turbo shaft play

[tomjonesBT33]

Folks - was doing some maintenance on my X5M and found that the passenger side turbo has a very small amount of shaft play. I also noticed a small amount of oil in the bypass valve tube and a small amount of oil at the input to the passenger side intercooler.

My vehicle doesn’t smoke or use much oil. Maybe one liter per 5000 miles.

I know the turbo will not automatically heal itself. But I’m looking for experience/opinions as to how long (in miles) I may have before having to replace the turbo.

Thoughts appreciated.

Regards
Tom

[Dekero]

I actually have a 35i, so let that be known... However.. here's my 2 cents..

Oil in the places you found it is normal for a turbo car and is a condition called turbo blow by. So I wouldn't worry about that at all...

As for the shaft play, Until that turbos bearings started making noise I'd drive like I stole it... And be planning for a future upgrade now... Just squirrel money away for that rainy day... Infact I'd take the opportunity to upgrade to a stage 1/2 turbo set up...

That's my 2 cents.

Hope it helps

[tomjonesBT33]

Appreciate your reply.

I’m inclined to leave it be for now. But it would suck to have to take things apart again in 500 miles, hence my post.

I’m gonna sleep on it for a few days before I make a decision as to replace them or button it up as is.

Thanks again

[tomjonesBT33]

So I have actually decided to rebuild them myself. I ordered a couple of rebuild kit from eBay. I’ll take photos of the process and post a DIY.

Wish me luck.

[tomjonesBT33]

Finally have all the parts. Removed the turbos. What v-band clamp between hot side of turbo and the exhaust manifold was a real PITA to remove. Not looking forward to reinstalling that clamp.

Anyway, I’ve begun to tear down the turbo and am stuck on how to separate the hot and cold sides. I removed the small v-band clamp but they’re still tightly held together. I removed the cold side shell and have the turbine exposed. See pics.

Suggestions on next steps to keep separating this thing are very much appreciated.

[tomjonesBT33]

Used PB Blaster and let soak overnight. Then used propane torch to heat the joint between the turbo core and exhaust housing. Once it was hot, it only took a couple of minutes with a large rubber mallet to tap the exhaust housing off.

Now time to tear down the turbo core.

[tomjonesBT33]

Got the first turbo all apart. Now that I know how these go together, the second one should go much faster.

[JellyStyle]

Originally Posted by tomjonesBT33

Got the first turbo all apart. Now that I know how these go together, the second one should go much faster.

while you are there, its better to just upgrade the entire cartridge with a better turbine and all new guts.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353400915299

This is what i plan to do

[tomjonesBT33]

Well things didn’t quite go as easily as I hoped for the second turbo. Compressor wheel was seized to the shaft. Broke the shaft trying to remove it.

So ordered replacement cartridge from Garrett. I saw a lot of aftermarket cores but don’t want to have to rebuild them again if the China made stuff failed.

Also I have an RK Tunes stage 1 ECU tune that was designed for stock turbos so didn’t want ‘upgraded’ cartridges to be an issue.

Have all the parts now so hope to have it back together this weekend