97 Volvo 850 - Small Leak in Turbo, what to do?

acrocentric · Post by **acrocentric** » 10 Jul 2007, 08:47

Found a used turbo from a junkyard down the road, amazingly!

One last question: Any specific inspection that I should perform on this part before purchasing it? I would hate to replace it only to have it fail on me again a few thousand miles down the road. . .

Am I correct that the turbochargers are generally reliable parts with a long life? i.e. Is purchasing one used for $300 going to be a sound investment?

Any input greatly appreciated!

MadeInAmerica · Post by **MadeInAmerica** » 10 Jul 2007, 09:00

I would put a post on volvospeed.com under "performance modifications" to get more opinions of what your problem with your turbo/leak might be. There are more people that know about turbos there.

Post by **robert213** » 10 Jul 2007, 10:53

acrocentric wrote: Am I correct that the turbochargers are generally reliable parts with a long life? i.e. Is purchasing one used for $300 going to be a sound investment?

$300 sounds high to me -- I guess that it depends upon mileage and condition.

Shop and compare with another Volvo Salvage Yard...
http://www.erievovo.com/

If you are concerned about down-time, I would purchase used turbo from eBay from 1997 850 GLT or 1998 S70 GLT and have it professionally rebuilt. Rebuild will cost somewhere around $300.

TuHandy · Post by **TuHandy** » 10 Jul 2007, 17:51

I guess its to late now since you have bought another turbo, but for other readers.

My turbo was leaking after I replaced all the normal oil return line o rings, gasket and such. So I bought a kit off e-bay and did it myself. I had no problems with doing it. It has been a while now, but I remember the kit came with new bearings, o rings, ect. A couple hours later, it was done. No more leaks and no more oil in the tube to the intercooler.

MadeInAmerica · Post by **MadeInAmerica** » 10 Jul 2007, 20:36

Tuhandy:
Is this the one your talking about . Its for a TDO4 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TDO4-MIT ... 5442QQrdZ1

Will this one work on our cars? I have a TDO4HL-15G

TuHandy · Post by **TuHandy** » 10 Jul 2007, 22:13

Yes, I believe that should work. It looks real close to what I bought. I bought a kit good for all TD04/TE04H, and that auction looks the same. Its from a different company but looks like everything I changed.

The kit I bought had a nice little schematic, easy to follow, not many pieces or much I could screw up.

I don't know if this will solve your problems, but it did mine. My car/turbo was running good but I just couldn't stop that oil leak and a large amount of oil residue in the pipeing out of the turbo.

MadeInAmerica · Post by **MadeInAmerica** » 10 Jul 2007, 22:34

I wasnt the one with the turbo problem it was Acrocentric. But I was curious if that was the kit to get, also now the info is posted so if anybody else needed it.

Thanks for the reply

acrocentric · Post by **acrocentric** » 11 Jul 2007, 05:50

I still haven't bought one yet; I've talked to several junkyards and can find a used turbo for between 300-350, but am having trouble justifying spending this much to swap out one part with 141k for another with between 120-140k.

I personally have done very little mechanical work on this newer volvo - any experience I have in replacing and rebuilding parts is on my dad and brother's MG's. . . so I've got no clue what the inside of a turbo even looks like. . .

The turbo itself looks pretty tough to get at - did you take off/install the part yourself as well as rebuild it?

And one last question, although I should have been able to find this searching - is the turbo from a 96 850 Turbo a compatible replacement for my 97 850 GLT??

Much thanks for all the help. If I end up trying to rebuild my turbo, I'll be sure to take step by step pics - may need some help uploading them. . .

acrocentric · Post by **acrocentric** » 11 Jul 2007, 06:39

Or, more clearly:

Is it possible to replace a TD04HL-13G Turbocharger with a TD04HL-15G?

MadeInAmerica · Post by **MadeInAmerica** » 11 Jul 2007, 17:03

Here is a Volvo turbo application list I found, it will help people know what type of turbo is on their car:

http://www.swededemon.com./turbo/turbolist.html