I my turbo seal bad? Picture

[BARRACUDA1968]

I got the intake back on tonight and started the car. Had what looked like some condensation out the exhaust, no real oil smell but it didn't go away so I got curious. Looked down on top of the oil filter and it was wet with oil. Put the car back up in the air and this is what I found.

Now I've been having oil smoke out the exhaust from pretty much day one with this new set up. Had to drive the car a while to get it to do it but after say 45 miles on the highway and then exit off the car would smoke for several minutes out the tailpipes. Thought maybe it was a PCV issue etc but I don't think so anymore.

This turbo is brand new, maybe 900 miles at this point. Here's a video of what it did after driving it with maybe 200 miles on it.

Here's a picture after letting it idle to burp the coolant system tonight.

 

[BEATAV8]

what kind of breathers on it? I know you probably told me already at some point........

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

3 inch k&n. How could that cause this? I pulled the turbo and the down pipe is saturated with oil?

 

[BEATAV8]

If the breather is restrictive it will cause high crankcase pressure when you are at WOT.
Look inside the breather and see how big the hole is. Some have a small 1/2" hole, or they might have rubber baffles in there too. That's no good, too much restriction getting in the way of the blow by crank case gasses that are trying to escape.

I use 2 of the little metal K&N breathers. I like them because they have a large ~1" hole to breath through. And one on each valve cover.... the more the better. If I had another set of holes on the valve covers and I could run 4 breathers then I would.

If the breather is too small, it would be contributing to other oil leaks too.

 

[BEATAV8]

 

[BEATAV8]

wish I had a pic of the breather insides.......

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

I wish I knew for sure but I don't think I have an evac issue. My breathers have no restrictions and I do use the baffle d grommets but the slits are open and I've drilled holes in the slots just in case. I also run a pcv. I have found oil on the inlet side of the turbo and now the outlet. I could be wrong that's why I posted.

 

[BEATAV8]

well those rubber grommets with the slits in them are pretty cheap to replace. Why don't ya go ahead and open them up completely, cut the rubber slits/baffles completely out and see how it goes.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

well those rubber grommets with the slits in them are pretty cheap to replace. Why don't ya go ahead and open them up completely, cut the rubber slits/baffles completely out and see how it goes.

What he said ^^^^
a friend's car was blowing out the dipstick and oil was everywhere. once i cut the baffles completely out problem solved.
Good luck dude.
BTW if i had to bet at your problem -- Especially after you found oil on the intake side of the turbo, id start looking at the turbo as the problem

 

[TT/Ameasap]

My money is on a bad turbo seal.
Your not creating enough crankcase pressure in that video to produce the smoke that coming from the tailpipe.
The amount of excess pressure we are talking about to cause that amount of oil would definitely blow the dip stick up. In that case, you would know right there what was wrong. But try what was suggested, because its free, and let us know how it turns out.

 

[TurboTdr3.8]

What is your turbo a bb or jb ?

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

I already pulled the turbo so really can't try anything like suggested. Didn't want to run the car any longer and have a turbo failure. Per advice from Husek.

My turbo is JB.

The turbo spins perfectly and doesn't have any endplay to speak of. Not sure if any of that matters if the seal went bad. I've had minor drips of oil on top of the oil filter from the get go. They were minor and I just figured it was related to an intake leak I've been fighting and some how oil ran down the front cover over to the oil filter. Since the turbo was brand new and the oil return line wasn't leaking I never gave it another thought. The last night during warm up I had a huge drop of oil on top of the oil filter so I checked the return line and it was dry then I found what you see in the picture above.

If it's in my PCV/Crankcase pressure issue then so be it I guess I'll have to take another look there but my PCV is working and my breathers and grommets are ventilating at least at idle. It would take a LOT of pressure at WOT to close up my breather grommets and even then I have holes drilled in them. My valve cover breathers have never been oil saturated just a little film on the insides from vapor. Plus my car was idling when it puked oil down to the oil filter. How much crank case pressure could I possibly have at idle?

Since I have the turbo off is there anything I can do to check the seal? Since this turbo has very few miles on it and I had issues very early on I'm talking with the guy I bought it from. Not really feeling like I caused the issue and the turbo was brand new so I don't want to take anything apart and then void any kind of warranty etc I may have.

 

[TurboTdr3.8]

At this point let your Turbo man check it out and go from there ,

 

[TT/Ameasap]

Ya, dont touch the turbo. Just send it back to be inspected.

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

It's in a box on the way to Bison

 

[BEATAV8]

I got a friendly $10 that says that turbo is in good shape, seals OK.

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

We'll know in a few day's I guess. I'm in for $10 bucks though.

 

[1987noblegn]

Unlikely a newer turbo could go but when mine went it smoked for a long time after a new setup out of the tailpipes. When it finally blew the turbo sprayed oil in the compartment and oil was dripping out of the tailpipes. My turbo blew because shitty /Shiney oil had been pumped into it before the motor blew. If your turbo is a Precision they will take a look at it. If new probably no charge except for shipping.

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[bison]

+.00030"/-.00000 tolerance on bore dimensions. I used a telescoping gauge for bore measurements. Not 100% accurate. The shaft dimensions are within .0001".
Ex side sealing ring bore .7905
Ex side jb bore .6833"
Comp side jb bore .6834"
Shaft journal ex side .45920"
Shaft journal comp side .45955"

Sealing ring bore is perfect and ring has excellent tension.

The ex side journal is .00055" under the min and the comp side is .00015" under the min. To get the most oil control the ex side journal should be .45970"-.46000"

There is some light evidence of debris. The parallel lines are scoring from foreign material entering the cartridge.

Additionally a 270* thrust could be used to reduce oil flow through the cartridge.

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[BARRACUDA1968]

I wonder if this may have been caused when I lifted the head on the last build? I never milk shaked the motor but I did have some coolant mist get inside, just enough to cream the underside of the valve covers and intake. I pulled the motor and tore it down to the bare block. No signs of any damage to the bearings or internals. I was smoking back then too just not as bad.

Great write up and thanks for the pictures. So do I just need a new shaft and journals?