What is everyone doing for a replacement turbo?

[Withkids]

I need to replace my turbo on my 2005 Passat TDI. The counter-balance shaft went out at 256k. I know, I thought it was replaced already and it made no noise until it died. Anyway after deleting the balance shaft the turbo had a whine. I hoped it would last a little longer, but no. Now no boost, no whine, lots of smoke. It has been already converted to manual trans and has a tune from Rocketchip. What is everyone doing for turbos? Trying to stay cheap, would use a CHRA, but do not know who to trust for one. Anyone have a used one for sale? Thank you in advance.

 

[Windex]

I blew mine up during some aggressive driving. Found a replacement at a local VW wreckers - self installed still going strong a 100k later - the stock turbos in these are pretty long lived if you treat them right.

 

[Kravt]

Previous owner of my BHW passat installed a cheaper (maybe by 150$ vs garrett) autozone turbo which promptly failed on me via the VNT mechanism. Installed a garrett turbo from a 300k engine I had laying around. Been around 30k since, no problems yet.

 

[oilhammer]

Get an OEM Garrett from a reputable vendor. These rarely fail, unless of course as you found out, they get starved for oil.

Here is one:

Garrett Turbocharger for B5.5 Passat (BHW)

This turbo is an OE replacement for the VNT-17 that comes on the B5.5 Passat. It's exactly the same turbo, made by Garrett. Includes install hardware. Oil Feed Line Seals are not included with...

www.idparts.com

 

[Withkids]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Can I officially say that I hate my car right now.

 

[oilhammer]

Hindsight is always 20/20. We knew about the balance shaft chain drive's weakness WAY back in 2006 (so did Volkswagen). Could have been avoided, but that doesn't help you know. If you are after something on the cheap, I would go after a good used OEM unit before a new Chinaboost one. Like I said, these Garrett units rarely fail. I've probably seen more of the BHWs than a lot of people have, and of the handful of bad turbos I have seen on them, all but one were caused by chain failure and loss of oil pressure. The one that wasn't just had a bad VNT actuator.... and had well over 300k miles on it at the time.

 

[DeliveryValve]

I would imagine the balance shaft module taking a dump is the root cause of the turbo failure.

With that said, try www.car-part.com. Just a cursory search, I found lots of used turbos for sale at varying prices.

 

[Withkids]

Yes oilhammer hindsight is 20/20. I figured it was replaced with a gear unit already as it had over 250k on it and was not noisy. I know you saw more BHW then most and was hoping on your advise. What would be a good price for a used turbo?

 

[50harleyrider]

You might check with Frans. I've bought several CHR cartridges from him for Garretts and they work fine and are laser balanced. Stay away from the aftermarket Chinese ones.

 

[Withkids]

You might check with Frans. I've bought several CHR cartridges from him for Garretts and they work fine and are laser balanced. Stay away from the aftermarket Chinese

 

[Withkids]

If you don't mind me asking. When you bought a cartridge from Frans what did you pay?

 

[50harleyrider]

been awhile but a lot less than a new turbo. You should PM him to get a price and availability. currency exchange rates and shipping varies over time so my figures wouldn't help you. Frans is a good guy to deal with. Tell him I recommended him.