Rebuild kit any good?

[Stephan]

Hi,

My turbo(s) are leaking oil causing sporadic smoke plumes, apparently a new turbo costs around AU$2000. I will probably go single turbo later this year, but for now I just want to stop the smoke. I found some CT12B rebuild kits on ebay, they are located in Australia and are quite cheap, AU$75. Are these worth it?

I live in Namibia and if I want the turbos overhauled I have to send them to South Africa and the rebuild can cost up to AU$600 per turbo.

Any advice?

Thanks!

[am3037]

Buy a set of used 2JZ-GTE turbos for around the $400 mark. You can find them for sale at many Australian wreckers, online at eBay or Yahoo Japan, and especially from online supra forums.

You simply cannot, in any fashion, rebuild your turbos yourself without a ~$20,000.00 balancing machine.

Sure, you can replace the thrust washer and bearing, but as soon as it spins up to make boost, its dead again. It would be cheaper to buy second hand ones from Australia or Japan. A $600 rebuild isn;t bad value, ask for the ceramic wheels to be replaced with Steel (Inconel) wheels and if its only a few hundred more, than its a good deal. Rebuilt twin turbos with steel turbine wheels are a lot of fun, a lot less laggy than a single turbo and can make good power.