I am trying to decide if my turbo needs to be rebuilt, what kind of clearance should I have between the blades and the housing? is there any other way to determine if the turbo needs to be rebuilt?

Would this change with the truck running?
It looks like right now if I push on the end of the shaft the blades are touching the housing but I can still turn the wheel.

If I keep driving the truck like this do I have a few hundred miles before it really starts to get bad or is this something that will get exponentially worse?

Thanks
Patrick

 

There's not a lot of clearance between the fins and the housing. The turbo shaft rides on a film of oil while the truck is running. When you turn the truck off and start wiggling the wheel, you'll be able to notice the up and down or side to side play. As long as the wheel is not hitting the housing, then some side to side play is ok. In and out play on the wheel is bad.

If there is no in and out play, then from what your describing, your turbo sounds fine.

 

The blades should NOT touch the housing, even barely touching is bad. If it does, then your turbo is going..... going...... gone.

 

ill have to get out there ater it stops raining and check for in and out and see if i can get a fealer guage in between the wheel and the housing.

 

You don't really need a feeler gauge. If the wheel touches the housing you have a turbo rebuild in the near future. You can look at the housing to see if the wheel is touching it.

 

Get a rebuild kit from Clay @ RiffRaff. Less than $100 and you'll have essentially a brand new turbo. Rebuilding is easier than it sounds with basic hand tools. Here are a bunch of pics of me rebuilding my van turbo before I put it in:
Van Turbo pictures from friends & fun photos on webshots