My engine is a brand new build with 600 miles on the parts. There have been a few leaks here and there, so it's hard to pinpoint whether it's leftover oil residue or something new. I have an Inline Pro manifold with a GT3076R turbo. The return line isn't vertical, but it's not horizontal, either. Today I was pulling out of a parking lot that had a pretty steep slope. After I merged and pulled up to the stop light, I could smell burning oil. It seemed like it was coming out of the vents, but it eventually went away. I'm guessing that oil backed up into the turbo through the return line. If this is the case, what I'm wondering is if this is anything to be concerned about if it only happens occasionally, or when I'm on a hill. I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it. The oil pan is baffled, and I don't think I can put a "trap door" on the inside of the oil pan. It's 5.5 quarts, so maybe I should under fill it?

 

The burning oil could come from bad turbo seals. Could be coming from exhaust seal and burning directly or burning in the engine via getting sucking into the charge pipes (smelling it from the cabin vs from exhaust). If it only happens when on a large incline then I would suspect the cause is your not-so free flowing return line. Not the end of the world, but you don't want oil going where it's not supposed to go. I think it would be worth modifying your return line for the long run.

 

Not on a GT30R. That more than likely is from just sitting on the hill with a small oil backup.

Pictures of your return line setup and car are ideal

 

Thanks Shodan. I don't have a picture of the line itself attached, but here is a post I made back in 2014 when I had some questions about the oil return. Pics are included:

https://honda-tech.com/forced-induct...nough-3203477/

By the way, even though I have a Moroso oil pan, I didn't use their oil return location. I had a new bung welded in the proper location for this manifold.

 

Your turbocharger positioning is fine. Just didn't know if you by chance had a photo of the actual line route to the oil pan...?

 

Not yet. I'll have it up on the lift soon and get back to you. This is all I have for now.

 

I couldn't get a clear picture on the lift, but I found this tiny cell phone picture from a while back.

 

Yikes. I see what's going on here. WAY too much looping, and the angle going into the pan is horribly incorrect. Make sure you check your compressor cover for oil back up as well. It's very difficult to tell where the oil return even begins.

 

yup pretty difficult to see...put the 45 on the turbo and a straight fitting on the pan with a shorter more direct line? (cant tell if thats possible)

thats how mine is setup and no problems

 

It looks like it can be shortened, but I don't know what you mean about the angle.

There's a 45 on both. He wanted to use a straight on the pan, but it didn't work.

I also found a small valve cover leak. That's where some of the smell is coming from.

 

hard tell from the pic put it kinda looks like a pigs tail, downward slope, upward slope then downward slope again

the upward slope is the problem

 

The angle of the 45 going into the pan goes upward, than down into the pan. This is not correct at all.

Hopefully he didn't weld the bung first, THEN try to measure to have a clean slow slope onto the pan. He could have done that, but this definitely isn't correct.

Valve cover leak is also possible as an addition to your problem, but this oil return is the key reason. Not the valve cover.

 

I enlarged the picture above. Hopefully, this helps.

There's no double dip. He did that to keep it away from the downpipe.

You have to tilt your head to see the true angle. When the guy working on my car took the picture he angled the phone to the right. It's a 1/2" NPT female weld bung with a 1/2" NPT to -10 AN adapter, then the 45 degree hose end. I still don't understand how you worded the position of the 45. How else is the angle of the 45 supposed to be? Are you talking about the section where the 1/2" NPT to 10 AN adapter is? It's not angled upward. Tilt your head to the left. It's straight.

 

Get a better photo, then. Tilting means nothing. It looks vertu incorrect.

I'm done. You asked for help, we're saying what it is, it's your friend's call to have it correct, not mine or yours. .

 

Don't get bent out of shape. I'm not disputing your knowledge, and I value your opinion. He's not my friend. I just enlarged the picture so you could see it better, and pointed out that the image was tilted. I can't get a better picture because there's firesleeve covering the line now.

 

I'm not upset at all. You're just asking someone to "turn their head" in an effort to advise someone to play "where's waldo" for something that's very apparent at first view. So, if something is missing, not shown, or seen, it's just time for a better photo, that's all.

In the end, it's not my car, so there's no reason to be upset.. not in the slightest.

 

OK, I understand, lol. I just wanted to get a more exact clarification about what I should do. Shorten the line and turn the 45 more towards the turbo?

 

Really shorten the line, and take the that's at the Pan off.

Because of the bad picture, can't give any more opinions or suggestions any more than that. Need better photos.

 

OK, I'll do that, thank you. There's a word missing above. "take the" ? "that's at the pan off." Do you mean the adapter? I'd have to get a new oil pan and weld a 10 AN bung on there.

 

This is why I hate cell phones to be able to answer questions. I'm simply saying take the 45 degree angle fitting off the oil pan right now and shorten the line. That's all I can really say

 

Got it, thank you!