Hello,

I just had a pre purchase inspection done on a 1991 300zx TT I have been looking at. The car looks to be in great shape (exterior/interior). I got the results and the dreaded recommendation to replace a turbo charger was on there ..... noooooo. I do realize that the inspection results are a worse case scenario. I talked to the guy who did the inspection and he said that the turbo is leaking, not bad, but a little. There were a few other leaks as well, in other places but nothing major.

I guess my question is what is everyone's experience with turbochargers going out? I am really torn. I read some people saying they are pretty much guaranteed to go out, and others say that they aren't as prone to go out as people say. I'm torn as to what to do.

Any advice or opinions will be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to decide what to do. The car is a 1991 300zx TT with 150,000 miles, and has all the maintenance records (high millage I know but based on the price range I'm looking in, I don't have much choice, fortunatelly it is only a 2 owner car).

Thanks in advanced,
baj

 

with that high of milege, the turbos are soon to go..leaky turbos are nothing to play with, they will need replacing soon...its up to you if you wanna spend the money/labor on having them replaced and if its worth it for the money your saving...*shrug*

1990 TT (Charcoal)

 

Sigh..... I was afraid of that.

Thanks for the response CaptanZap (oh and sweet Z by the way)

This is probably a real dumb question but I've gotta ask (forgive me a I am new to the mechanical side of the Zs). Is it possible if the turbos go, to run it as a "Non-turbo" or is that impossible, or really bad on the engine? Not that I would want to go long without the turbos, kinda defeats the whole purpose of me getting a TT, but I'm just curious.

Thanks,
baj

 

the engine won't run right and you'll have this big cloud of smoke following you. Not to mention the other driver's will be staying far away from you at the light and may catch the eye of the local police force with all that smoke.