I heard that if you blow the apex seal, then the turbo is blown too. Is this true?

 

No.It is possible if enough debris gets blown out of the exhaust to cause some damage in the turbo,but this would be a major blow up.

 

One broken apex seal can ruin a turbo wheel. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, but checking the turbo after engine failure is a good idea.

 

When we were doing Wankel7's new '91T2 motor....we found that his turbo wheel and exhaust manifold were trashed from the broken seal that passed through them! He had to get a new turbo and a new manifold, so yea, its possible...but doesn't always happen.

 

how do you check the turbo to see if it's blown?

 

As far as i know and according to the factory shop manual the only thing to check if the turbo is bad is if the shaft wobbles and if the wheels are broken also something about oil in the turbo. =)