against. I'm sure that it was stopping the turbine at low throttle openings.

 

Did you just do a standard rebuild or did you upgrade? Is it worth doing the upgrade while your in there even if you don't do any engine mods? What does the upgrade actually give you?
Thanks

 

I didn't do any upgrades so I can't really comment but I can say that if you upgrade your turbo with the intent of running higher boost, you will need to tune the ECU and as soon as you start with the upgrades there is no end to it. Mine came with an Alta cold air intake and an aftermarket blow off valve that goes whoosh between shifts like a wannabe rally car. It's silly but that is apparently a popular thing. Personally, if I wanted a faster car I would have just bought a faster car. This one breaks the speed limit in no time at all. But then again, I'm an old fart and reliability/ drive-ability are priorities for me. If I want speed I ride my bike.

 

Thanks. Anyone want to recommend a kit? I'm gonna dive into this one soon.

 

Does the turbo have to be completely removed in order to do a rebuild? I see where the entire front end needs to come off to remove it from the engine.

 

In response to your first question, I used a Gpopshop kit as I had a spare one kicking around and it worked fine.

For the second question, you can pull the turbo without fully dissassembling the front end. It splits at the V clamp so you can leave the turbine housing attached to the exhaust manifold. The one catch is that you need to disconnect the waste gate actuator rod which is down low on the front. I put my car in the service position so I could get better access and I'm glad I did as I ended up replacing my oil lines as well which required removal of the down pipe. The upper oil line banjo fitting swivels and has an O ring inside that failed as soon as I moved the line. It's a terrible design!

 

Thanks for your reply. Not planning on any engine upgrades except maybe exhaust and a CAI. Should I spring for the upgrade turbo kit or just the standard rebuild kit?