Garrett Turbochargers: How to Read the Part Number, Spot a Counterfeit and Order the Right Unit
Garrett turbochargers held in the Shenyue warehouse
Turbocharger housings and cartridges prepared for export
Engine parts supplied alongside turbocharger kits
A Garrett turbocharger is identified by six digits, a dash, four more digits and then a single letter - and every part of that number carries a fact the buyer needs before ordering: whether the unit was built for the assembly line, for the original spare-parts network or as a remanufactured item, and whether a gasket kit is already in the box. This guide explains the numbering rules, how to read a nameplate, and how to tell a genuine Garrett unit from a counterfeit, using the identification guidance Garrett Motion publishes itself. Guangzhou Shenyue Machinery Technology Co., Ltd. has been a Garrett authorized dealer since 2017, and the authorization was renewed in 2025.
Corbay is the international export brand of Guangzhou Shenyue Machinery Technology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou, China. Garrett is one of the world's leading turbocharger technology brands, fitted as original equipment to engines from Hino, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Cummins and many others. As an authorized dealer the company supplies genuine Garrett units through the official distribution network, alongside OEM-quality and aftermarket lines that are always labelled as such, and it keeps 3,000+ part types on the shelf with 100,000+ part numbers available to order. Authorizations are listed on the authorized brands page.
How to Read a Garrett Part Number: The Six-Digit Core
The core Garrett part number is six digits, and the first digit is always a 4, a 7 or an 8. Examples from Garrett's own literature include 466214, 700447 and 801040. That six-digit number identifies the turbocharger family and its build, and the leading digit tells you it is a Garrett number rather than an engine-maker number. When a fitter quotes a turbocharger, this six-digit core is the first thing to find on the old unit's nameplate, and it is the reference that appears on our quotation.
The Dash Number and the S or W Suffix
The six digits are followed by a hyphen and a four-digit "dash number". The first digit of that dash number is not random - it tells you which sales channel the unit belongs to. A leading 0 means OEM, built for the engine production line; a leading 5 means OES or independent aftermarket (IAM) new unit; a leading 9 means a remanufactured unit. After the dash number comes a single suffix letter, S or W, and a W means the box includes a gasket kit while an S means it does not. In Garrett's published examples, 700447-5008S is a new IAM unit, 700447-5008W is a new IAM unit with a gasket kit inside the box, 700447-9008S is a remanufactured unit, and 700447-9008W is a remanufactured unit supplied with a gasket kit.
The Three Sales Channels: OEM, OES and IAM
All three are genuine Garrett product. The channel explains the packaging, the part number format and the price, not the quality of the casting.
How to Read a Nameplate - and Why Old Brand Names Are Genuine
A Garrett turbocharger nameplate carries the information a fitter needs: the customer or OE part number, the Garrett part number, the turbocharger model (often abbreviated) and the serial number, marked S/N. The serial number is worth noting because it can be used to trace the assembly date, the production batch and the factory that built the unit. There is also an important difference between an OE plate and an aftermarket one. An OE nameplate may carry the logo of the engine or machine maker; an IAM aftermarket nameplate does not carry the original-maker logo or name, but it will always show the turbocharger model, the country of origin, an IAM-format part number and a serial number.
One subject causes more confusion than any other: older genuine Garrett turbochargers can carry company names that no longer exist. Garrett AiResearch, AlliedSignal, Garrett Engine Boosting Systems and Honeywell are all the same business under its earlier owners, not evidence of a fake. Since 2018 Garrett has used a global "signature" packaging design in red and black, boxed by product type - OEM new, Reman, RedBoost and Performance - so a sealed genuine unit arriving in the current box is easy to recognize.
The T Series and the GT Series: Two Naming Generations
Garrett's turbocharger families are named in two generations, and it helps to know which one a machine carries. The T Series is the original naming, dating from the 1950s; it uses more parts, is physically larger and represents earlier technology. The GT Series was introduced in the early 1990s and uses updated aerodynamic design with fewer parts, giving better overall performance for a given size. On a machine that has been in service for decades, an owner may be offered a T Series equivalent of a GT Series unit - and the two are not interchangeable without checking the mounting, the housing orientation and the specification.
Genuine or Counterfeit: What You Can See and Feel
Genuine Garrett units are balanced and performance-tested before they leave the factory, which is what the counterfeit supply chain cannot reproduce. The single most effective way to buy a genuine turbocharger is to buy from the authorized distribution network.
The Right Turbocharger for a Kobelco SK200-8
A concrete example from the catalogue of Guangzhou Shenyue Machinery Technology Co., Ltd.: the Kobelco SK200-8 runs a Hino J05E engine, and the turbocharger for that machine is commonly quoted as 787873-5001S / VH241004631A / VH17201E0523. Those references are commonly quoted rather than a substitute for the plate - the machine and component nameplate is the authority, and where the numbers differ, the plate and the old unit win. Model-level detail for the SK series sits on our Kobelco-focused site, shenyuekobelco.com, while the identification guidance behind this article is published by the manufacturer at garrettmotion.com. Genuine Garrett units come through the authorized channel; OEM-quality and aftermarket equivalents are quoted as separate, clearly labelled lines.
Corbay Excavator Parts is the international export brand of Shenyue Machinery (Guangzhou Shenyue Machinery Technology Co., Ltd.), Guangzhou, China. Shenyue is an independent parts specialist and is not affiliated with, or an authorized dealer of, Kobelco Limited. Parts are supplied as genuine, OEM or clearly identified aftermarket items, and the grade is stated on every quotation.