Turbo Rebuild

[7.3IDIDSL]

Some of you might remember my thread about the ATS 088 turbo i bought a few weeks ago. Well today i started looking for a rebuild kit. I phoned a local stanadyne shop and they wanted $80 for a rebuild kit. Then i called BD Diesel which is a huge diesel performance shop and they wanted $100 for the kit. I decided to go with BD even though they wanted more for the kit, the shop is 10 times farther then stanadyne and it would cost me more gas to drive there just because ive always heard good things about BD and when ive dealt with them before they have gone above and beyond to help me.

So i took my turbo to BD today and right away the guy tears my turbo apart to inspect everything and check some specs to make sure i just need a rebuild kit and nothing more(which i wasnt expecting them to do). Luckily i just need a rebuild kit so he grabs one and starts showing me whats in the kit when he notices i had a chunk broken off of the plate that the intake housing mounts to. I started telling him how i accidentally hit the plate with a hammer while trying to beat the turbo out of the exhaust housing and how i still had the chunk and i was hoping i would be fine if i made sure i put the chunk back in place and put that part under one of the clamps that hold the intake housing to the plate. He then tells me i might not be fine and grabs a brand new plate off of the shelf. I then ask him how much they sell the plate for and he says $60 so i figure i might as well get it so i dont have any problems later.

Then im just about to pay and get out of there when he says it will be $100...but being the honest guy i am i point out im getting the plate as well as the rebuild kit and he says dont worry about it just give me $100 for the rebuild kit. So i start asking him about getting the shaft balanced before putting the turbo back together and he says they charge $50 for balancing but he then tells me to go home, clean every part of the turbo really good, put all the new bearings and clips in place, bring all the parts of the turbo back and they will balance it for free and assemble the turbo with me so i know everything is going back together right. I couldnt believe it...i sure was glad i went to BD instead of the stanadyne shop because i wouldnt have seen this kind of service there.

Sorry for the long post, i just had to share my story with you guys...i really couldnt beleive it. Oh and heres some pictures of the new plate as well as the old one with the chunk missing...you can laugh at me all you want.

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[zpd307]

good for you. it is refreshing to see that kind of service still exists.

 

[h2odrx]

Now that is customer service..... I would drive the extra mile for that....

 

[Devilish]

Too bad we don't give out awards from exemplary service. He'd win one this month for sure!

 

[7.3IDIDSL]

So I took all the pieces of my turbo back to BD Diesel to have the shaft balanced. Before he could balance the shaft he said we would have to media blast it. So he takes it to the guy in the media blast room and gets him to clean it up but he also takes my center section and heat shield piece and gets those media blasted too. Which i was really happy about because it came out looking really good. Since those peices were bare metal now and would just rust instantly i asked him about hitting it with some paint and he said it wouldnt be a bad idea and wont harm the turbo in anyway so i sprayed the center section and heat shield with some high temp ceramic paint that im going to painting my downpipe and up pipe with.

BD Diesel offered to help me put the turbo together but i was limited on time yesterday and i would rather do it myself because thats the type of person i am so i said it was alright. Im just about to start putting the turbo together but ive got a question for you guys. Should there be a oil seal of some sort in the center of the head shield where it sits against the center section?

Ill post up a picture so you guys know what im talking about.

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Oh and when he put the shaft on the machine to balance it the thing wobbled like crazy. He actually said it was out a mile!. This could have been partally from the i was beating on the center section trying to get it out of the exhaust housing or he said it was most likely from something going through the turbo on the exhaust side.

 

[Papabear]

we should send that tech an oilburners decal as a thanx for still believing in customer service and i wouldn`t mind if there was a link to that specific BD shop on this site as a forum recommended vendor. Just a thought I know that i will actually pay more and go alot out of my way just to do business where knowledgeable customer service is there status quo of operation

 

[dakotajeep]

what papabear said.....except for me it would take a fews days to get there.....unfortunately....

 

[7.3IDIDSL]

Even if it takes a few days i still think it would be worth it. They are a really good company to deal with.

Well guys i spent most of the afternoon assembling the turbo. It was really easy. The only part i had trouble with was getting the snap rings in. I have a few sets of snap ring pliers...but out of all of them none of them are small enough to fit these tiny snap rings. I eve went to 3 tool stores around here with no luck. So i ended up putting them in by hand which was the longest part of the whole thing...and a major pain in the ass. All ive got to do now is clean up the compressor housing and exhaust housing and get those bolted on. Then im going to bolt it all to the oil drain casting and then to the motor. And from there ill be able to see what i need to do to fabricate the intake hat and crossover pipes which im assuming is going to be the hardest part of this whole things.

Look at how nice she looks. I kinda want to just put it on a shelf somewhere.

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[ghunt]

FYI, I do the snap rings with a dental pick and a very small punch that I have. It's the only thing I found that actually fits and it's actually pretty easy.

 

[Diesel JD]

There's one for the customer service hall of fame as opposed to our hall of shame eh?

 

[tonkadoctor]

we should send that tech an oilburners decal as a thanx for still believing in customer service and i wouldn`t mind if there was a link to that specific BD shop on this site as a forum recommended vendor. Just a thought I know that i will actually pay more and go alot out of my way just to do business where knowledgeable customer service is there status quo of operation

I third that motion. All in favor say eye

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

WOW those guys treated you right!

Eye. lol

 

[Cat_Rebel]

That's awesome to hear. Funny how they are helping out some guy with a little ATS IDI turbo & even cleaning it up even though it is a outdated competitor's product. Can't beat that.

 

[suv7734]

BD have always been a great shop to deal with. They are about 4 miles from where I work. If your looking for real ceramic coating there is a shop in Abbotsford, about 3 miles closer to home that does great work for a reasonable price. Don't forget about the twice a year BD Dyno Days (just missed one). They open up their dyno for free twice a year for everyone to come by and have a run. They have some prety impressive trucks come through at those events. There are some pretty cool videos online of Piers doing some burnouts during past events with his various Cummins trucks and Rubberfish smoking the place out with his Cummins powered GMC.

 

[tonkadoctor]

That's awesome to hear. Funny how they are helping out some guy with a little ATS IDI turbo & even cleaning it up even though it is a outdated competitor's product. Can't beat that.

Look at the free advertising and potential customers they just EARNED with a small random act of kindness. That's the kind of shop that will always have work even when their competitors are slow.