hi,
I am looking at a 2001 s60 from a friend of mine and he thinks the turbo might be going bad,
1st off how hard are they to replace? my mechanic said it was a PITA and the turbo runs you $2000 is this right?
2nd how can I tell if it has a bad turbo? any tell tell signs when i drive it?
3rd can i drive it with a bad turbo if this one is bad?
finally any ideas on the value of the car I was thinking like $3500 with a bad turbo but does that seem right??

Any help would be much apreciated

 

you can drive it but it'll lack power and you will get CEL lights

the turbo can be rebuilt for less than 1k and its actually pretty easy to replace

if you drive it and go into boost and you hear fan like buffering then it's likely bad but if you hear a faint dentist drill noise its probably ok
the only way to really know is to take of the intake hose into the turbo and wiggle the turbo shaft you will get some play but if you feel the turbine blades touch the housing rebuild it immediately because if the housing gets damaged (from driving with a bad turbo) you will have to buy a new unit.

if it is bad I would look for a turbo from a junk yard, send it out for repair and then install it when you get it back, then send yours in for repair and have a backup or sell it to pay for repairs.

also the price sounds right, a little low actually which benefits you because it might just be a turbo control solenoid and that's an easy fix

 

Thanks for the input,
My mechanic said that when he did one that because of piston slop and lack of oil changes that the oil foams up and he had to use compressed air and blow the passages leading to the turbo get clogged.
He said even after two times with the oil pan off and blowing those passages clear that the car would loose oil pressure after flooring it. Does this happen alot or was that just a freak thing?

 

the previous owner probably used regular motor oil, which everyone knows synthetic is best for turbo charged cars because it holds up to heat best, also he likely did not let the turbo cool after parking the car by letting it idle for 30 seconds to 2 minutes. with proper care of the car this rarely happens but if you do something like push an oil change back then it's more likely to happen, remember it says change oil every 7500 miles, what it doesn't say is that's under perfect driving conditions at 65 degrees, I change oil every 4k miles because I drive my cars very hard. keep your driving style in mind whenever doing any work on your car.

 

Oh, well I think that I will just have to get the carbamd see how it goes, I know the check engine light is on now from a bad turbo but if I can replace it myself it will be a good car.

 

You can replace the center section of the turbo or "cartridge". A turbo shop should charge around $750.00 if you take them the turbo. There are o-rings that seal the oil pickup in the pan. They get hard at around 100,000 miles and let the oil pump draw air causing low oil pressure. It's not a bad job to drop the pan and replace the seals. The turbo is made by mitsubishi

 

FIRST AND ALWAYS check your fuses. Both under hood and dash ! I can't tell you how many problems I have solved with a $.75 fuse. Check all of them. Won't take you 5 minutes and could save you thousands of rip-off dollars at dealerships.