Is my turbo actually bad??
 

2005 6.0L, 6-speed stick, all stock, no mods, 110,000 miles (I had it 6 years, 37,000 miles), some 5th wheeling, but really not taxed too heavily. In it's former life, it was a farm/ranch truck, but I think a lot of dirt road miles, body/box/frame in good shape.
I had a noise concern (high pitch, goes away when i start to touch the brakes) and took it to the shop. They come back and say the brake wear is fine, but they pinpointed the problem as turbo bearings going out. I told them I was very skeptical of that diagnosis. The guy calls back later, insisting the turbo needs replacing, and if it were to go out, I'd have a lot higher repair bill. So, $2100 later, and 5 minutes down the road, same sound (I really knew that wasn't the problem).
Anyway, I told them I want to see the turbo they took out. I could not feel ANY end play in it, and laterally (?? up and down I guess...not the rotating axis) if I really wiggle it hard, I would estimate .010...maybe .015 or .020...definitely not flopping around in there. But if I spun it, it felt draggy. It would slow kind of quick.
Sorry for the long story....getting to the point...
Out of the truck, with no oil supply, should it spin pretty easy, and keep spinning for a bit?
I had no complaints about it's performance before...and the replacement gives the same.
I was thinking about taking the core turbo for either a rebuild, or a big paperweight/art piece on my bench at home, but that's another $250 that I don't think I want to part with.

No, they do not free spin that easily.

Josh

Quick follow-up. I went back and had a second look at that turbo. It actually was bad. Depending on the axis I was moving the compressor, there was either no movement, or a lot of movement to the point of it starting to contact the compressor housing. I talked to the guy that actually touched it, and he said that 3 of the VG vanes were stuck when he opened it up. I initially said that I couldn't tell the difference between the new one and the old one, but after several days of driving, I am noticing faster spool-up over the old one.

I don't understand "3 of the VG vanes were stuck". The ring is what gets stuck, not the vanes. So, if something was stuck, it would be the entire VGT assembly.

Individual vanes can and usually seize to the pins

Josh

I don't know if he meant that the vanes were hanging up the ring, or what.
But it's been swapped out, and the old one definitely was having issues.
If the unison ring was hung up, or had limited travel, could that cause an over/under boost condition? Is there any indication of that happening (CEL)? I didn't have any warnings, and if I'm on the throttle at all, I'm usually keep one eye on the boost gauge. And I have no idea how long it had been that way. The truck has always seemed to drive the same way since I bought it (38,000 miles ago). But now seems to spool up faster since the swap. I haven't had it out on the road, or pulled a load with it yet.