LBZ turbo revive

clone

Yes, the new guy
Mar 15, 2015
9
0
0
Kansas
I had stuck vanes on my 64k mile truck. The check engine light was getting annoying so I had to do something. I was not looking for anymore power (stock tranny) so a different charger seemed like a waste of money. I started out by trying to unstick it by forcing the actuator piston while it was still in the truck. This was a bad idea because I ended up breaking some teeth off a gear and didn't free anything up. So I pulled the turbo and cleaned all the rust up on the exhaust housing. The unison ring was stuck to the cast housing. While I was there I wanted a little more whistle so I bought a new Garrett 10 blade turbine wheel that would come in an 03-04.5 6.0 PSD. It has a larger exducer so I had to machine some material out of the housing to fit it. I also port matched the up pipe openings so there isn't such a lip. After installing the charger in the truck, I definitely got that great 6.0 crisp whistle. :thumb: Performance seems pretty much the same (as expected) but I haven't drove it much yet. Only down side I found so far is the turbo brake is not as strong as it used to be with the stock turbine when the vanes still cycled. :( Big thanks to yellowchevy for his great advice and gmduramax for getting me the part I needed in a quick fashion! :woott:

Few pics of before and after













 
Last edited:

southco

New member
Aug 29, 2014
57
0
0
Wow. Nice clean up. I've got close to 90k miles on my basically stock LBZ with no issue. How do u think your turbo got so messed up with so few miles? I mean rust in there is crazy... Looks like u got it all sorted out now....
 

clone

Yes, the new guy
Mar 15, 2015
9
0
0
Kansas
A friend has an end mill so he helped me out a little.

I'm pretty sure how I use the truck caused the rust. I don't DD this truck so it sits a lot. Also some of my trips are very short.... sometimes just backing it out of the garage so I can work on other stuff then back in at the end of the day. I would guess this builds moisture but not enough heat to dry everything up before shutting down.
 

clone

Yes, the new guy
Mar 15, 2015
9
0
0
Kansas
ebay

I wanted to follow up here. I initially said the turbo brake wasn't as good as before. A later drive had me questioning my comment. It is still pretty decent!

Had a success story. My wife took my truck on a little trip (100+ miles) to go pick something up. I didn't know she was going to do this before hand so I was a little concerned when she got back.... I was still monitoring for any leaks, etc. So I asked if there were any CEL's and she said no BUT there is something else that could be wrong! She said "I'm not sure if something is wrong but, it whistles really loud". It was music to my ears! :woott:
 

RidinHigh99

New member
Feb 19, 2014
31
0
0
Dam that thing definitely whistles more than stock! How much did you have to mill out of the housings/ where?


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1fstlbz

New member
Oct 16, 2014
8
0
0
How was it getting the turbo off/ on? Reason I ask is mine is coming off next week, just want to know what to expect. seems like the drivers up pipe is the worst of it all. I've already had the passenger off.