Ok so got a call back from my shop today after I dropped the FD off due to an oil leak comming from under the turbos (im still all stock). I had brought up potentially going single to the shop before and when they called they asked if I was ready. When I asked why he basically told me one of my turbos is in pretty bad shape, pooling oil leaking oil. bad seals. He said its fixable but asked me if its worth throwing all that money at it or if I am ready to go single so I can save this chunk of change in the long run. Being that I didn't plan on this happening I don't really know if I have the budget for it now so does anybody have any ideas for what my options are here?? I've looked around a bit but does anyone know of a cheap/easy kit. Or a way to avoid the expensive fix but still have the car usable until I have the money for the single setup? or any other ideas?!

Thanks so much for your input! Looking for opinions here..

-Tim

 

If the car is all still stock I would find a descent set of used twins and start enjoying it again. It all depends on your budget but going single adds up fast.

 

If you don't have to worry about emissions or don't need the car running right away go single that's what I would do.

 

No emissions here but I don't wanna be sitting on this thing forever not running because I only will be able to get parts as I get the money. Thats what worries me about going single now.

Also didn't think of finding used twins... they usually come pretty cheap?

 

Just by a used set of stock turbos. You can usually find them for $200-$400 range. Likely if you PM "Fritz Flynn", he'll have several used sets available for sale.

 

When I asked why he basically told me one of my turbos is in pretty bad shape, pooling oil leaking oil. bad seals.

Hmmm. Id be suspicious of this. Was your car smoking like crazy before taking it to the shop all the time and poor performance? If so then yeah, get a set of used twins. If not, you may just have a leak at the feed or return lines. I thought I had bad twins and it was just an oil injector that was stuck open dumping oil into the front rotor all the time regardless of engine rpm and vacuum. Some of that oil will make it past the turbo seals making it appear as if the seals are bad when they are not. I just dont want you to have to put a bunch of money into something that you may not need to do.

 

The reason its at the shop is because im not too savvy on turbo stuff. But driveability has been strange.. sometimes i get full boost no problems and then sometimes i feel like all my boost just gets dumped and i have nothing. There is no consistency with it though. Not to mention the huge puddle of oil under my car. And I trust this mechanics opinion, he undercharges me a lot and is always helpful. But it would be nice to know for sure

 

Rebuilding the stock twins is a waste of time. The housings deform from heat and rebuilds always end up failing prematurely. Going single is best but can get pricey if you don't already have the supporting mods. Either buy a know good used set, or get a set of BNR turbos. I have a few good sets of twins lawing around. I can also get you BNRs.

 

I'll have a set for sale for low mileage twins from a 96+ in a few days when I pull them off.

 

Get twins for now and plan out your single swap. It can get way too expensive way too fast, even with free labor. You'll be much happier in the long run without all that CC debt. My .02

 

my suggestion is to get another set of twins. they are incredibly cheap used. ive seen sets here sell from 130-300 shipped depending on mileage and if they have been made non-seq or not. if you decide to replace the twins i HIGHLY suggest either going full non-seq or simplified seq since you dont have to worry about emissions. what ever you do, dont just replace the twins and be on your way. i would do either simplifies seq or full non-seq. it will make troubleshooting easier and will free up a lot of space.

just my suggestion of course....

 

+1

To the op:
Rebuilding stockers is a waste of time and money... Just ask my old service contract about the close to $10k they spent because they kept replacing my original turbos with rebuilt ones. lol . In my experience rebuilt turbos only last about 2000-5000 miles. That is the reason why I ended up going single