I was wondering if there is a such thing as a clogged oil return line. I have a slight problem. My car started acting funny recently. Sounded like it was misfiring. Changed all my plugs, wires, cap, rotor and fuel filter. I even did a compression test so ensure it wasnt anything internal. 200 all the way across. I was still stumped. Then a few days later, i noticed my return line had oil running down it. Looks like its leaking somewhere between the turbo and the return flange. Would this cause my car to sputter like that? Actually, i was thinking since the return line is practically sitting on top of the downpipe, it maybe heated up the oil to where it caused it to get coked up. I thought that as long as the oil line was wrapped in braided steel, it was heat safe. please help with my problems. i was just beginning to enjoy vtec under boost! thanks in advance

 

One of the things about braided lines is that they are NOT very heat resistant.The outside will look fine but the inner liner can melt and collapse (in the case that there is no pressure ).If it had pressure it would rupture.
Glenn

 

any more input? i used the search engine for clogged lines. no luck

 

take the return hose off and look to see if its clogged dude! we cant tell you if it is.. is your car smoking bad? if it was clogged the oil would blow past the seals in the turbo and make it smoke..


my braided line used to leak also.. now i use napa 3/4" rubber heater hose.. no problems..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by konigturbocivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">take the return hose off and look to see if its clogged dude! we cant tell you if it is.. is your car smoking bad? if it was clogged the oil would blow past the seals in the turbo and make it smoke..


my braided line used to leak also.. now i use napa 3/4" rubber heater hose.. no problems.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Won't a rubber line deteriorate after a while?

 

It really just depends on the type and material of the oil drain as to how heat resistant it is. The stuff we use in our cars don't have any issues, but it also all depends on the routing of the line. Anything touching the exhaust won't last very long.

As for the sputtering, I highly doubt just having a pinched oil return would cause sputtering by itself, unless it is seeping a crazy amount of oil past the seal on the compressor side of the turbo.

 

hopefully it will solve my problem. is there any thing i can do as far as heat protection? the return line is practically sitting on the downpipe! maybe about a 1/8 inch clearance. I should've asked the welder to make it clear about an inch. i guess he was worried about ground clearance. How long will a rubber hose last with this much clearance and no steel braided line?

 

The steel braids add nothing for heat resistance. They are for abrasion resistance and increase bursting strength.

I run a standard rubber hose rated for oil. Rubber will last whereas silicon will not... But you need to wrap it in heat reflective material.

 

I'll try that.

 

I ran a steel braided line for 6 months, that was toughing part of my downpipe. The outsid of the hose was a little brown, and on the inside the tube had started to crack from the heat.