Came across some... interesting... little import cars in a junkyard the other day and I was checking out some of the turbos and noticed something interesting on one of them. There was no endplay to speak of, but the turbo did not seem to spin freely. I could flick it and it would spin normally, then the next time it would spin 3/4 of a turn and stop. Is this normal?

 

no it is a bad turbo it should spin every time and if u push up and down on the wheels it should have almost no play.... But it could need new bearings or need everything

 

Dont get it!
unless it has no freeplay or very minimal and has a good spin to it. unless you plan on rebuilding it and are just looking for a cheap turbo

 

It spins fine? Its not that it was just binding up, just that it had the slighest resistance to it.

 

being that it was in a junkyard, i'd bed the oil in the turbo bearins was thick, or contaminated, or even non existent, causing the slight drag you feel.