Well, as the title says, there is about a 1/4 inch nick taken out of one of the turbo intake blades. I assume it was there when I bought it(last fall) and saw it when I installed the intake. Should I be concerned, I've put about 10 k on it and everything "seems" fine. I have about 19 psi of boost @ WOT. Everything else is clean, no play in the shaft at all and it spins (and sounds) great. The motor uses no oil, starts perfect and I get great fuel economy and decent power for a 215 hp motor. Any info would be great.

 

I don't know if there are limits for the blades in our automotive turbos but I can relate what I know for jet engines. If there are NO cracks then it should be blended out with smooth radius's, if it's right near the end/tip of the blade its best to "crop" the tip/corner of the blade and make it smooth. If it's down toward the bottom/root of the blade it's toast and either an engine or blade change. Cracks can be blended out so long as you get All the crack and are still within the limits set. Again the "limits" depend on the engine manufacturer, which blade in the engine is damaged and where on the blade. Either way you never leave the damage as is.

 

I agree with busboy except for one point. The turbo is centrifugal compressor so if it is near the root of the blade, it should be able to be blended with a file to remove all sharp edges and corners. If you have to remove alot of material, you may want to remove a like amount in the same place on the blade directly opposite of the damaged one. This will reduce the vibrations. If this was an axial-type compressor, then damage at the root would be something to worry about.
I would look very closely for cracks and would even to go so far as to get some dye penetrant and developer to double check for them. The last thing you want is for a chunk of metal to find it's way into a valve or cylinder..

 

The nick is right at the end of the blade, about a 45 degree angle. I'll check for cracks this weekend, we're supposed to get 2 feet of snow, so it will give me something to do...