Turbo dosnt spin

[Erban32]

I just picked up a s13 blactop. when i got it home I went to see if there was any shaft play in the turbo. after taking the intake elbo off there was alot of oil in the turbo and intacke pipe, it might have flowed from the valve cover. anyway, when i went to check the turbo the turbine didnt spin at all. it this normal. i asked a friend about it who has done s13 many swaps before and he said that it was perfectly normal. he said that i should start to spin after i start the engine and let it worm up for a while. is this true or is my turbo dead.

Erban

[SET240SX]

doesnt sound good.I wouldn't worry about the oil too much but the turbine should spin freely.

[S13240]

I helped a guy down the street do his swap and his turbo's compressor wheel wouldn't spin either, but no shaft play. He started it up the first time and no smoke or anything...runs and boost perfectly.

[quiksilvia]

i always heard that it should spin freely, mine does, and i had oil all over the place, ic piping, ic, turbo, remember that these things are shipped over an ocean and not handled to nicley, oil gets everywhere.

[ItzGenX]

Mine didn't spin when I got mine. Same as described above. All I did was unmount the turbo, then clean it out with carb cleaner like I was a mad scientist. Then I began spraying it into the center section. After that, I poured motor oil into the center section and put bolts in both ends so it wouldn't leak out. Then I hooked a 12 point socket up to the impeller and spun it around with a ratchet. After about 10 revolutions, it unlocked and spun freely. My turbo was full of sawdust and caked with oil (not in center section). I think all the oil was due to shipping and tipping.

[charlotte240]

Kind of makes me want to take my turbo off and see how it's doing. I know it spins OK, but I wanna make sure there's no grime in there.

[Erban32]

thanks for all the info, hopefuly it will start to spin when i start her up.

Erban

[hokiruu]

Hmm. Mine was damn clean and spun freely. I just spun it with my fingers and left it alone. Hope it's a happy little turbo...

[UsedToOwn240SX]

Erban,

You might want to check the turbo first while you have the engine out. It's a ***** to get the turbo out once it is inside the car.

[RobDET]

mine was clean with no play. And it spun VERY easily. With one finger in there (all that i could fit realy) you could flick it and it would spin for several seconds.

[MojoMan]

Some definitely come in different condition. Some are obviously caked with oil and sludge buildup. I remember my first as being pretty easy to spin. But I have seen other installs that were harder to spin than others.

[Erban32]

well the one that i have dsent move at all. i didnt want to push to hard on it for fear of bending the fins. i think i might pull the whole turbo and take a better look at it.

Erban

[RobDET]

Good call. You could have issus similar to ITZ