TURBO-assessing 2nd hand units

The jap 300tdi '97 that I finally have back on the road has developed an oil burn fault.By a process of elimination and observation I have this down to oil leaking into the turbo.So....

I have a spare turbo on its manifold that has sat on the shelf for a few years. It has a slight,very slight,side-to-side play at the end of the shaft but no forward-back movement.

While it appears slightly oily, inspecting the hoses has shown an oily build up JUST PAST the EGR pipe junction. This would suggest to me that the main contamination was from the EGR,although there is some oil present in the lower pipe.

Does this thinking hold true ? Does this spare sound like it while do the job whilst the current one is taken off and fixed ?

After several searches have found factors for repair kits for the garret T250-04 unit and advice on the feasability of the service.It seems to me that the problem is an oil seal one - would it be worthwhile simply replacing the seals and leaving the rest alone ? I know that balancing etc can become an issue but also that it is possible to service the units in such a way as they do not require this.

Anyone with hands on experience ?

Nobody here ever fixed a turbo ? I know that isnt the case as I havefound old posts of active members referring to their doing so !

Please...help me out here

its years since ive done them but your used one sounds fine

Really ? Thank you James, I shall put the spare one on this weekend in that case and worry about fixing the current one as and when.

However,if anyone else has experience of the job I would still like to hear !