How much play should a turbo shaft have?

[Heg87t]

Hey Everyone,

I am trying to find a squeak / squeal and found a couple of possible causes that left me with questions.

Grabbing the shaft of my stock turbo I see it does have some play in it. Best I can measure with calipers on the exhaust side it is about 0.010". Moving the intake side it seems like more than 0.010". The car has been sitting a few days so it was cold with probably not much oil in the bearings.
Does this sound like too much play? I do not see any oil out of the exhaust side and there has been no change in performance or production of boost.

The tensioner pulley has a click in it and side play so I think I will replace that. Alternator has a little chirp so that is my third possibility for the noise I am hunting.

Any ideas are welcome.

 

[gteatr6]

My guess would be the alternator bearings. Shaft play, I've never heard a squeak, just a loud screach and grind noise

 

[Heath]

I changed the tensioner and still have a little chatter. I went to a shorter belt and fixed the problem. Only problem is I was running the smaller crank pulley. Now I am running the stock pulley so I having trouble finding a belt that is not to short.

 

[GullsGN]

Hey Everyone,

I am trying to find a squeak / squeal and found a couple of possible causes that left me with questions.

Grabbing the shaft of my stock turbo I see it does have some play in it. Best I can measure with calipers on the exhaust side it is about 0.010". Moving the intake side it seems like more than 0.010". The car has been sitting a few days so it was cold with probably not much oil in the bearings.
Does this sound like too much play? I do not see any oil out of the exhaust side and there has been no change in performance or production of boost.

The tensioner pulley has a click in it and side play so I think I will replace that. Alternator has a little chirp so that is my third possibility for the noise I am hunting.

Any ideas are welcome.

Spray the belt with belt dressing to see if it is the belt. Take the belt off and start the car. Noise gone? Then it is the pulley, alt, or a/c. Or use the hose to the ear trick, like a stethescope.

 

[Heg87t]

Spray the belt with belt dressing to see if it is the belt. Take the belt off and start the car. Noise gone? Then it is the pulley, alt, or a/c. Or use the hose to the ear trick, like a stethescope.

Thanks GullsGN. I see some obvious noise and play in the tensioner pulley so I am going to replace the bearing and see if that fixes the noise. Next I will follow your suggestions to track it down.

Just didn't know about the turbo. If that is a problem the car will be layed up till next year so I would have lots of time to fix the other stuff.

 

[TurboDave]

Thanks GullsGN. I see some obvious noise and play in the tensioner pulley so I am going to replace the bearing and see if that fixes the noise. Next I will follow your suggestions to track it down.

Just didn't know about the turbo. If that is a problem the car will be layed up till next year so I would have lots of time to fix the other stuff.

Probably not a turbo issue. They generally don't make any noise until they go bad, then it's a LOT of noise!!

Some lateral play in the shaft is normal. In and out play should NOT be tolerated however.

 

[Dabigguy]

I'm not a fan of belt dressing. I've seen it cause even more noises. I use WD-40 to find the problem. I use the spray tube to spray the tensioner bearing, if the noise stops, you've found your problem, if not, shut the engine off and spray the alt. bearing...and so on. Be careful to only spray the bearing, that stuff can sling everywhere!!!

 

[TurboTnZ06]

Just did this the costly way (I replaced everything but the belt and it still squeaked!!!! $$$$). First, spray WD-40 on the belt to see if the squeak goes away- a tiny amount should cure it if its the belt.

If it fixes it, then go to a Goodyear store and get a "gatorback" belt, not any old belt, has to be "gatorback".

 

[Heg87t]

Thanks Guys. I picked up a new pulley bearing at lunch and will try to install tonight and let you know.

Turbo Dave. Thanks for the input. I did not see any in / out movement just some side to side.

 

[gsgns4me]

I don't like belt dressing for serpintine belts either. I always used a bar of soap.

 

[Heg87t]

All Good Now

Morning,

I changed the tensioner pulley bearing last night and everything is nice and quiet again. :biggrin:

Hard to believe I fixed something on this car for $3.50!! :tongue:

Thanks for answering my questions.

 

[Bruce Urie]

Morning,

I changed the tensioner pulley bearing last night and everything is nice and quiet again. :biggrin:

Hard to believe I fixed something on this car for $3.50!! :tongue:

Thanks for answering my questions.

Well, if this $3.50 fix didn't work for you, I was going to suggest you check for a mouse.

Where did you get the tensioner pulley bearing last night? I did not know this part was still available. I'd like to know to keep this in mind for a possible future replacement for my tensioner pulley. And thanks.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[Heg87t]

Well, if this $3.50 fix didn't work for you, I was going to suggest you check for a mouse.

Where did you get the tensioner pulley bearing last night? I did not know this part was still available. I'd like to know to keep this in mind for a possible future replacement for my tensioner pulley. And thanks.

Bruce '87 Grand National

Hi Bruce,

I went to my local NAPA store and got bearing #P6203-2RSJ. The salesman said it's a pretty common part for them and they had them in stock.

I used my bench vise and had it changed in about 2 minutes. :smile:

 

[Bruce Urie]

Hi Bruce,

I went to my local NAPA store and got bearing #P6203-2RSJ. The salesman said it's a pretty common part for them and they had them in stock.

I used my bench vise and had it changed in about 2 minutes. :smile:

Hey, Dave, thanks! I recorded this part number for future use on my GN because I'm sure I'll need to replace it due to mileage and age. You saved me a lot of trouble. There's a NAPA near me, so this week I'm going out to get the bearing to have it handy when I need it. Thanks again, Dave. Appreciate your help.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[Heg87t]

No problem. You might have a part number I need someday.