93 Buick needs a new turbocharger?

Factual Questions
1

My boss is thinking about purchasing a 93 Buick Park Avenue with a faulty turbocharger, and he tells me that it needs a new one.

I don’t know much about cars, but I do know that most are not equipped with a turbocharger. The one on this Buick is factory made. My question is: is it possible that the Buick could run ok without the turbocharger? Could the intake air just flow into the engine without being turbocharged (cooled)? Was the Buick manufactured so that it had to rely on the turbocharger?

Any help is appreciated. It’s just a curiosity of mine which might be able to save my boss some money. Installing a new turbocharger would cost $2-3k. But I’m not yet convinced that it’s necessary.

2

Yes, the car will run without the turbo, but not well, and it would cost as much or more to “bypass” it. (Modifications to both the intake and exhaust system would have to be made, as well as fixing the inevitable problems with the engine management computer.)

Pull the turbo and have it rebuilt by a reputable company. Run about $400, give or take.

Of course, if you’re not doing the work yourself, the cost will come from the labor of removal and reinstallation.

3

With it being a 93 Park Avenue, I’d bet that it’s actually has a supercharged version of the ol’ 3.8 V6. Turbos turn using exhaust gasses. Superchargers are belt driven. I honestly don’t know how much of a difference that would make in bypassing it, or the amount of money it would take to repair it.

4

I thank you both very much for your input.

I hadn’t thought about having the turbocharger rebuilt, Doc. I’ll explore that option further.

5

One thing that hasn’t been brought up is that forced induction engines have lower compression ratios than normally asperated engines. In the old Volvo red engines (which is what I can recall at this moment, turbos were 7.5:1 vs 10.5 for the non turbos)
So if you were to remove the turbo / supercharger the technical term for the cars performance would be ** It’s a slug!**

Not to mention the previously mentioned issue with intake, exhaust, computer, emission controls, smog tests, oil feed and return lines.

6

It also depends how the Turbo failed. It could very easily be making more smoke than the Blue Angel’s when it goes.

A Turbo will probably cost something like $1K plus installation… lets say $1500-$2000. If he gets a good enough deal on the car it might be worth it.

I also second the notion of nixing the “byapassing” of it. It’s not that simple.

7

What ever he does, do not take it to a dealer. A new supercharger would cost $2000+, and that is just the part. Not worth it. His best bet is to buy the car and do the labor himself. It’s not too hard to take off the supercharger on a 3800. A haynes manual would be a good investment for the inexperienced though. Used and in good condition superchargers for these cars run in the area of $400 on eBay. You could also get it rebuilt at a machine shop, basically replacing bearings, seals, and measuring depth and clearences of the turbines.

Supercharged 3800’s are bad ass by the way.

8

I entirely agree with you ParentalAdvisory, taking a car to a dealer is a terrible idea financially. And, apparently, it is a super not a turbocharger that I’m dealing with here. My boss misinformed me initially.

I ordered a rebuilt supercharger today for him from GM along with instructions on installation and I plan to install it myself. GM has an exchange program for this part so we’ll be sending the old one back.

My boss bought the car today for $500, bernse. Really nice low mileage car except for the bad charger so it’ll likely turn out to be a good deal if I can install it myself. He will probably pay me $100 for my labor

Those haynes manuals are really handy. I have one for my own car, an '88 Cadillac Brougham.