How to check if turbo is cracked?

[bigbro6785]

My car hasnt been boosting right. It only boosts to 8 psi in 1st and 2nd but goes up to 14 psi in 3rd+ (which i think is weird). Checked for boost leaks and it only has a small boost leak, I connected the WGA directly to the boost source to run the boost as high as possible and it still wouldnt get past 10 psi in 1st or 2nd. A shop told me that the turbo housing was probabaly craked but I want to make sure before I buy a new turbo. My question is, how would i check to see if the turbo is cracked if there is no visualy damage or cracks on the turbo? What should i check for? Thanks

 

[NATAS]

To check the inlet you'll have to take off your exhaust manifold. To check the flapper area you can just drop the o2 housing and leave the turbo on. You actually may not have to take the manifold all the way off. Just take off all the head to manifold bolts and then take out the 4 turbo to manifold bolts and that'll probably be enough; then just move the manifold around until there's enough space so you can look into the inlet and see if it's cracked. It would be a good idea to replace the turbo to manifold gasket though. Have you checked it for shaft play yet? I'm sure you know how to do that.