Just took off all my piping/couplers and this is what she looks like, haven't really inspected it since I bought the car. I tugged on it forwards and backwards as well as side to side to test for shaft play. It moved a smidge from side to side.

Thoughts? Everything has been running good from my knowledge, just wondering if I need to be worrying, it's definitely got some miles on it.

 

Looks like a turbo. Not much to tell other than the lack of oil all over and the blades are not chewed up. Looks good.

 

Just was wondering about the top blade and if you look closely, the center axle has two chips on it.

Anyways, thanks!

 

Are those chips out of the shaft or machined marks? The builders remove material in order to balance it. Sometimes it looks like it has broken.

 

Look closely, those should be dug out with a tool of some kind, Those are created while balancing. The top blade should have some paint on it.

 

From what I've read axial play (in/out) if it just has a little bit, but you don't really want any radial (side/side) movement. That research was verified when I rebuilt my turbo recently, as pre-rebuild had both, post-rebuild only had a little axial. But if it's not showing any signs of needing a rebuild, I wouldn't bother.