Reconditioned Turbochargers

If you have a faulty, failed turbo then you obviously need it fixed - pretty simple, right?

Not quite!

Not only do you have to be careful to ensure you use a reputable turbo company, you need to know what you are getting for your money. Turbochargers are expensive and it’s easy to be caught out when having your turbo rebuilt, remanufactured or reconditioned.

So what is a Turbo Repair, Turbo Rebuild / Reconditioned Turbo and Remanufactured Turbocharger?

Turbo Repair – A turbo repair is exactly that, a repair. Your turbo has failed, so an internal part, or parts, is broken or worn. A turbo repair is finding the damaged turbo component and changing it, nothing more. It’s the cheapest turbo fix in the industry. The turbo unit is operational again and everyone’s happy. How long a turbo repair lasts is an impossible question to answer, it’s simply how long until another worn turbo part fails.

Reconditioned Turbo or Turbo Rebuild – A turbo rebuild or reconditioned turbo is where the complete turbocharger is completely stripped down to each turbo component. Each turbo part, including Compressor Housing; Turbine Housing; Compressor Wheel; Turbine Shaft and Wheel; Bearing Housing; Heat Shield and Seal Plate, are inspected for wear and damage (this also includes the variable vane assembly on VNT units) and then dimensionally checked to ensure they are within OE tolerances. If not, then the worn turbo parts are scrapped and replaced with new replacements. In EVERY situation, ALL the turbo bearings and piston rings should be disposed of; a reconditioned turbocharger should NEVER be rebuilt with used turbo bearings and piston rings. Once all the turbo parts that are being reused are confirmed to be good to go again, and worn turbo parts are disposed of and replaced with new replacements, then the turbo rebuild can commence, including balancing and turbo actuator calibration, resulting in a newly reconditioned turbocharger.

Remanufactured Turbo – A remanufactured turbocharger is where the complete internal workings of the worn turbo are replaced with brand new turbo replacement parts. The only parts to be reused are the turbo compressor housing and the turbine housing, along with the mechanical or electronic actuator. The internals, commonly known as the Turbo CHRA (Centre Housing Rotational Assembly) or Turbocharger Cartridge, are replaced. A Turbo CHRA / Turbocharger Cartridge is the complete assembly and includes a new Compressor Wheel, Seal Plate, Bearing Housing, Heat Shield, Turbine Shaft and Wheel as well as ALL new bearings and piston rings. This is balanced and tested for noise and oil leaks before being fitted to the cleaned housings and then, finally, the turbo actuator is recalibrated. A remanufactured turbo for as little as £100 should set alarm bells ringing.

This is basically the difference between the various works that can be undertaken on your turbo. Any reputable turbocharger company will tell you exactly what your turbo repair, rebuild or remanufactured turbo has had replaced and what hasn’t.


Reconditioned Turbo from Turbo Rebuild

At Turbo Rebuild, we advise on what is the best turbo service for you after we complete a detailed inspection of the failed turbo. If your turbo is badly worn or damaged, then a turbo repair is not the practical or economical solution, since we can usually offer a fully remanufactured, or even new, turbo for a little extra cost. It is impossible to advertise a rebuild for only £140, without being able to inspect the turbo first. For this reason, we at Turbo Rebuild will NEVER give a price before inspection other than a worst case scenario. This way, you won’t have a surprise hike in price after you have sent your turbo away to be fixed.

On average, for an experienced technician, it takes 4-5 hours labour to complete the following:

  • disassemble turbocharger to component form
  • inspect components
  • complete a detailed failure analysis
  • compile quotation of components required to rebuild to as new condition
  • correctly clean all parts
  • assemble including clearance checking
  • balancing
  • calibration

This is assuming there are no issues and the rebuild is very straight forward. If you are being quoted figures for a FULL rebuild of less than £200, considering the 5 hours labour, you must start to question the quality of the components used, or corners being cut to make such low prices... Of course the price may greatly increase once the turbo company has inspected your unit. This is why we will never offer more than a worst case cost of repair until the unit has been received and inspected.

From the large quantity of quality turbo rebuilds we have completed over the years, £250 plus VAT is the average cost of a reconditioned turbocharger as a ball park figure (correct as of 2021).

A simple freshen up, where only new bearings and piston rings are required on, for example, a non-VNT T2 Garrett can be as little as £195 plus VAT. However a VNT-equipped turbocharger with electronic wastegate control that needs complete new internals could be as much as £595 plus VAT. Until fully inspected, a worst case scenario is the best way to consider costs - in our professional opinion - until we have fully inspected.

Having been in the turbocharger industry since the 1990s, this is where we feel we are the best people to advise on your turbo issues and to bring your turbo back to life. We have a small group of suppliers who only make the finest turbo parts. We have seen some shocking turbo spares over the years and, after years of testing and use, will only use turbo parts we are sure match or exceed the quality of the OEM turbo parts. Of course, if you only want the use of genuine replacement parts, then we, together with our OE suppliers, try our hardest to make this wish a reality.

As with all our workshop services, we can arrange the collection of your failed turbocharger and also the delivery of your new reconditioned turbo.


Want to send your unit in for us to rebuild? Simplyclick here to print off and complete our booking form. Then box up your unit, and get it to us (you can drop it off if you're local or send with a courier)! Upon receipt, one of our technicians will fully inspect your unit and we will contact you with our findings and a cost of repair. If you are happy to proceed, we will complete the repair and have your unit ready to return typically within 3-4 working days*. Payment is not required until your turbocharger is completed and ready to return.


*Please contact us for our current lead times as this varies depending on workload.