Stripping/rebuilding a Garrett GT series Turbo

I'm now assuming you have bought a rebuild kit for your turbo.

Note: apply as much lube as possible! you cant over do it!

First take the turbo core(2) then lube up and insert the new main bearing with the cut out at the top, line the cut out with the locator hole then insert the bearing locator. everything should sit flush.



next apply more lube then drop the new half thrust washer on top of the main bearing



Next the thrust bearing... be sure to fit it the right way! the bearing has a oil feed hole needs to face the core and lines up with the oil feed on the core.
also fit the rubber gasket (the ones in my kit where to big but the originals where fine)




now get the other half of the thrust washer (my kit came with a few of different lengths so match it to the original fitted to the turbo or make sure the one that came with the kit is the same length... this is very important! if non of them match you can reuse the original if the bearing surface is not scored and you replace the seal ring)and fit the seal ring (the smaller one) this is pretty tough to do so do it in a clean area as i had mine ping across the garage... luckily i found it

insert the new thrust washer/seal into the alloy compressor back plate(7) this can be tough! don't be tempted to tap it in as this will damage the alloy sealing surface and the turbo will always leak oil! I found inserting it at a slight angle then pushing it back straight and in at the same time helped.




now put the compressor back plate (7) onto the core(2) (make sure you fitted the rubber seal) and line the holes up(it will only fit in one position) then insert the screws and tighten (no idea on torque settings I just used common sense and tweaked them up to what i felt was right for the screw size)


**ignore the shaft in the photos as i forgot to take photos as i was building and so took them after fitting the turbine.**


next get the turbine(4) and remove the oil seal ring... this can be a right pain.(i used a small flat head precision screwdriver)once removed I snapped the old seal in half and used it to scrape any carbon build up from within the seal grove.

now fit the seal ring.


Now back to the core... place the head shield over the turbine end (if you have one)


next lube up the turbine shaft and insert it into the core gently. it may need rocking slightly to help it line up the thrust washers.

once its down almost all the way it may need a very light tap or hard push to get the seal ring into the core. (mine would not go and required me to clean the surface of the core which the ring sits)

(sadly I forgot all about taking photos from now but here is another i took for turbine comparison that shows how it should look,,,very close to the shield)


now turn the core over and slide the compressor wheel onto the shaft (can be a tight fit) and line up and marks you made when removing. now screw on left hand threaded nut (kit came with a new nut which is not balanced so used the original) and tighten the nut up so that all the markings you made line up.

next fit the large O-ring around the outside of the compressor back plate and then fit the compressor housing (be careful not to contact compressor wheel while doing this)

you can now fit the small 8mm bolts holding this housing on (I spin the turbine carefully while slowly tightening the first couple. doing this i can be sure the it spins free... if it starts to rub then i will know some things gone wrong somewhere and save tightening it up then finding out after and having a damaged compressor wheel)

next turn it over and fit the turbine housing (I do the same spinning thing as with the compressor)