I believe the turbo on my wife's 2012 Explorer is done. Classic wastegate rattle, underboost code and very little power. I plan on replacing it myself, so I was wondering if anyone had done this before and if anyone had any tips to make it a little less painful.
Also, should I order one through Ford (Autonation has one in stock here), or go aftermarket? I'm not even sure that there are any aftermarket parts available since this motor was only used for two years in the Explorers.

No, you should order it through Tasca Ford, Varsity Ford (Michigan), or White Bear Autonation. Check pricing. Before you do all of that, validate the failed turbo diagnosis. They can't be cheap. White Bear is easily cheaper than the others, but I'm putting them out there in case your part is not the case. In the last 5,000 dollars worth of parts I have bought over the years for all of my vehicles, White Bear was cheapest.

https://www.tascaparts.com/
https://www.varsityfordparts.com/
https://parts.autonationfordwhitebearlake.com/ford-parts

Dang. White Bear is definitely cheaper than where I was ordering from. just for grins I looked at a hood for my F150 and they are 300 bucks cheaper.. Bookmarked and thanks for the link.

Upgrade. BB turbo....

1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Upgrade. BB turbo....

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What is BB?

BrazosDog02 said:

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No, you should order it through Tasca Ford, Varsity Ford (Michigan), or White Bear Autonation. Check pricing. Before you do all of that, validate the failed turbo diagnosis. They can't be cheap. White Bear is easily cheaper than the others, but I'm putting them out there in case your part is not the case. In the last 5,000 dollars worth of parts I have bought over the years for all of my vehicles, White Bear was cheapest.

https://www.tascaparts.com/
https://www.varsityfordparts.com/
https://parts.autonationfordwhitebearlake.com/ford-parts

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Thanks. All of the above are definitely cheaper than any place I've contacted.

TSUAggie said:

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1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Upgrade. BB turbo....

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What is BB?

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Ball bearing turbo. They respond faster; more fun from the go pedal.

TSJ said:

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TSUAggie said:

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1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Upgrade. BB turbo....

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What is BB?

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Ball bearing turbo. They respond faster; more fun from the go pedal.

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So about a grand more? No way I'm investing that much unnecessary expense in a car that my wife drives.

Did you see the price for an OEM replacement from turbochargers.com?

Where are you located?

TSJ said:

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TSUAggie said:

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1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Upgrade. BB turbo....

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What is BB?

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Ball bearing turbo. They respond faster; more fun from the go pedal.

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1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Did you see the price for an OEM replacement from turbochargers.com?

Where are you located?

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Yeah, $595 for a refurbished one. None in stock. $650 from Tasca, plus shipping. Those prices don't reflect the core charge. The dealers here in Fort Worth want roughly $850.

The 2012 ecoboost turbos are journal bearing? That would surprise me, especially since ball-bearing have been fairly standard in aftermarket kits for 10-15 years

You'll have to drain the oil and coolant as well.

Hopefully I can get this done by myself without too much headache.

TSUAggie said:

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Hopefully I can get this done by myself without too much headache.

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Its a saturday job for sure.

Update: Finally decided to tackle this nightmare and pulled the old one yesterday. It was definitely a pain in the ass. Tried a local turbo repair shop, but nothing they could do so I found a local Ford dealer (Mike Brown Ford) that had the same pricing as Tasca and the other dealer mentioned above. I have to drive to Granbury tomorrow anyway, so I'll save a few bucks without it needing to be shipped. I had to order online through their website, otherwise it would have been $1,086.00. Dreading putting it all back together.

Good on you for DIYing

Installed new turbo. Now I have a P1016 Code.

Make sure your hoses are installed correctly and not kinked etc

1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Make sure your hoses are installed correctly and not kinked etc

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Well I'm an idiot. Forgot to connect the hose that goes to the wastegate actuator. I blame it on the wife distracting me and needing me to help with our newborn baby, and a lack of sleep the last two weeks.