Quick turbo Question.
 

Hi Guys, ok here goes, Car is an 84 300 DT with 300K miles, Runs ok, a little tired, means harder starts in the winter. Minimal blowby,

The turbo doesnt always spin free when the engine is off, there is zero play in the bearings(laterally and axially), and no oil loss into the engine, but the turbo just feels sticky. spins just fine, but slowly.. diff to describe.

When i started it up watching the turbo, it slowly started to spin then after I reved it, It worked perfectly, The car has tons of power, minimal black smoke, turbo can be heard spooling at full boost.

Definilty makes good boost, and runs perfectly on the highway.

Has anyone else seen this before, I suspect that its all carboned up on the exhaust side, and that a few italian tuneups will clear this up.

Thoughts?

The turbo on my engine was like that when I got it. I think it has to do with how long the engine has been sitting and thus how much residual oil is in the turbo. Try spinning it a few hours after the car has been run, then try again after a few days and see if there is a difference.

The bearings in these turbos really need oil pressure to spin really good. Carbon buildup isn't very likely to stop it from spinning freely seeing that it will only be deposited while the thing is spinning.

I tried spinning my turbo by hand once after the car had been sitting for a long time, wasn't very easy.. It spins really easily with hot oil in it..