I've put about 8k miles on the turbo setup still running real good, but when I turn the car off after running it a while the turbo smokes a little from underneath. There also seems to be a slight amount of oil inside the first chargepipe before the intercooler. Hardline turbo rebuild said they could send me a rebuild kit for the Rhb5 for $120.

 

How much oil are you down by say every 100 miles? Unless you are driving a show car, I would say let it ride, if it gest worse then consider rebuild/replacement.

Instead of spending that $120 on a kit (which isn't absolutely necessary), go out and pick up a nice condition used turbo, then sell yours and try and break even.. hey I'm cheap :P

 

In defense of these turbos, I have 4 junkyard rhb5's, and one factory new one. All the junkyard units have no noticeable wear on the bearings compared to the new one, after a little cleaning they all turn easily and smoothly. Also, after talking to a friend at IHI it's very unlikely that the bearings or seals will ever go on these if the turbo is maintained properly, regular oil changes, allowed to spool down well or turbo timer.

It seems the number one killer of these turbos is the exhaust housing and coking eventually causing clogging of the return line. The probe/mx6 exhaust housings are the worst for cracking, one of mine has actually cracked to the point where a chunk of the exhaust housing was hitting the turbin. On another one the turbo appeared to be in mint shaped, even spun freely, but the drain was almost completely blocked with black, chunky coked oil deposits, I probably just caught this one in time.

Neil

 

i have spare rhb5 parts if u need anything let me kno, PM me

 

Oh yeah, there's no play at all, but I belive the seals are screwed up a little. It was rebuilt when I got it, then used for 2k miles, then it sat for a while off the car. The oil sat too long inside the turbo I belive. I don't notice any loss in oil over 500 miles.

 

look up majesticturbo.comthey are the only turbo rebuilder in the dallas , texas area. they are pretty reasonable about there rates and parts