i was planning on rebuilding my turbos soon with a standard rebuild kit. (a DIY kit from turbo city, or similar) but after searching and reading all the horror stories i am looking at alternatives. does any one have any experience with just replacing the cartriges.
for example
link: turbo cartridges
i assume theses are new, and not rebuilt.

also this obviously depends on the shop, but should i have them professionally rebuilt by a local shop? has anyone had better luck going local than going through TC?

I'm looking to do this while spending the least amount of money possible, but i want it done right so i don't have to pay for it again within the next year.
any other suggestions? and does anyone have a list of gastkets that will HAVE to be relaced when i pull the turbos off?

 

I would not rebuild any turbos EVER again.

i had a turbo city set at stock boost levels(lasted three days before they leaked all over the driveway and burnt a quart of oil every 200 miles)

pulled them out...had performance techniques do the rebuild again replacing everything....they sounded like a dentist drill and while they boosted fine they were out of balance which sent temps sky high and broke the wheels to bits (we all know how rotaries love that).


it is simply a waste of money and only a short term solution to deal with rebuilds. I wasted almost 3k on that *****.


good luck

j

 

Has ANYONE had good luck with rebuilds? I only hear from the people with bad experiences (from reading past turbo rebuild threads).

BTW, any ideas on the cartridge replacement? since it's not a rebuild, it should have new factory seals, therefore not prone to leak. anything else??
Thanks


edit: ok scratch the cartridge idea, they were rebuilds and they took them off their website today!!! what are the chances????

 

listen and learn....or dont listen and learn the hard way.



j

 

i rebuilt my own turbos and although i only have about 2k on them they're working just fine. i am a professional mechanic but feel that if you are careful it is not a tough job. you do have to be careful to mark everything for alignment before taking the turbos apart.

 

my dilemma is that i'm a college student and don't have $3000+ to drop in brand new turbos. I'm sure i am competent enough to rebuild the turbos myself, and i have already contacted a local turbo shop about getting them balanced. I am not afraid to "get my hands dirty." and i figure i can save some money, and spend it on the 10,000 other things that need to be replaced/upgraded.

is there anyone else that makes a quality rebuild kit? or does turbo city, performance techniques, etc. get them from the same manufacturer?

artguy, did you ever rebuild them yourself? or can you blame your problems on incompetence of the rebuilder?