I have a Turbo I took out of my car and want to know how I test it.

1) I thought I was puffing a bit of smoke on start up.

2) There is no end or other play in the wheels.

3) I can turn the wheels but it is not as easy as I would have thought (should you be able to spin them?).

What should I expect.

Thx <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

 

You should be able to spin it very easily by hand. It should remain in motion for a few seconds even after a hand spin. Did you check for missing hardware upstream? If you cannot spin it, do not put it back in the car, or you risk something dislodging and entering the manifold.

 

Keith;

Was there any oil present in the inlet side of the compressor housing? Is there any axial play? If the aluminum compressor wheel is oily, you have a good case to repair the sealing rings and replace the bearings. Another quick check is to grab a flashlite and flip the turbo over, shine the lite in the oil drain hole. You should see the shaft. Turn the turbine wheel, what is the color of the shaft? Black, blue, do you see a shiny shaft? Hope this helps...

 

I just had my turbo rebuilt by Kevin and when I spin it by hand and let go it only spins a revolution or two more. Much less than 1 second. It should be fairly tight. I think you might be thinking about a ball bearing turbo.

Puffing on startup is normal for a Porsche because of the opposed horizontal design of the engine. Pull your intercooling plumbing and see if there is any oil in the plumbing. If there is, your turbo is probably leaking.

 

Thank you all!!!

I will check. <img src="graemlins/yltype.gif" border="0" alt="[typing]" />

 

Geoffrey - I am sorry, I should have said a new turbo that has its oil lines hooked up. They do spin a little bit easier once they have a few cycles. Also - a few seconds may be extreme, but my point is that there should definitely be no resistance other than the inertia caused by the weight of the compressor itself.