Rebuilding A 6.0L VG Turbocharger

Keith Browning · February 23, 2013

Rebuilding the 6.0 VGTurbo posted in the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums.

Mike Chan posted this link in a different thread. I lke the write-up so much that I wanted to pin it here in this forum!

Has anybody ever done this? Wondering on how long it takes. Posted Image

Matt Saunoras · February 23, 2013

Honestly I can't imagine it takes longer than an hour. As long as the compressor and turbine wheel aren't so ground off that you can't grab it with anything they should come apart with minimal effort. The turbine is 7/8" and the compressor is 9/16". Both turbos I took apart were easily loosened and disassmebled.

I have enough good parts for a turbo and I'm going to try it on once funds loosen up a little bit. I don't have $125 to toss down on a seal kit right now

Garrett 740659-0010 is the seal kit part number for 04+ turbos

Aaron · February 23, 2013

Not totally related but we put a replacement compressor wheel on my buddy's non-VGT turbo on his 6.4 and that swap is easy as pie.

mchan68 · February 23, 2013

I have two turbos in my possession. One from an '03 and one from an '05. I might consider tackling this project if I ever get any spare time.

Matt Saunoras · April 27, 2013

I did finally pick up the garrett part number I posted previously. Found it on ebay for about $110. Sometime next week I'll tear it apart.

Matt Saunoras · December 6, 2013

Okay I have in my possession a halfway decent turbo core that doesn't have much wrong with it other than a slightly leaking turbine seal. I didn't take many pics because I wasn't sure what I would find upon disassembly.

The exhaust housing a new style dished design which I'd prefer for spending money on a rebuild kit. I rarely see any center sections that have less rust than this one did.

Here it is all disassembled and cleaned up

While not ideal all I had at my disposal was ultra fine steel wool. The turbine sealing surface needs to be clean and free of scratches,marks or carbon. It took a while but I did get the hole clean. I can still see the original machine marks and no noticable wear. Prior to this imagine the hole completely coked up with hard carbon and staining.

I will put this thing back together tomorrow. Tonight I am soaking the turbine and plate in some carb dip. The amount of burned on carbon was a lot more than I could easily scrape off.

Matt Saunoras · December 8, 2013

The turbo rebuild went great, very straight forward and very easy to reassemble. The most time consuming part is cleaning the turbine seal area and the exhaust side of the housing. I did get a chance to media blast the turbine housing and vanes, this resulted in them being much cleaner and more free than the typical cleaning method. I did not blast the CHRA for obvious reasons.

Looking at the turbine spring seal, new vs old, I could tell the old seal had lost most of it's "spring." It appeared smaller next to the new one even though they were the same diameter when closed all the way. Not finding any noticable wear on either the housing or the shaft I installed a new seal, new bearings and popped the turbine into place. I don't believe the seal spins so I made sure to orient the opening upwards. All it took to seat the seal was a hard hit on the turbine with my hand and it snapped into place. Cleaning the groove for the seal was a little difficult, it is hard to get anything in there but the overnight soak did wonders on all the hard carbon build-up.

I would have taken pictures but we were slow on Friday and I did this throughout the course of the day. Hopefully I will get a chance to run this turbo soon and verify it's operation...... even though it looks really good on my bench

Bruce Amacker · December 8, 2013

Did you ever try soda blasting sensitive components? I've done it with carb housings and stuff, it might work well on the turbine wheels. Use a box of baking soda with a siphon blaster for quick cheap results. Do it outside.....

:grin:

Matt Saunoras · December 9, 2013

Hmmm I may have to give that a try. I am using 80 grit glass bead media from harbor freight, it works extremely well on aluminum. I am going to try some 20/40grit black beauty next on some harder cast iron parts I have.

Suprisingly no one has mentioned a word about the mess it makes. I am just using a cheap siphon gun and some large cardboard to contain most of the media. After everyone leaves the shop I can pretty much get away with anything

Matt Saunoras · December 10, 2013

Here's my home-reman turbo. I bead blasted the compressor housing today.

Brad Clayton · December 10, 2013

Very nice, that's too clean to hide away on the engine. Put it in a glass case.

mchan68 · December 10, 2013

That is a beautiful job!!! Looks even better than a Ford reman!!!

Matt Saunoras · December 11, 2013

Thanks guys, it's going in a glass case on my mantel

Brad Clayton · December 11, 2013

Matt Saunoras · January 24, 2014

Well my glass case turbo is now residing in a 05 F-550 dump belonging to one of our best fleet customers. Put about 20 miles on it so far, all is well as of now. I'll know more tomorrow when I get to drive it in the light of day (smoke).

Pretty recently I was wondering what exactly I was going to do with this turbo. I really had no use for it, hopefully it stays together for a while :haha2:

Aaron · January 24, 2014

You just have broken the glass, cause you didn't come and ask me for my "missile key". lol

Matt Saunoras · January 25, 2014

The truck left today sporting a self reconditioned turbo and a new international halfshell. Total parts department sales? ZERO :DI put 45 miles on the truck since yesterday. All is well for now

Jeff Clyde · January 25, 2014

I have reconditioned around a dozen turbos. It is a great alternative to $1400 for a reman. They are aware it is nota true reman, and certainly do not look as good as Matt's, but it is what is inside, and it fixes their problem. I charge a couple of hours to do the job, and parts are $125 for the kit, plus the re and re. I have 2 more next week on the plate !! Again, nice job Matt, I may have to invest in some "tooling" to obtain a better looking piece !!

Matt Saunoras · January 25, 2014

Good to hear Jeff. I'm glad a repair like this has proven durability. I was split 50/50 on whether this would work or not. On one hand everything cleaned up well and went together perfect. On the other hand I am not a turbo rebuilder. There are variables at play like wear and balance that can wreak havoc if not kept in check. I waited until I had a fairly nice condition turbo in my hands before I tried it.

The price for a reman is a bit high but I figure that most cores being returned only have a few (if any) usable parts left over. You're basically (but not always) getting a new turbo at that price.

Media blasting the compressor and turbine housings is working extremely well. Last week I blasted another turbine housing for one I'm building right now. I got the blaster dialed in and I've never seen vanes come out so clean! When I was in training last month I wandered into the back room and found a brand new disassembled 03 turbo . I was shocked how well everything moved inside compared to even a recently cleaned unit. The turbine housing I just blasted came out the same way. Totally free vane movement.

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