Is my turbo shot?

[98gst#]

just got my car running a while back and i think my turbo is going out. Its making a slight steady ticking sound and i checked it it and it does have shaft play but its slight. also there is oil on the intake side. Sorry im new to this and it conserned me. car is running 15psi but the boost controller is all the way down..stock t25 turbo. what could i do to prevent this? what turbo should i upgrade to that can handle it?

Also car still drives fine and pulls hard...just the noise and very slight shaft play and oil on the intake side.

 

[cartz-snopro]

if the pcv lines are still there some oil will be on the intake side, if the car is a stick it could be the throwout bearing going but normally you feel that in the clutch pedal too. you need to add the supporting mods to run a bigger turbo efficiently, a 14b might be a better choice if the car is stock over the t25

 

[acidreian]

Before me or anyone can help you with what you can upgrade too we need to know the specs for your car.
Wether its stock or not.
With oil coming from the intake side that's ushally backwards from how I have blown threw turbos. Before making a thesis I would say check how much play the in and out shaft has by grabbing the center and puling it towards the intake n puling back to the exhuast side.
A mm of play is regular but more isn't good and that means oil seals are going.

Second idea how many miles are on the car and how long have you been boosting 15psi?
You could possibly have enough blow by to force oil from the return line through the Turbo seals.

 

[98gst#]

OK i checked the shaft play and it checks out fine in/out. it just has side to side but its not a lot....I found a exhaust leak at the manifold s i will asume thats the noise...the car has 140k and it has full 3 inch exhaust. fmic, cai, and a turbo xs boost controller..and supposed to have a forged bottom end...i contacted the main original owner and he said it was forged but who knows? so i will asume its not. also the pcv lines are not hooked up, it has some kind of weird filter pod thats open and vented on the bottom with a screen. please excuse my ignorance on this matter...thanks for the help and the patience.

 

[CrawlinZX14]

Pictures tell a thousand words. The POD thing your talking about is likely a catch can. But since you need both vac and pressure to evac your crank case. The oil in your turbo can be from many places, it could simply be a seal going out in your turbo. There is a lot, and pictures would likely help a bit more.