I bought all my stuff about 1½ month ago. Started working on the clutch which went all right. After the clutch, I started the turbo install. First problem I ran into was the crossmember which had to be notched pretty bad. After doing a lil bit of engineering, I decided to modify the downpipe so the notch wasn’t that bad after all (see here) So after making all the piping myself, painting it, installing everything, I started the car last night for about 30 seconds, everything seemed all right. No leaks, no weird sounds. I was a happy camper.
So today I thought it would be good to make sure the fan I just installed was working and to make it get to operating temp so the thermostat opens and coolant bleeds. I started the car, roll it gently out the garage, do a U-turn in the street to have it facing the garage and leave it get to operating temp. This is where it goes from bad to worst. Almost instantly, my GF notices smoke from the exhaust, I said ok, it hasn’t ran for a month and a half, has new exhaust so it’s normal. I rev it a lil bit to see a smoke screen behind the car, I go see under the car and guess what, it’s leaking oil! CRAP!!!
So I immediately stop it to see where it’s leaking from thinking it was the return line. Guess what? It’s leaking from the turbo!!! So now I have oil into the exhaust and the charge piping! Great!
What could have caused this? Bad seals? The turbo was freshly rebuilt. (T3 60 trim) I mean, the car ran for about 2 minutes. The return line is ok as I poured some fresh oil into it and it flowed down into the pan.
Sorry for writing a so long post, but I had to vent as I was almost ready to kick the kit out the door when it happened.
It’s a rubber hose. I tried pouring some oil into the return line and oil was flowing… So i’m stumped. I just talked with the guys I bought the parts from and the turbo is under warranty so he’s gonna exchange it.
u should get some steel braided line, so it prevent kink and oil build up, that happen to my turbo also, oil leak into the charge piping and man i was upset, but at least your turbo has a warranty…good job =)
are you using a oil restrictor? this is usually a must. you might have blown the seals out. i would research a restictor before installing the new turbo.
good luck.
after i change out my return line, there was no more oil leak after that, and i never heard of a oil restrictor before, so i wouldnt know what that isl
There should be a restrictor there. I’ll see today but there’s a 90 degree fitting on the oil inlet that is supposed to be a restrictor. I was installed by the guy I bought the kit from. If it’s not, then i’ll have a bit of explanation of what happened. I should have the new turbo on something like Wednesday so hopefully, this time everything is gonna be alright!
Well, Got the other turbo last night. Had to fab up a flange for the oil intlet since the last one was threaded and this one uses a flange. This created another problem as the oil return was not fitting anymore since I could not clock the turbo like the last one because of the flange. I took care of this problem by grinding 2 head bolts to make them clear each other and it’s now back to normal.
So i’ll be putting everything back together tomorrow and hopefully, everything will go OK and nothing is gonna leak this time!
I’ll keep you updated tomorrow and will possibly post a teaser pic.
-3AN is not an oil restrictor…it will only build up more pressure to the turbo. no a 90* oil line fitting is also not an oil restrictor. you’ll know it when u see it. it’s like an oil line adapter, if i must describe it in a simple way.
Oh well, it looks like the “Boost God” isn’t with me… I had reassembled everything and when I primed the turbo, I had an oil leak from where the flange was soldered… ggrrrrr!
So I had to remove everything again to remove the oil intlet flange to have it resoldered correctly… So hopefully, I’ll be able to put it back together tomorrow night and not have a freaking oil leak again!
Turbo leak could be a few things
Return line not draining the oil properly, causing the oil to back up and overflow inside the turbo. This overflow will come out on the turbine side.
You should invest on a restrictor like everyone said. I machined a NOS spray nozzle one and retrofitted it into a -3AN joint:
I had oil in the charge piping AND in the exhaust. That’s why I think the rebuild was maybe not up to par. And I do have a restrictor on the inlet. It’s a 90° fitting that was soldered from the inside and it gives between 1/16 and 1/8 of hole. That’s about the size of restrictors that you can buy.
I reassembled it all last night. So now all I need to do it fill the coolant and start it. I may take some extra time to install my oil pressure gauge before starting it just to see what kind of pressure I’m building.
I’ll keep you updated. Crossing my fingers not to have another leak!!!
Well, it started up last night. I had a bit of smoke when the exhaust started to heat up but I think it might be the oil that leaked into the exhaust the first time that was producing the smoke.
The car ran for something like 10-15 minutes, do you know how long it should take to stop smoking? I will recheck the oil level tonight just to make sure and maybe start it up again to see if it is still smoking. My guess is that if it’s leftover oil in the exhaust, it should only smoke when hot so I’ll check it up tonight.
I had a mini oil drip after that car was stopped but I think it might simply be the return line that is not tight enough. I could not really see where it’s coming from as everything was hot and I didn’t felt like burning myself.
Let’s say that it was kind of a relief to see it not leaking. The little smoke worries me a bit but let’s hope it’s only leftover oil in the exhaust.
i’ve always been told (from an old wise man) that rebuilding a turbo is like welding a brake rotor back together. And i said what your thinking “bullshit.” Well i’ve had 3 rebuilt turbos and EVERY LAST one leaked. So i decided that building a cheap turbo kit is fine as long as u spend a little extra money on a good, new turbo.
Well, I wanted a T3 60 Trim so options were kinda limited from what I saw. Anyway, it’s under a warranty so it will do for now.
I did not restart the car tonight since it was raining and I did not felt like keeping it running in the garage. I’ll have the car appraised hopefully this week so there’s no way I’m removing anything from the car as long as it’s not appraised. I will investigate the mini oil drip I had later this week or mostly during the weekend.
