Okay, 2003 Discovery 2 Td5.

Have never had any issues with the turbocharger (had a look and it says Garrett!) - so it's around 17 years old now and has done 240,000km (149,000 miles) of work - I am light on the pedal though. I know it rotates at very high speed, and I know there must be at least one bearing in there somewhere! If it goes (kaboom!), I suspect there might be collateral damage (new turbocharger, intercooler and hoses just for a start)? A close friend had a turbo go in his Saab while he was driving and he told me the car was a write-off?!

Got me thinking, should I be checking anything in particular as far as the turbocharger, and intercooler goes for that matter?

I have seen Garrett turbos for sale (not cheap), and I did see a YouTube video where a bloke changes just the turbo cartridge on his Disco 2 Td5 as a preventative maintenance measure - eBay for c.$110+ (seen many from China). I guess you could strip the turbocharger down and change the bearing/s, but you would obviously need to get it balanced less it went kaboom again?!

Any comments/thoughts/suggestions, or do I just wait until it eventually goes - kaboom?!

Remove turbo intake pipe, engine codl and switched off! get hold of the shaft/nut, and give it a stiff wiggle! if the vanes do not touch the casing stop worrying.

As above, but also get a read out of live data. If you can get the MAF to deliver 600-650 under full power at 3000+ rpm then the performance is fine. If you don't have a suitable diagnostic then note the number of turns originally (13 is about right), then tweak the wastegate shaft to delay it opening, and if you can get the engine to go into limp mode due to overboost then it is obviously working fine - remember to put it back to the original settings, or for max performance back it off only enough so that you cannot get it to overboost.
If you think it is worn then consider replacing just the core as a cartridge. I installed one from Turbo Rebuilds two years ago and it has been excellent. Not a difficult job, but one that requires some precision and care. Follow the directions closely, including changing the oil when you fit it and again 100 miles later. My big tip is that fitting the oil return pipe to the underside is really tricky - but much easier if you disconnect the pipe at the sump first.

You will find a good Td5 turbo has some play in the shaft so dont be alarmed at that. Check the veins for damage or bent sections. If its fine its fine. Regular oil changes will keep the bearings in good order.

Clamp the pipe which goes into the wastegate valve and go for a test drive... if it goes to overboost below 3000 rpm it's OK, if not something is wrong, maybe te cartridge is worn or there is a leak somewhere

ronsealdeath said:

You will find a good Td5 turbo has some play in the shaft so dont be alarmed at that. Check the veins for damage or bent sections. If its fine its fine. Regular oil changes will keep the bearings in good order.

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Oh? So they (two bearings?) are lubricated by carry-over oil? Will have to check out RAVE!

Intestinalworm said:

Oh? So they (two bearings?) are lubricated by carry-over oil? Will have to check out RAVE!

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The bearings, which are really bushes, and in most engines are lubricated from the crankcase main oil pressure gallery.

Intestinalworm said:

Oh? So they (two bearings?) are lubricated by carry-over oil? Will have to check out RAVE!

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AFAIK, the TD5 turbo is a Garrett GT2052S which uses sliding contact aka journal bearings.