shaft play?

[nov0606]

I'm going to look at a gst for sale in my area and it has 130*** miles and i asked what i should check before i buy it and some one sugested checking for shaft play. How do you check for shaft play? will it be that noticable that i can jiggle the shaft asembly with my hand?

 

[MrBoxx]

Take off the intake hose/pipe and stick your fingers into the compressor inlet of the turbo. Grab the center nut on the end of the compressor wheel. Try to wiggle the compressor wheel side to side, up and down, and in and out. Any in and out play is bad and indicates a failing turbo. There should be a faint amount of side to side play, since the turbo uses oil as a bearing and without oil pressure, the shaft is allowed to move a bit. If the compressor wheel moves to the side too much, it's in danger of wearing the oil seals and bearings, and the compressor fins will eventually start hitting the side of the inlet. If you look inside the compressor inlet and see bent compressor blades or scratches on the inlet, that can also tell you if the turbo is starting to fail.

Other things to check are whether or not the recalls have been done on it. Get the VIN and take it to the dealership. They should be able to get the recall history on it and tell you if there are any outstanding repairs that need to be made.