How much side to side play?

[87LimitedT]

Well I just recently go a brand new TE60 turbo and was showing it to my dad he starts looking at it and all of a sudden he says it has to much side to side play and that its no good, he used to work on turbo diesels back in the day so I say ok he tells me to take it to a local diesel shop who has rebuilt a couple turbos for me now and have them check it see what they think, so that’s the first thing I do today, iv herd that all turbos have a little side to side play in them until the oil pressure fills all that. so the guy at the shop poor’s a little oil into the turbo and shows me it still had a little but almost unnoticeable, none of the blades touch or look like they get too close to touch, so dad gets home and I tell him what they said and he’s all their should be no play at all and that the guy at the shop doesn’t no what he’s talking about, he used to work with one of the guys at another place and he says the dude is basically a dumb ****, but that’s not even the guy I have look at it. Sorry for all of that but if there is side to side play what is the minimum that it should move and how do you measure that.

 

[djj624]

Some side to side play is normal, as long as its not touch the housing your fine. Remember when oil is running through it the oil is going to take up the slop and tighten it up. Its in and out play you dont want.

 

[turbojd]

X2

 

[hufsredo]

X2

X3

 

[Dabigguy]

You must have a little clearance (side play) to allow for expansion when it gets hot and to leave a little space for oil to flow in the bearing for lubrication. Every turbo manufacturer has their own specifications as to what those clearences should be.

You need a dial indicator to measure the clearance. Lay the turbo on it's side where the shaft is straight up and put your dial indicator on the end of the shaft, push it down to set it to zero and move the shaft up and measure the difference. That is your side clearance.