What's the life of a stock turbo?

Mark Parks

Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
I have an 86 GN with 110K miles. The original turbo was replaced at 40K miles. With 70K miles on the replaced STOCK turbo is it time to replace it? It doesn't smoke. I would replace with a TE44. Comments please.
 
Mine went 157k.

Regular transfusions and warm downs. It probably would have lasted longer, but my own idiocy caused it's demise.
 
Mine went 104K Was leaking out the intake when I took it off.
 
I don't believe mine has ever been replaced. I am the 2nd owner of the car. I bought it about 19 years ago and it had 60,000 miles on it then. It has about 145,000 miles on it now.
 
I bet it's fine. Are you going to keep the car mostly stock? If so, get another stocker and stash it away.
If not, there are plenty of affordable units to chose from that will change the shade of your undergarments.:biggrin:
 
The most common failure of the stocker is oil seals and leaking smoking oil or soggy intake tract pipes and intercooler hoses and MAF pipe film or drips.

That can be rebuilt as well with a new center section cheaper than a new turbo.

I'd say they rarely fail completely to make a new turbo necessary but hey if you want that new 44 you can always watch for smoke or soggy intercooler hoses. ;)

My 2 cars started leaking oil into the intake side (not burning) at about 90K and and at 117K.
 
The stock Garrett originally on my friend's GLHS has been on three engines in two cars, and still works fine with almost no measurable shaft play. We estimate it has about 260,000 miles on it.
 
Im almost positive there is a one owner Saab tooling around the US somewhere that has over a million miles on it and it still has the un-rebuilt original turbo on it.
 
Im almost positive there is a one owner Saab tooling around the US somewhere that has over a million miles on it and it still has the un-rebuilt original turbo on it.

I think I've worked on that at the shop!!! I re-built my stock unit at 120,000. Along with everything else....
 
Im almost positive there is a one owner Saab tooling around the US somewhere that has over a million miles on it and it still has the un-rebuilt original turbo on it.

I believe there is a registry where you can look them up. Dunno how many have reached a million, but there's a lot of them that are a quarter million or more.
 
stock turbo

mine made it 170000 and there was leaking and play that made noise , thought it was over for me . so should u clean intercooler at the time u replace the turbo ? or every 20 000 miles .
 
I have 136k on mine, i wish i had a different turbo but there is nothing wrong with this one to justify spending the $$
 
Top