Turbo Oil Seals

[StealthX]

just thinking, is there anyway to check the state of the oil seals on a turbo without it being on the engine?

if they're shot, how much usually is a rebuild?

its a stock VG30ET .48 T3 btw...

Thanks.

[hypergear]

Well oil seal it self won't fail. Its just a stainless steel circlip. Its the bearings that fails, Then it lose control of oil flow and cause 0il to hydraulically leak through the seals.

To check the condition of turbo, simply move shaft up and down then left and right for shaft play. Should not have any thing above 20thou.

[IanB]

Hum, my old turbo has minimal shaft play but still leaks like a sieve. Whats going on there?

[StealthX]

hmm same, there's virtually no axial shaft play at all, and a tiny bit of radial...

just have to suck it and see!

[hypergear]

Is this a proper build turbo or a ebay special?

assume is a proper build turbo. The other reason for it to leak would be oil drain related. The turbo runs off a gravity drain system, So when you do see smoke it means the drainage cell on turbine end of bearing housing has been filled. unless bearings are worn which allow movements to the shaft its very rare for the seal it self to fail.

For ebay specials. It could be vibration from bearing and shaft tolerance, broken seals from bad materials, faulty bearing housing, bad oil division and so on.

This is what a oil seal looks like:

[StealthX]

no, its a proper build turbo.

stock nissan turbo from a Z31 300zx VG30et

thanks for your help!