96 turbo/intercooler problem, loss of power
 

1996 GS-T
manual
81k miles

So 2 days ago i was driving on the freeway when all of a sudden there was a loud bang and i though i had blown out a tire so i pulled over. After a quick inspection i saw that i still had all my tires fully inflated so i decided to continue. As i started to drive my car couldn't get past 2k rps in first gear. Fuuuuuuu, serious loss of power. I got it towed to the mechanic. The next day I got the report. The hose that goes from the intercooler to the engine air intake got detached from the intercooler . So they put it back on and rigged some wire to help hold the intercooler up because they said the mounts are bent.

during the inspection they also noted that there was some oil in the intercooler. they said that the turbo seals may be worn. they said to fix this i would have to replace it. (true?)

they also noted that the intercooler was damage. there was a crack in it or something and it was sucking in air so my car was running lean. now that i think about it, i think that if there was a crack in the intercooler it would be blowing out air cause the air flow goes: air intake--> turbo ---> intercooler --> engine. so it would be under pressure while inside the intercooler.(true?)

i asked of we could bypass either the intercooler or turbo or both and the mechanic said there was no possible way and still pass smog (is this true?). he said i couldnt bypass the intercooler because it "cools down the turbo" but i think that's total bs (also true?)

today i was driving it and i noticed that it drives a lot different, in a bad way. it feels sluggish and not as powerful (about 20-40% less power although its kinda hard to rate this) and the boost gauge is higher then usual. usually driving 70mph at constant speed the boost gauge is basically totally at the bottom. but now i hear the turbo spinning and the gauge is at about 30%. (what would cause this?).

basically my options are to
1) drive it as it is and hope I'm not killing my car,
2) or replace the intercoller and the turbo.

the mechanic will call on Monday to give me an estimate. probably like 400 for turbo and 200 for intercoller so like $800-1000.

can i please get some advice on what to do and about how much the replacements would cost so i don't get totally ripped off?

Thanks

Do a boost leak test and fix all your boost leaks.

how do i do that or do i have tot take it to a mechanic

If you don't know how to fix those I'm sorry but you're gonna hafta pay someone else to fix those leaks like dsm1990gsx said. I had an old Ford Probe GT turbo in my younger years (mazda MX6 clone) and decided to just temporarily mask the turbo leakage problems like you have now and trade it in.

Check out www.vfaq.com and search under the intake section. It'll show you how to make a tester and use it.