If you need to replace your Garret turbo, and you are not sure which one to order, you came to the right place. In this post, we’ll share some information on how to ID your turbo, so you are guaranteed to get the right part, the first time. Remember, if you need help, just give us a call, or email us. Our turbocharger experts will be happy to help you.

If you are shopping for a stock replacement turbo for a passenger car or truck originally sold in the USA, or North American market, there are a few ways to lookup the right turbo for your vehicle. You can start the easy way. Using the finder on our website, just enter your vehicle’s year, make, and model to do a search. If you are a professional mechanic or work in the industry, you might already know the OEM, or original equipment part number for the turbo you need. If so, just enter that part number into our search bar and you should find the turbo that matches. If you are a vehicle owner, and you want to learn the original equipment part number for your application, give us a call, and we can help.

If you need a Garrett turbo for an application other than a passenger vehicle, it can take a little more digging to find what you need. Authentic Garrett turbochargers will have a nameplate on the housing. The nameplate is usually a thin aluminum plate with numbers and letters stamped into it. The nameplate is commonly bonded to the turbo compressor housing, sometimes with a couple of small rivets. In some cases, there is no actual metal “plate”, and the numbers are simply stamped into a raised, flat pad surface, cast into the aluminum.

There are 2 different types of nameplate. The first type is an OE nameplate. These are mainly found on original equipment turbos that were either installed at the factory (OEM) , by the vehicle manufacturer, or were built to be sold as replacements through the vehicle manufacturer’s (OES) parts network (at a dealership parts department, for example). These OE nameplates will have Garrett turbo numbers on them, and they will also have OE part numbers on them – like a Mercedes or Volkswagen part number. Garret refers to these OE numbers as “Customer Part Numbers”, because vehicle or engine manufacturers like Ford or Caterpillar are Garrett’s customers. They buy turbos from Garrett, to install on their engines. The OE nameplate might even have the logo of the vehicle or engine manufacturer on the plate.

The second type of type of nameplate is an aftermarket nameplate. These are found on turbos built for use in the independent aftermarket (IAM), or basically everywhere except for OE dealer networks. When you buy a Garret turbo anywhere outside of a dealer parts department, you are likely to get this kind of nameplate. It’s important to know that if you are buying a genuine Garrett turbocharger, the turbo is exactly the same part whether you buy it at the dealer parts department, or in the aftermarket. The difference is in the nameplates and the box the turbo is packed in. Oh yeah, and the price! The a turbo sold in the aftermarket can be hundreds of dollars less than it's OE equivalent, for the exact same turbo.

For the most part, the important information on the nameplates is the same. You will see the following:

Garret Turbo Model

Garrett Part Number

Serial Number

OE Part Number (only on OE Nameplates)

Using the Garrett Part Number is the easiest, most surefire way to ID your turbo with confidence. All Garrett part numbers have 6 digits, and start with either a “4”, “7” or “8”, followed by a dash (hyphen), then four more numbers and sometimes a suffix character. Here’s an example Garrett Part Number: “750216-5024S” The four numbers after the dash, and any suffix, are called the “dash number”, and will tell you if the turbo was supplied for the OEM, OES, or IAM market. The suffix can indicate if the turbo is a reman (remanufactured) or if it is supplied with a gasket kit.

For turbo identification, the OE Part Number will also work most of the time. Be aware that vehicle and engine manufacturers regularly supersede, update, or change OE Part Numbers.  Because of this, matching the OE Part Number is sometimes more difficult than the Garret Part Number.

The Turbo Model Number tells us the size and type of the turbo. Turbo model numbers are usually shorter, like GT2056V or TV61. Think of the turbo model number as a family, or group of turbos.  It's helpful in identifying the turbo you need, but by itself, not enough to get you an exact match.

The Serial Number tells us the assembly date, batch, and production facility – but is generally not used to match to a replacement turbo.

Through the years, Garret has gone through various corporate structures and branding strategies, so you might see any of these on your turbo nameplate: “Garrett AiResearch”, “AlliedSignal”, “Garrett Engine Boosting Systems” or “Honeywell”. Today, you’ll see “Garrett Advancing Motion” on most Garrett branding and packaging.

Some of the other markings you might see on your turbo are AR sizes, raised casting numbers or stamps in the compressor housing or turbine housing, part numbers or serial numbers on actuators, sensors or electronics, colored stamps or ink markings. Taken together, these can be used as clues, by an expert, to ID the turbo. However, by themselves, these markings are not enough to go by.

We hope you found this useful in identifying your Garrett Turbocharger. If you’re looking to buy a Genuine Garrett Turbo, from a business you can trust, click here to shop our Garrett catalog online, or contact us today for expert service.