What happened to my turbo??

[Diesel_Zuk]

I have an ahu mtdi motor I am using for my samurai. It has a k03 turbo that was rebuilt shortly before I got the donor car. It used to turn perfect, and would spin easily by twisting it with my finger. I took it off to relocate it higher using an aaz manifold, and noticed, that it is now stiff, and the shaft doesn't want to spin easily, it still turns, but I have to put light pressure into it, and it doesn't freely spin, it stops immediately after removing my finger. What happened? I tried injecting some oil into the bearings just now because I figured they were probably completely dry from sitting for a while. It helped a little bit, but not very much. Any ideas what to try next? It has zero shaft play, and otherwise seems to be in good shape.

[theman53]

If it has - shaft play the bearings are coked up a bit. It should have no in and out lateral play, but up and down it should almost hit  the housing with no oil in it. I just had 2 garrett t3's rebuilt and a new holset and they had tons of play up and down. It is probably no big deal and it will probably be fine when in a bath of oil. If you fill it with oil make sure that the drain is plugged so it all doesn't run out before you spin it. If it has catchy spots or something noticeably wrong take it to get looked at.

[Diesel_Zuk]

It doesn't feel like it is hanging up on anything, it doesn't scrape or grind when I turn it, it just feels like it's trying to rotate through honey or thick grease.

[vanbcguy]

Yup. That's old cooked oil in the bearings.

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[theman53]

I had a K24 doing the same thing and put synthetic scheaffers oil in it. In less than 3,000 miles of easy driving it freed back up. YRMV, but if you have a broken in engine to run synthetic in you may want to give it a shot.

[Diesel_Zuk]

I had a K24 doing the same thing and put synthetic scheaffers oil in it. In less than 3,000 miles of easy driving it freed back up. YRMV, but if you have a broken in engine to run synthetic in you may want to give it a shot.

Thanks. The engine hasn't been run in probably 6 months. It's been sitting on a pallet while I have been working on the samurai getting ready for the motor. I sprayed a little pb blaster in it, because I noticed the thick diesel oil wasn't going through the restrictor holes very well. It has freed it up a lot, but is still not perfect. My local vw guy said to throw it on and run it for a little while, and go easy on it, and that once it has had fresh hot oil pushed through it, it should free up quickly and easily.

[vanbcguy]

Exactly. Turbos don't like sitting around much.

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[Diesel_Zuk]

So I got the turbo mounted up, and a supply hardline ran, I spun the intermediate shaft with an electric drill to prime it, built pressure well, and once it did, the turbo once again spins well. Must have just been dry.