I just bought a turbo charger from a 87 turbo.The car is at a salvage yard and the guys that work there said the car had oil in the antifreeze or might of been the other way around lol Anyway I pulled the turbo and there is very minimal shaft play[side to side] Is there any other way to comfirm it's good?My car does not have an engine at the moment.
Thanks in advance

 

is there shaft play in the axial (in and out) direction?

 

look very closely for damaged compressor/turbine fans, and check the turbine housing out for severe cracking. and as mentioned check side to side and in and out free play. Also, take a look at how many miles are on the car your removing it from, and maybe check the rest of the car out, if the car it was removed from has a bunch of modifications and a boost controller than that turbo may have had a beating. Also, you gotta think if the car is there with a blown engine, it's possible that a piece of apex seal or some kind of debris exited through the exhaust, potentially damaging the turbine fan. GL.

 

I'll check for those things. Thank you guys for the advice.

 

from what I heard is to check the middle spindle in the turbine.
Check if it has any play in any direction. up,down or left to right.
If it has play you probably have 5-10k until you have to rebuild or replace it.
It should be stiff, no play what so ever. besides that..i'd say check the turbine it self and the over condition of it.

 

There actually should be play left, right, up, down, in the shaft. They leave room for an oil passage around the turbine bearing. There should be minimal to no end-play in the shaft (pulling in and out).