How tough is it to rebuild a turbo? This week I will be taking off my turbo to check for any bad seals or bent turbine fins. At the same time, I want to do a rebuild since it is apart. Researching, I found that some say that it's not neccessary for balancing if everything is marked and re-assembled at the same position, but what do you guys think? Should I leave it to the professionals or can I do it myself? I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with the turbo, but I suspect a bent or chipped turbine fin since I occationally hear a ringing noise from the exhaust side, and humming on the intake side when, plus the boost is not responsive as it use to be. BTW this a follow-up of a recent thread that I posted. All possibilities from loose charge pipes, open vacuum lines have been addressed, so it's definitely a turbo problem. Also, no shaft play at the compressor wheel.

 

It is probably easier to decide what to do after assessing the damage. If the turbine is all chewed up, I would make sure that the wheel was balanced before reassembly.

 

Okay! Took the turbo apart.......and both compressor and turbine wheels are undamaged and in good condition. There is a good amount of shaft play, which explains why I was hearing that ringing noise once in a while. Would this be the reason why I was humming at the intake side, and the boost not being responsive? How would boost leak if the bearing is bad? Would I be safe without re-balancing if I marked everything as-is prior to disassembling? Overall everthing looks simple enough to do............