GTP38R Issue – Internal parts were not the right spec

[Joshyutah]

Has anyone out there had a defective Garrett GTP38R where the heat shield wasn’t the right side and allowed it to spin cooking the inside bearing with the exhaust gases that got by?

I spent the money about two years back for the GTP38R turbo. The last turbo I was told I would ever buy. Right out the whole I had a funny sound. Everyone, from the Garrett Rep, Shop, Garrett, and this site said that sound was normal. Well over time the sound got worse and finally my gas millage started dropping. This weekend I pulled the turbo and took it down to the local shop. I first thought it had a cracked impellor, but as we pulled it apart the problem was quickly seen somewhere else. The inner heat shield which also works as a form of crush sleeve was too small. This allowed three things to happen. First the Exhaust gases were escaping out of the turbo(the wrong way). Second the heat shield was spinning while the turbo was cold. Last, since the heat shield wasn’t the correct fit, the exhaust was cooking my bearings ( I noticed my boost was slowly going down on freeway speeds).

The guys down at the shop are doing everything they can to warranty this bastard out, but the question is coming up, am I screwed because the failure was discovered two years into it. The problem has been since day one, and the shop owner remembers me coming in complaining that something wasn’t right. I contacted Garrett back in the day but I can’t seem to find the email chain with the case ID. So I tried calling Garrett only to get busy only phone numbers (not working most likely,) resulting in not being able to get ahold of anyone to get the proof I need that I contacted them the first week of ownership.

Am I screwed? Anyone have an inside man at Garrett that can help?

[Joshyutah]

One more note. Total Millage 10,000-15,000 miles on this turbo.