Well, the eBay turbo, described as being in "good working order" arrived on Tuesday. All good I thought. I "un-boxed it" in true YouTube speak, and lo, there was a GT2052LS turbo complete with manifold.
Using my new found how-to-tell-if-the-turbo-is-duff skills (seemingly downloaded from the computer in Neo style: "
I know kung-foo!") I eagerly picked up the surprisingly heavy metal snail, and looked at the impeller on the compressor. Does it spin? Hmm, not too great... What about shaft movement? Whoa! Absolutely masses! Do the impeller blades rub the compressor housing? Oh dear, yes. I looked a bit more carefully and yes, I can see that the impeller has scored the housing very clearly. This is no new problem...
So I looked on the exhaust side of the turbo. The picture hasn't come out too well on the iPhone, but the exhaust side was caked in thick sooty oil. Unsurprisingly, the shaft had excess play too. Bearings gone. Oil seals gone. This is in no way a turbo "in good working order"!!!
The turbo and manifold came in a large box, but not a huge amount of packaging. This turned out to be another problem: one of the castings has shattered in the post!
So I have raised this with the vendor. They say they will refund. Annoyingly they want me to return it: having not been in a situation like this before, who is liable for the shipping costs???
So I need another turbo. Do I buy Chinese, or do I try another on-line vendor for a second hand turbo???
Any suggestions chaps? Thanks
