S15 Garrett Turbo rebuild question

[codyace]

Now now, before we jump down the throat of crazywhiteboy, I think everyone should step back and look at this situation from a broader perspective.

I'm not disagreeing with 4x4le, or jr_ss, or the others who say that the turbo would be better off being replaced (as it's obvious that turbo ate something decently sized); Certainly there is no doubt that replacing the turbo would would eliminate any chance for doing the job twice, or turbo failure. What I am saying however, is that I also agree wit what crazywhiteboy is trying to say

If the turbo spools fine or close to what it should, makes boost ok, doesn't make noise, and doesn't smoke...then *why* change it? From my first hand experience, I've seen plenty of truck turbos (normally dump truck/site truck) related that have looked equal if not worse to that...that have operated fine, and never given the operators any lick of trouble...in fact impeller damage is often spotted by accident.

In regard to the possible turbo failure and disaster happening...sure you could loose a wheel, or have it make contact with the housing...but truthfully speaking, any bit of aluminum that makes its way through the pipes, and through the intercooler, and into the engine...isn't going to cause ANY harm that would result in engine failure or anything of the sort. Any compressor shavings would instantly burn as soon as the intake charge lit in the cylinder, and it would essentially vaporize/blow out the exhaust anyway. That turbo wheel won't be grinding the housing to death either if the bearing fails...the wheel will eventually 'stall out' through contact to the housing and not do anything.

So before we all resort to the 'you're an idiot, that turbo is trash' I think everyone should sit back and recognize the point he's trying to make. I'll be honest, if the car was a stockish/run of the mill car that had no issues...I too would leave it go. If it was my car/powerful/track oriented...I'd change it for no other reason than for my sake of mind. There is a significant difference between hacking something, and recognizing that 'kludging it' isn't going to get any worse or cause any more damage.