Infinity_Racer

Well i finally got the car started up and let her idle for about 10 mins while checking for leaks and what not...I take her for a spin around my neighborhood and go easy at first, listening for weird sounds or anything out of the norm...After about 10 mins of driving in vac., i push it a little harder...I boost to about 4psi (tial .3bar spring) through first and second gear and come to a stop sign...

As i wait in the stop sign, i notice smoke coming out from under my hood, so drive in vac. and get home...Let the car idle some more and pop the hood and my turbine is smoking...I check under the car and there's oil under the max-rev manifold, around the turbine, and on the downpipe/chargepipes...I stay under the car while it idles looking for oil leaks, but nothing...

So i let the car cool down a couple hours and clean up the oil and tried again...did the same thing again with the smoke...I already tightened my oil feed/return and i still dont know where it is...anyone have any suggestions? Its a Garrett t3 on a d16z6...TIA!

Tinker219

whats the oil return look like?

Infinity_Racer

The oil return is a banjo fitting with a ss line...I used the same one from my greddy kit and that never had a problem...here's a pic...

Infinity_Racer

notice how theres oil on the compressor and the turbine is covered with oil as well

MiraiZ

Your seals may be leaking oil...check the turbo....also that return line doesn't look too air tight..I'd invest in some earl fittings...

Infinity_Racer

should i take the downpipe out and check for oil in the turbine? there's no oil on the compressor side...Would blown seals cause that much oil to splatter all over the block/underside of the manifold?

Tinker219

yes it would....trust me, i blew 3 turbos in one day...because of my oil return line

lazerus

i got smoke in my engine bay last night... but it was because i was boosting in 5th gear off and on for about 50 miles (70-120 MPH spurts)

pop the hood and the insulation kit i had bought had flames bouncing off of it, not to mention the whole downpipe, and turbine housing had a nice orange glow!

it was fun!

Infinity_Racer

ah damn it...where does the oil come from, anyways? like where does it exit? it only seems to do when i drive and boost...guess i have to take undo everything again and redo it...damn it

Infinity_Racer

well i took everything apart and theres no oil in the turbine or downpipe...i did notice that one of the bolts connecting the center section to the turbine wasnt tightened...i dont think that would cause oil to leak, would it? I took my oil return banjo and put a new gasket on it and then took my feed fitting and rewraped it with teflon...hopefully tomorrow i can get the leaks fixed...anyone have any other suggestions since i have the things taken apart? TIA

Infinity_Racer

bump

Infinity_Racer

well i tightened down my oil feed and took it for a drive down the block...came back and it was smoking just a bit, but didnt see any signs of oil on the engine block after i cleaned it...i was thinking the smoke maybe from old oil just burning, but it looks like its coming from the turbine...like the turbine itself is smoking...i let it idle some more (about 5mins) and the smoking eventually stopped...I took it inside the garage and looked under and saw just a tad bit of oil around the turbo... anyone know what could be wrong? i took the turbo out last night and no oil around the compressor or the turbine sides...i'm completely stumped...

Infinity_Racer

anyone.......

boosted_dc2

what kind of feed are you running, if its the greddy banjo style those can leak easily if the crush washers and such arent done correclty. And it might be that when you get on it oil pressure is increased so that is when it leaks....

MIKES

I had the same problem last year. I put a restricter on the oil feed line. Vtec motors have crazy oil pressure, and the turbo doesn't require that much oil for lubrication. I have a 4an line feeding my turbo(too damn big). So instead of swapping my line for a 3an I took off my an fitting on the turbo and the machine shop threaded the feed hole so I can thread in a allan key nut witha 18thou hole drilled into it to reduce the amount of oil the turbo receives. You drill out the allan key nut and thread it back into your an fitting. I have done this to my GN aswell as my Integra. Works like a charm and my turbos are loving me for it. I would how ever use a straight fitting off the turbo for your return line because it looks like the oil is backing up too quickly there.
The problem you are having is when you start it up (cold start up)and the oil pressure is high, once the car comes to operating temps then the oil pressure isn't as great thus causing her not to smoke as much. Restrict that bad boy and enjoy.

Happyman

What kind of manifold? Is it brand new? Same thing happened to me. Started it up and let it idle and it smoked for a while. But it stopped so I figured it was just the new manifold burning off whatever it was coated in.

Infinity_Racer

well i think its my turbo ...i tightened everything down (both feed and return) and i dont see any oil anywhere close to there...i do see oil around the center section of the turbo though...and it drips down onto the compressor outlet/charpipe...maybe the bolts connecting it to the compressor and turbine are loose? i thought they were, so i tightened them down, and it still leaked a little bit.. enough for oil to burn around the turbine and drip to the dp, making it smoke...so pissed off cus everything runs fine except for this stupid oil leak...

soundman

After you've worked on your manifold and turbo and d/p you get grease on your hands and even if your hands a clean you still get a little body oil on it, so after you've taken everything apart and put it back together it will smoke a little and then burn off, and then it will be fine. You're problem sounds like you don't have a gasket on correctly or one of them got messed up in the install. You have to find out where it's leaking at. Start from the top of the turbo and feel it up until you find a slippery spot, and then think about how it's possible the oil could come from that spot. I have a drip from my oil return line. I am trying to fix that, but I blew my #3, and #4 piston rings, so a build up is coming in the near future.

Infinity_Racer

yeah thats what i thought at first, but then i kept seeing oil...the only hard part about finding the oil leak, is that it kinda splatters everywhere...but most of it is on the compressor outlet that connects to the charge pipe...i REALLY think that its coming from the turbo, but i dont know how to go about fixing that...can i take it apart and put an o ring or something? or does that mean i just need a complete rebuild...the oil lookes like its coming from the bolts that hold the compressor/turbing to the center section...

soundman

Is the turbo new? Did you take the turbo apart to reindex it at all or anything? Sounds like either the seals on the turbo is shot or one of your gaskets arent right. Do you have any smoke coming out of your exhaust?

Infinity_Racer

its a used turbo from hulkhb...he told me it was just rebuilt 3k miles ago...no smoke in the exhaust nor any oil inside the turbine/downpipe area...

soundman

If you have oil leaking from the outside, then it sounds like you got a turbo that has a bad gasket on it. There are many VERY important gaskets on your turbo. The most important one is probably the one that mate the housing the the turbine. it is so small, but without it your turbine will probably hit your housing. If all your lines are good, and all the bolts are tight (not over tightened), then I would have to say that you have a gasket leak on the turbo, and if that's the case you're looking at a rebuild.

Infinity_Racer

ah damn it i'm guessing it is the gasket(s) then...all my fittings are on tight and anything that would contain oil was tightened...it does look like the oil is coming from inside the turbo...you guys think it would be easy to put in new gaskets myself? or just send it out and have someone do a FULL rebuild? i just finished putting everything back to stock, so at least i'll have my car to drive around...

Kack

Well, my t3/t4 started smoking the first time i put it on. Oil was leaking from the turbine side of turbo. Mechanic said was bad seals so i sent it back to turbonetics. turbonetics said it was a bend turbine wheel or something and the fixed it up for me. Runs perfectly now. Dunno if this helps. Sounds like you need a rebuild.

B18C1CYA

well i would do a leak down test on your motor first.it sounds to me that you have alot of blow by and it comeing out of the dip stick. this happened to a friend of mine .