Hi,

Coming at you with another question... This time it's turbos!

So I need to swap out my turbo, but the problem is... With what?? I have the td025s2 turbo, but my issues are;

What do I swap? Do I do a full unit (I think my waste gate needs swapping so..) or do I just do a chra?

Secondly is brand. Now it's a 1.6 fiesta. Not a 535d. I can't seem to find any decent turbos other than what appears to be Chinese aftermarket ones. I.e max speed and ridex etc. are they really as bad as folk make out to say? Or should I shell out 2/3 the value of the car on a new mitsubishi turbo. (No I won't)

Thirdly is should I buy a remanufactured one? My concern is that I'm paying someone else a premium for some random Chinese parts to be popped in.

It's all a bit of a faff, I'm quite stuck on what route to take. Initially I was gonna get a cheapy £60 CHRA. But the fear mongering has made me second think and come here.

What do you folk suggest or what have you done?

Put bluntly, it is a sixteen year old car so it has done well to cheat the scrapman. A new turbo is two thirds of the value of the vehicle only because the car has little value; if it were worth five thousand, you wouldn't ask. People who will rebuild them give a guarantee ON THEIR WORK and it is none of your business where they buy their parts if the job is satisfactory. If the car is a minter I would pay for a recon one. Four decent tyres would cost you a lot more! However if the car is being run on a budget,then bangernomics applies and I would buy cheap. With a car of this age, you will always find that the percentage cost of the parts will rise relative to the value of the car. A clutch job, for example if you can't do it yourself would write it off economically and the next breakdown could be a big one. Look at the car. how long is it going to last? What is going to wear out next? Can you afford to deal with the next two or three years' expected repairs?

As long as the rebuilt turbo has a warranty that's worth more than the paper it's written on AND it works, go for the cheapest

6 hours ago, anon said:

Put bluntly, it is a sixteen year old car so it has done well to cheat the scrapman. A new turbo is two thirds of the value of the vehicle only because the car has little value; if it were worth five thousand, you wouldn't ask. People who will rebuild them give a guarantee ON THEIR WORK and it is none of your business where they buy their parts if the job is satisfactory. If the car is a minter I would pay for a recon one. Four decent tyres would cost you a lot more! However if the car is being run on a budget,then bangernomics applies and I would buy cheap. With a car of this age, you will always find that the percentage cost of the parts will rise relative to the value of the car. A clutch job, for example if you can't do it yourself would write it off economically and the next breakdown could be a big one. Look at the car. how long is it going to last? What is going to wear out next? Can you afford to deal with the next two or three years' expected repairs?

Yeah, I mean I'm in the same mindset I guess. It's not a performance car. It's not early in it's life. I do try and take care of whats needed. Recently it's had new alloys, new timing belt aux belt, pump, rear bushings, engine mount, filters, oil, pretty much a whole new front suspension, minus the seat bar bushings. Glow plugs are next and I'm not looking forward to that. Its a mix of budget and expensive parts (budget Moog for suspension and more higher end part for belts and filters) what I'm swaying to is ordering a ridex turbo with my credit card. In no world should a turbo not last at least 50k miles/few years at a minimum, unless you're using it beyond normal use. Just get a bit scared that it'll somehow blow up and kill the car! Think I'll gamble it. Though I wonder what's next. Probably the injectors at some point, but I've no idea what I'll do about those as they're so pricey! Think I've seen a few recon services/reman ones for £200-300 for a set of Bosch/Siemens ones

A word of warning from experience: once you start spending money on a car, it gets a taste for the stuff. Only fix what breaks.

C.A.R. = cash always required.