[WannaBe TT!]

Quick question: I have 2 working turboes. However, they are both #1 turboes. Can i replace my #2 turbo with a #1 turbo?

 

[SpdRcr0]

Question... are both turbos the same size.. or is one bigger then the other??

 

[dzeiler]

I was told you could by a credible source... when I had my turbo rebuilt I found the one I bought was no good( sound familiar wannbe) the number one of the pair was good and they told me they are of course identical turbos the hsousing has to be disconnected and flipped( don't ask me how you only asked if they could) I lucked out because at the same time someone came in to the shop needing a number one and having a good number two so we just swapped. the point is that it can be done. alternately pullthe cartridge from your number two and repalce it with the cartridge of number one presumably hte housing is fine it is the cartridge is what is bad. Personaly it makes sense to have them reconditioned before installing but that is another storey.

 

[Sound Performance]

The turbos are identical, just switch the compressor housings.


Lar
SP

 

[theman]

Yep, Lar is right... Since you'll have them out you might as well replace the bearings and seals though. The rebuild kit is pretty damn cheap anyway from TEC (1-800-950-TURBO)

 

[theman]

By the way if you feel like bringing the car to Baltimore, MD area I could do the job for you if you don't like getting your hands dirty...

 

[WannaBe TT!]

Thanks for all your replies, but i have a few more questions.
This might sound stupid.. but how do i go about switching the compressor housing? I have a turbo assembly out of the car and one in the car. The #2 turboes are gone in each. I want to take a working #1 turbo off the assembly outside the car and put it in the #2 turbo space in the assembly in the car (without taking out the entire assembly). Also, what should i go about doing while i have the turboes out and stuff? I've heard REALLY bad things about reconditioning/rebuilding turboes... If i were to do this, was there anything i could do to let the stock turboes flow more?

Anyways, how should i go about doing this project?

This would be my guess and you could correct me where i'm wrong.

1.) Take apart the turbo assembly outside the car.
2.) Pull out the turbo cartridge (?) of the compressor housing of the #2 turbo, and put in the turbo cartridge from the first turbo. 3.) Treat that compressor housing/turbo as if it were a normal #2 turbo and replace the turbo as normal. (which i'm still not sure how to do, but i'll take a guess at it)
4.) Now, i'll jack the car up and drop the downpipe so i can see the #2 turbo compressor housing. Then i'd simply remove all the bolts, pull out the old housing, align the new housing and bolt it together? I've never pulled the turbo assembly apart, i've simply removed an old one and put in a new one, so i never bothered looking at how it all fit together. Am i going to have to take off the oil feed/return lines?

Thanks for all the help guys. My car has been limping for WAY too long now so i want to get this done as soon as i get back for x-mas break. If i wanted to get the turbo reconditioned, i could have my dad send it out now and it'd be ready when i got home.. so could you inform me on the pro's/con's/possibilities of reconditioning turboes?

Thanks again.

 

[dzeiler]

I think one reason you have heard only bad things aobut recondition turbos as the ones who have had the problems squak on the boards about it. There was a post a few weeks back case in point he whacked at his casing to send in the cartridge then when it failed he complained about the recondition job. The cartridge is a lttile difficlut to get out but if you bang on the housing you cna screw up the tolerances. I have had a rebuild for 5 months now no problems I am at bpu but boost conservatly most of the time. so far so good. why does everyone think that the turbos are disposable? If the shaft is good then a rebuild of bearings a good cleaning and computer balance is going to make sure it lasts another 70,000 to me it makes sense.

 

[WannaBe TT!]

I think one reason you have heard only bad things aobut recondition turbos as the ones who have had the problems squak on the boards about it. There was a post a few weeks back case in point he whacked at his casing to send in the cartridge then when it failed he complained about the recondition job. The cartridge is a lttile difficlut to get out but if you bang on the housing you cna screw up the tolerances. I have had a rebuild for 5 months now no problems I am at bpu but boost conservatly most of the time. so far so good. why does everyone think that the turbos are disposable? If the shaft is good then a rebuild of bearings a good cleaning and computer balance is going to make sure it lasts another 70,000 to me it makes sense.

Thanks for your response dzeiler.. where do you recommend getting the turbo reconditioned. Do you have any idea how much it cost? Thanks guys. Keep the comments coming.

 

[dzeiler]

I used turbo auto and found them courteous and easy to deal with
turbo auto

others are
innovative

majestic turbo power turbo city turbo repair

it cost me around 325.00 per turbo( my core) shipping by gorund was around 10.00 they give a conditional 1 ear guarantee. They clean put no bearings in balance clean up impellers and computer spin balance at 80,000 rpm. I would not recondition a supra turbo with a bad shaft that is in my opionion why the recondtioning has a bad rep. the shaft on the ct 12 is small and subject to twist( most bad turbos supposedly come froma glitch in the sequential system) bad bearings with minimal shaft scorring can be repaired IMHO. Considering the cost of a single for a sp57 3800-4000 plus labor ditto the phr small one. for a larger single with a need for a vpc fuel system fmic etc you are looking at 12,000 easy. stock new ct12 are 2200 each. As youhave found out putting in someone elses old turbo is not a gurantee that it is durable. HTH

 

[94SupraTT6spd]

DZEILER!

That person squaking would be me! And I now have a used turbo in that is doing perfectly fine. You must use FORCE to get the #2 out of the housing. Have you ever done it yourself? You have no idea what you are talking about. YES I did HIT the turbo with something to displace the force. Its funny because TURBO AUTO said the turbo rebuild came out WONDERFUL, wonderful my @ss! It blew two days later. The used one is still holding up. I do believe most board members do much better with used ones then rebuilt ones. Rebuilding CT12s is no easy task, call around some turbo shops simply REFUSE to do it. You have no experience with pulling out a #2 YOURSELF and speak out of ignorance. WannabeTT go with a used one. FORGET rebuilds!

 

[dzeiler]

I am not going to get into a flame war. however in one of your post you did say that you had to use a lot of force to get the cartridge out. I suspect you damaged the housing or did not resinsert the cartridge correctly or you had a bad rebuild there are to many variables to say. I am not sure you can generalize from your bad outcome that all rebuilds are bad or yours is a typical case. No I did not take the cartridge out myself I left it to turbo auto to do and I had a good outcome. I know that many people think rebuilds do not work however before I went with that route I got several testomonials of good outcomes. I also think that a twisted shaft should not be rebuilt. Single turbos get rebuilt all the time there is nothing magic about our turbos except Toyota refues to sell spare parts. The shaft on a Ct 12 is thin in comparison to other turbos and if it is twisted i would agree that it should not be machined. Wannabee has gone the used turbo route and has two dead turbos so that is not a perfect replacement stratagey either. As far as calling around I did and got quotes from a variety of sources. I am sorry you had a bad outcome with your rebuilt but it would not stop me from rebuilding or reconditioning a used turbo as long as the shaft was good( as it was in my case) As far as calling some one ignorent I re read my post in regard to your case and stand by what I said nor was it inflammatory you do not know anything about me nor how much or little I know about cars I would be careful what you say in regard to calling someone ignorent. I do not want this to degenerate into useless name calling

 

[WannaBe TT!]

Hmmmm... decisions .. decisions... I do not put too many miles on the car since i may only drive it 3 months or so out of the year (because of college) so i just need these turboes to last a good 10k miles. (I will definately have enough to go single in a couple years, if that were to be what i wanted stilll) Dzeiler... You could definately be correct about banging the turboes... i don't know how much force is required .. but banging MAY be necessary. Hmmm... i will call about prices and if it's more than a couple hundred bucks then i wont' even really consider it because it's not worth it to me since you can buy a low mile #2 turbo for ~$300. Thanks for the responses guys.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

I installed used ones. What a pain in the butt that job was. I also banged the turbos out using a piece of wood as not to damage teh one i was taking out. I then cleaned the inside of the turbine housing with scotch bright, makes it alot easier to slip in the new, ehem, used turbo in. For me the biggest pain in the but was the water/oil lines for number two.
Happy boosting.

 

[94SupraTT6spd]

I agree with Mighty Mouse getting the turbo back in is much easier after cleaning out the housing. Also a good amount of force is required to get the turbo out. The oil return line on the bottom was not fun to line up either when reinstalling the turbo. Anyone who has done this knows.

There was a post a few weeks back case in point he whacked at his casing to send in the cartridge then when it failed he complained about the recondition job.

Dzeiler that was the ignorant comment you made. I called you ignorant in regards to the process of removing and number 2. You don't know how its done because you HAVE NOT DONE it. I used the same method with the used turbo and it runs GREAT! That would lead me to believe that the reconditioning job was poor, being that I used the SAME method both times. The only variable was the turbos. One failed, one didn't. I understand wannabe has been burnt on used turbos perhaps knowing who you are buying from well help when choosing used turbos. If I had it to do over again I would have listened to the general opinion on rebuilt CT12s and went with a used one. To each his own. Its a toss up either way. However, I feel that ones best bet is a low mileage used turbo. But thats each individuals decision to make. Good luck wannabe which ever route you choose.

 

[boostedsupratt]

Where can you get the sp57 kit for 3,800??? I thought it was around 5,200.

 

[vande17941]

I sent in one of the turbos to Turbocity in Orange, CA for rebuild and balance a while back for about $350, plus overnight shipping. The turbo was returned in like-new condition and has been absolutely perfect ever since.

When returned, there was paperwork attached to the turbo with huge print warning of the main reasons turbos fail after installation. It included lack of intial lubrication, failure to replace the oil supply line every time, and failure to be surgically clean upon reinstallation.