I've stripped a knackered turbo at home, just to be nosey and noticed the bearings have alot of side to side movement in the bearing housing. Do the bearing themselves rotate when the turbo is spinning up or is it just the turbine shaft that rotates in the bearings?

Cheers
Dave

 

The bearings are known as "wet floating bearings" on the T series, there should be two circlips retaining the bearing, when you remove a clip it should just fall out!

Its the oil pressure that takes up the last bit of slack in the shaft, hence why all turbos have a very minimal amount of side to side play.

Being as that turbo is knackered, expect to see groves on the shaft where the bearings ran, aswell as heat fatigue on the exhaust side, and you may find the front oil seal race is worn