Theres a guy on Ebay selling HE351CW complete cores for $250. Rebuild kits run $75-$100. Does anybody have first hand experience doing a rebuild on one of these turbos? from the photo of the parts included it looks like mostly snap rings and just pay close attention to the order of pieces as they come out.

 

Very easy, rebuilt mine no problem. Are the ones for sale cores (for parts only) or rebuildable cores (no damage)?

 

item #151041956121



Condition: Used :
Seller Notes: “Good used core. Good for rebuilding”

sounds pretty good to me

 

Looks good, give it a try.

 

I ordered one. He has a pretty neat business. It's a core house. They buy engines by the sea container, strip them and part out cores. He says he's got dozens of he351cw's and most don't even need rebuilding. He even just put one oh his truck. $277 shipped and he includes a downpipe in that price. I wonder if its the cast elbow or a full downpipe. I'll update when I get it.

 

Couldn't you have found one for the 350$ish that you will end up after its all said and done?

I'm going to guess just the cast elbow, not a whole down pipe.

 

He said many of them don't have any damage at all or any shaft play. He lists them all as cores to keep things simple. The guy who called before me bought ten! He even claimed he had just put one on his truck without rebuilding.

Maybe I've got my hopes set too high.

 

ive seen a lot of pretty bad cores, the turbine interferes to the housing when sloppy destroying the wheel, that part will cost the same again, the bearing seal kit isn't bad, can be found for less than 75. the job is easy with minimal tools.

 

Ordering parts...

I'm keeping my original exhaust manifold ( divided )

The 351 is not divided

Do I use a non divided gasket?

I see folks have run into length issues re using the old mounting studs. Do I need to order a set of those too?

 

Non-divided gasket is what i used, probably doesn't matter though.

The old studs can be used but you will have to unscrew them about 1/4" out of the manifold.

 

Ok so I'll just order a stock gasket for a 2005 +/- model year. It's a buck cheaper on rock auto anyway

Same bolt pattern (T3?)


Thanks for the quick response

 

Yup, this is the one i used.

http://www.dieselautopower.com/produ...%203949530.htm

P#3949530, i assume its stock for the 3rd gens.

 

Do NOT USE A DIVIDED GASKET!!! You can get thicker copper gaskets that work really well if you have any sort of pitting on your manifold. I will suggest gasket matching if you have the time and tools. Makes a world of difference, also some work inside the exhaust housing and waste gate hole.

 

I limit myself to $100-$175 on cores and here's why.

Many of the HE351CWs have had either piston rings, pieces of pistons or seat rings go through them.
This destroys the major diameter of the turbine and in some cases has bent the shaft and tears up the compressor side, as well.
The only available non-holset turbine shaft/wheel assembly is currently priced at ~ $109 on Ebay, while a reputable rebuild kit is ~ $50.
On the rebuild kit, get the ones that have the thrust washer that has the seal ring on it.
I went super cheap on a kit once that didn't have the thrust washer and ended up with end play.
You don't want end play in a turbo, some radial runout is normal, even on a rebuilt, but end play will kill the bushings again in short order.

Another consideration is balancing, while typically not THAT important on a low performance application, the turbos with the tighter exhaust housings tend to spin faster and quicker, which means they are wound tighter and more often than, say an H1C.

MARK YOUR WHEELS!!!
When you have the turbo there, while it's still all assembled, clean the fins on both compressor and turbine wheel and both housings and mark where the wheels line up to the housings.
Mark the housing locations to the CHRA, too.

This way if the turbine hasn't been chowed, you can re-install it all back like it was.

If possible, an electric scribe is the best way to ensure a mark that won't disappear on you.

Some turbos are "unit balanced", others are "piece balanced", the unit balanced one is more sensitive to parts swap, meaning if you change the turbine/shaft, chances are it'll be out of balance, whereas a piece balanced unit has the individual parts neutral balanced.

A simple balance test is to assemble the turbo with a light grease, lay the turbo on a hard surface (steel table preferably) and force compressed air through the turbine, noting if the turbo "hums" or has an oscillating tone to it and how noticeable it is.
As the turbo spins down, note if it actually "dances" on the table, which indicates a severe imbalance.

There is always at least a very minute amount.

Mark.

 

Thanks mark.

My 351 showed up Friday and I got to poke around with it a bit. The shaft has almost no side to side play and no in and out play. It spins freely and silently. Also no signs of the blades touching the housing.

There were a few small rust spots inside the oil port so I put about an oz of fresh oil in before I spun it. Almost none came out the other side which I thought was weird.

So I think I got a good "core" and it's ready to just bolt in.

The guy threw in the cast elbow section of oem downpipe. Can I just cut the flange off that and weld it up to my 4" Stan's exhaust? DAP has the same flange for 54 bucks but I'd like to save that$$

Is it the same inner / outer diamiter? Just trying to figure it out before I take he truck off the road for a week to so my PS IC and torque head bolts.