Had the day off work so decided to lift the car up and pull the downpipe, licp and first thing I notice is oil all on the turbo v band clamp. At lunch right now will report back. Guess I should go ahead and pull the entire hot side / manifold off and check for oil in the compressor housing.

 

Turbo is pushing oil due to crank case pressure. Looks just like mine did before I did the upgraded vent lines on the valve cover. Maybe try the 10an vent line..................

 

So you think crank case pressure that haven't given me an issue for over a year caused my turbo seals to go bad? If my car still smokes after rebuilding the turbo I will send you $100

 

Vent line is way cheaper than rebuilding the turbo. And even if it doesn't fix the issue, at your power level, the motor needs it. Can't hurt to try it first.

 

If the turbo has already pushed oil past the seals then it needs a rebuild regardless, no?

 

No.


Turbo's don't have "seals" they have sealing rings. Usually referred to as piston rings because they work on the same principle to create a "seal" and not leak, differential pressure. Correct the differential pressure (reduce crankcase pressure), and they stop leaking.


My car/turbo smoked like freight train. Fixed crankcase vents, smoking stopped except for certain situations (track days).

 

My DSM had that drop of oil hanging on the V-band bolt when new and for all the 140 K miles I owned it. So, not sure that in itself is meaningful. Maybe look further.

 

It means oil leaking out of the turbine side of the CHRA, and out onto the Vband. It's indicative of excess crankcase pressure.

 

Yup, my car had oil at the bottom of the turbo Vband just like that before I fixed the crank case pressure. Although I have an entire set of entertaining problems that my wallet isn't too happy about.

 

Pulling the VC tomorrow to get it tapped and drilled. Still going to probably send the turbo to be inspected by FP though

Btw, I did pull the oil cap off at idle and there is a good amount of air blowing out. Enough to throw splatters of oil around the engine bay.

 

Splatters of oil is normal, there's no baffle under the fill, and the intake cam is right under throwing oil everywhere. The amount of air is subjective, but my car had a decent amount coming out too.

 

I agree it means oil was leaking out of the turbine side of the little 14b turbo this car had. If you think of the sealing scheme used then I suggest they all must leak some but usually an inconsequential amount. What I was trying to point out isn't that there was a leak but that it is the size of the leak that matters.

 

Yeah, i've noticed that if I place my hand over the oil fill while the engine is running I can feel a slight amount of air being pumped out, but when I place the oil fill cap back on it get's sucked down into it's seat due to the intake manifold vacuum.

 

Also... after pulling my ex mani off. It still looks like my valve seals are leaking... picture of 1 is below. #3 looks the exact same.

 

That shouldn't reoccur so quickly after new seals. Was the head removed and guides inspected when the seals were replaced?