How much shaft play is acceptible?

[OneLethal87GN]

I was told my TE-60 was in need of a rebuild due to the fact that you can wiggle the shaft up and down. It takes a good bit of strength to do this and it doesn't move much at all. I got a new turbo in today that reportedly had only 3-5 miles on it. It has almost the same amount of play in it. There is no side to side movement in either. How much play is normal, or acceptible, and what is the best way to measure this without feeler gauges?

 

[turbojack]

Turbo shaft movement on my 2k mi TA49

I too have shaft movement,up and down,but not left to right,on my 2k mile used TA49.Did I get "shafted" on this used unit ???

 

[TheDoughboy]

Just "wiggled" my stock just rebuilt turbo, 0 miles not on the car yet. There No side to side play, that I can tell. There is a Very, very small amount of up & down play. But I would think there would be some because this is the bearing clearance to shaft the oil fills when the engine in running right?? Hell I don't know.

HTH,

Ron

 

[OneLethal87GN]

The reason I asked was because so much has gone wrong lately that I get too easily worried about stuff. I have a stock turbo, TE-60, and TE63-1 and all 3 have the same up and down movement of the shaft. Only my stocker has in and out play. I remember seeing somewhere an article saying what is acceptible play and I could almost swear it said all turbos would have some. Maybe if everyone that reads this could go wiggle their turbo shaft up and down and come back and tell me they had some play I would feel better.

 

[tangofox]

A little up and down movement is fine, so long as it is not touching the housing. Side to side is no good. According to my dad, who is a diesel mech, that new turbos will wiggle u/d a little, but once it gets hot, there is none. You should be fine.

 

[Ormand]

Up/Down/Left/Right

The bearings don't know the difference between side-to-side, and up and down. If you look at the way it's built, the bearing can be rotated. There is a seperate thrust bearing, so in-and-out (movement parallel to the shaft) is different. There is a procedure for checking bearing clearance in the shop manual, in both directions. Radial should be in the range of 0.003 to 0.006, and axial should be between 0.001 and 0.003. Note that the lateral (radial) clearance is harder to measure, since you have to have access to BOTH ends of the shaft, not just the compressor end. When you wiggle the end of the compressor shaft from side to side, it is tilting with respect to the bearing, not just moving from side-to-side. Bottom line.. if the thing gets loose enough to contact the housing, you got a problem. Bearing assembly is relatively cheap, and easy to install, so better to repair early than late.

 

[aperrego]

Not to high-jack this thread but Ormond, did you buy that white T that was forsale in Raleigh not too long ago? The one with T's and the Turn signal markers in the fender?

 

[OneLethal87GN]

Well, this turbo was advertised as being new with about 3-5 miles of use. It seems odd that all 3 of my turbos have the up and down play. Only my stocker has the in and out play in the shaft. I just want to make sure I don't have a problem with this turbo that I just paid $800 for. It looks brand new. The only reason I even noticed the play is the fact that I was told my TE-60 needed a rebuild due to the play so I tested the new one and it had the same play. I'm not a turbo man and I posted this here because I usually don't get a quick answer in the trubo tech section and when I do it is rarely by a turbo builder. As far as measuring the play, i don't have the tools and don't know of anyone who can test the turbo that is near me. The only thing I can say is that when I lift the shaft as far up as it will go it is harder to spin. I'm not sure if it is contacting the housing, but if it is I will be contacting the guy who sold me this thing.

 

[TurboDave]

Some up and down, or side to side play (whatever you want to call it) is acceptable, and is normal.

The the in and out, or more correctly "end play" that you DON'T want.

 

[turbojack]

turbo shaft "play"

Thanks all for the input.I`m now going to assume that all is ok,but the final test will be after I install it and run it a while.I`m just now assy my motor,so it`ll be awhile yet,again,thanks

 

[OneLethal87GN]

All these answers have made me feel better, and worse. I'm glad I didn't waste my money on a new turbo, however, it was one I didn't need. I have tested both my TE-60 and TE63-1 and both have similar up and down play, but doesn't touch the compressor housing. Also, neither slides in and out. I will assume now that my TE-60 is fine so maybe I can put the TE-60 on to help spool the 63.

 

[87LtdT]

Total side-to-side movement (radial clearance) should fall in the .013" to .020" range....in and out (axial) should be .001-.005".

That's the spec's used by Holset for turbos including those on the Dodge Ram Cummins turbo diesel.

Bob (Holset Engineer)

 

[scottyb]

I've put 40k miles on my stocker (actual age unknown). It has always had notable side-to-side play, and feels like it's spring loaded. When I push, it moves back. No smoke or oil issues that I can tell.

Also, my friend just bought a used Cummins TD. We noticed that his had up-down play when hot, none when cold.