Turbocharger Seals Failed - Saab 9-3 Z19 DTH
Discussion
Hi guys,
I noticed my oil was low the past week or two (it was on the middle of the dipstick rather than the top, and my car doesn't burn any oil). I topped it up hoping the car has started to burn oil but I have since found an oil leak.
The oil is leaking through the seals in the turbo on the intake (cold) side. The leak is bad enough that I need to do something about it. Running the turbo, I can see oil being forced up the big outlet tube from the cold side. The exhaust side doesn't seem to be leaking.
I was looking for your opinions on what you think I should do in my situation?
The car is becoming/is a bit of a shed. The flywheel has been knocking for 6 years but just keeps going. The steering rack has a slow leak from the input shaft seal. The arches are also rusted in a big way. The car has 133,000 miles.
I do think the car has a potential couple of years of shedding in it though, so I think would be worthwhile to fix. It does have the positives of no DPF to deal with.
My options are:
1. Remove the turbocharger and look into getting it rebuilt by a local company. This way I would at least know the seals are new and when I go to refit it I would hope it would last. I have heard people advising against this route though.
2. Rebuild it myself. This is something I would be certainly capable of, but I don't have access to the sort of testing equipment/balancing etc that a company would have.
3. Buy a second hand turbo from ebay of unknown life and condition. Fit it and pray that it's not leaking. These can be had around the £100 mark.
4. Buy a second hand turbo from neobros for £175. Again this is a turbo of unknown life and condition, but I know neobros will have likely checked it before selling. they offer a 3 month warranty.
What are your guys opinion of the route to go down? I don't think it's at the point of scrapping it so would like to fix it. At the moment I like the idea of the company rebuild, because at least I know I am less likely to have to do the job twice.
I know some would scrap it, but it seems a bit of a waste imo. I have had the car for 6 years but I do pride myself on keeping my bucket on the road. It's also not unreasonable to expect a turbo to fail after 133,000 miles imo. The car only does about 5,000 miles a year, so even if the fix only lasted 10,000 to 20,000 miles then it'd be an extra 3 or 4 years life.
I really appreciate any advice.
I noticed my oil was low the past week or two (it was on the middle of the dipstick rather than the top, and my car doesn't burn any oil). I topped it up hoping the car has started to burn oil but I have since found an oil leak.
The oil is leaking through the seals in the turbo on the intake (cold) side. The leak is bad enough that I need to do something about it. Running the turbo, I can see oil being forced up the big outlet tube from the cold side. The exhaust side doesn't seem to be leaking.
I was looking for your opinions on what you think I should do in my situation?
The car is becoming/is a bit of a shed. The flywheel has been knocking for 6 years but just keeps going. The steering rack has a slow leak from the input shaft seal. The arches are also rusted in a big way. The car has 133,000 miles.
I do think the car has a potential couple of years of shedding in it though, so I think would be worthwhile to fix. It does have the positives of no DPF to deal with.
My options are:
1. Remove the turbocharger and look into getting it rebuilt by a local company. This way I would at least know the seals are new and when I go to refit it I would hope it would last. I have heard people advising against this route though.
2. Rebuild it myself. This is something I would be certainly capable of, but I don't have access to the sort of testing equipment/balancing etc that a company would have.
3. Buy a second hand turbo from ebay of unknown life and condition. Fit it and pray that it's not leaking. These can be had around the £100 mark.
4. Buy a second hand turbo from neobros for £175. Again this is a turbo of unknown life and condition, but I know neobros will have likely checked it before selling. they offer a 3 month warranty.
What are your guys opinion of the route to go down? I don't think it's at the point of scrapping it so would like to fix it. At the moment I like the idea of the company rebuild, because at least I know I am less likely to have to do the job twice.
I know some would scrap it, but it seems a bit of a waste imo. I have had the car for 6 years but I do pride myself on keeping my bucket on the road. It's also not unreasonable to expect a turbo to fail after 133,000 miles imo. The car only does about 5,000 miles a year, so even if the fix only lasted 10,000 to 20,000 miles then it'd be an extra 3 or 4 years life.
I really appreciate any advice.
Edited by bluezedd on Tuesday 3rd August 16:34
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