TE-44: Needs rebuild?

[GN138]

Ok, my buddy had this TE44 turbo on his GN. After awhile, just at idle, it would puff white smoke out the tail pipes. Since then, he has had a bunch of work done to the car and has upgraded to a CPT-65 turbo and he still gets a small puff of smoke out the tail pipes. We're thinking it has something to do with the PVC issues.

Anyway...the TE-44 sat in a plastic bag for a little over a year. The shaft spins, there is no play and I believe it only has 2000-5000 miles on the turbo, MAX. Externally it looks perfect, but when spinning the shaft it kind of "catches" here and there, nothing big. Just wondering if that is because it's not being oiled and it's not a BB turbo.

I did plan on rebuilding it. It is also externally balanced, so I have a local shop that will take care of that for me.

Should I bolt it up and see how it does, or be on thesafe side and rebuild it?

Many thanks!

 

[machinegun]

If it were me, I would send it to Limit Engineering and have it gone over. For the 200 bucks you will spend, it is peice of mind. It will also come back like new with all you need to install it. Worth saving that aggravation. Now from my ppoint, if ther is no play and ther is no interference with anything in the housings then I would bolt it on and go.

 

[GN138]

Thanks for the reply. My buddy kind of sounded like he thought I should just bolt it on. I may just take it apart to make sure nothing is loose or broken inside and that the seals are good. Maybe I'm too cautious

 

[XLR8]

Hey, let me know when you stick it on and we'll go run. If you said it wsa catching, I would probably have it looked at. But, if it was running well on your friends car, sitting for a year shouldn't hurt.