Hey all. Just recently I've noticed that oil is coming out of my turbo. I see drips on the ground where I park and when I looked under the car I see it seeping down on the compressor housing of the turbo. I removed the intake and also saw oil sitting on the inlet just outside the compressor wheel as well as in the chargepipes pre AND post intercooler. This is a complete kit from GoAutoworks and the turbo is a Garrett GTX 2867R .63A/R and I barely have 3000 miles on it. I do have an oil restrictor and the inlet/outlet ports clocked at an angle as pictured below

As for my setup to relieve crankcase pressure I do not have it vented. Instead I'm running a close loop system where I'm keeping stock black box. I've replaced the Honda PCV with one from a Supra that is a true one-way check valve. I have this hose going into a baffled catch can and the return hose goes back into the intake manifold nipple (I've also confirmed that this hose does not have any oil in there and that the catch can is doing it's job: catching oil). I was told that I should try to vent the crankcase through the valve cover first and see if the oil stops seeping out. Now my question is two fold

1) do I have a bad turbo?
2) if it's not the turbo and a matter of properly venting the crankcase pressure, would it best be to vent from the crankcase using those back of the block fittings or would a valve cover vent be adequate?


I'm only shooting for 350whp and on my current setup I made around 247whp on 8 psi.

 

First, the crankcase ventilation. How is your valve cover vented? Are you running a hose from the stock nipple on the valve cover to an intake tube that is before the turbo? Or do you have it capped off? If you are running it to a turbo intake, you could be pushing oil into the turbo intake and that could be the source of your oil. If you just have it capped, that's not good, as that would be the only path for crankcase pressure to escape while under boost when your check valve closes, but that would mean that your crankcase ventilation system is likely not the culprit. You need to ventilate the block / valve cover or you may risk damage to your oil seals. I'm a fan of a vented system.

Does your turbo have any shaft play? How does it feel when you spin it by hand...is there any noise, vibration, or does it feel anything other than smooth? Are you running E85, and if so, when was the last time you changed your oil?

 

Orientation for the CHRA of the turbocharger needs to be as true vertical as possible, despite what is shown for what is optimal for the water cooling. That easily could lead to an oil back up. Having said that, I think that this is more of a crankcase pressure issue and less of any indicia of a bad turbocharger.

 

Right, the turbocharger should be at as close to vertical as possible so that the oil drain works best. If it's clocked as in the picture, the oil will drain more slowly than as if it was vertical. Maybe what is good for water cooling is clocked, but I don't see why since the coolant is pressurized and goes in one way, then out... Maybe so there is no coolant back flow, I don't know. I don't believe in water cooled turbos.
Anyways, one way to test it, I think, is clean all of the oil out of the turbo and charge pipes that you see it in. Drive for a few hundred miles without boosting, just cruising around. That should eliminate the crankcase pressure issue, because your engine won't be seeing any positive boost pressure. Then, check out the turbo to see if it has oil in it and the charge pipe again. Then you might have a leaking turbo (it could also be since it's not vertical and your drain isn't flowing well. Remember only gravity drains the return line for oil on a turbo.) Then try positioning your turbo at vertical, if you can do that/ and without damaging the coolant cooled part of the turbo( I don't know if it damages coolant cooled turbos to put them vertically). Still without boosting, drive it a few hundred miles, just cruising, to eliminate the positive crankcase pressure as a problem. Then see if it builds up oil in your turbo and charge pipes, which I think would indicate a leaking turbo.
That's how I would approach it. 1) First see if you have a leaking turbo by cleaning it, adjusting it, and not boosting. Then you'll know if you do or don't. 2) Next, it might be a crankcase pressure issue if you boost and see oil in there after adjusting the turbo and had driven without boosting first.

 

All of that also.

 

Thanks for the replies!

Previously I had my valve cover nipple connected to the upper charge pipe right before the intake manifold with a one-way check valve (like how the OEM setup had the valve cover vented). I believe this is ONE of the source of my problem as I was drawing oil from the valve cover into the intake manifold. I have removed this and over the weekend I re-worked my setup. I have:

• removed the OEM black box and installed AN fittings onto the back of the block and blocked off the OEM black box opening.
  • these two ports are routed to a vented baffled catch can from Vibrant. For the valve cover I only have a breather filter on the stock nipple.
• removed the intercooler piping and charge pipes for cleaning.

Here are pictures of the work

These were a PITA to take out, especially with the engine in the car. Can you guess which one was by the alternator? lol

I didn't have a good way of getting the plug into the OEM black box opening so I pretty much hulk smashed it in without regard to looks, no one will see it anyway right?

Alternator side

hose assembly complete

lines installed onto back of block and into vented catch can

intake manifold back on and everything is hooked up

another angle


On a side note, I have a closed loop Mishimoto compact baffled catch can from my previous setup that I'm debating on using this to vent the valve cover separately. But I want to wait until I confirm that oil is not coming out of the turbo anymore before I go this direction, or if I even need to since I'm already venting the crankcase via back of the block setup. (I know I could have gotten a 4 port catch can setup but I did not want to relocate my battery and there's very little space in my engine bay for a bigger catch can)

Right now I have all the intercooler piping and charge pipes removed for cleaning. Once they are back in I will be doing a (light) test drive and see if oil is still seeps out of the turbo.


Does your turbo have any shaft play?
I spun the compressor wheel by hand and it feels very smooth. No noise or vibration from what I can tell.

Are you running E85?
I am not running E85, but was planning to after I get this corrected. I just recently changed my oil this past weekend.


I didn't want to remove the turbo just yet (wanted to save that as a last resort). If after my test drive I'm still seeing oil in the pipings I'll remove the turbo, inspect and re-clock accordingly

 

you don't have to remove the turbo to clock it. i wish you good luck with your hard work.

 

Is your fuel filter on the return side of your fuel?

 

Been awhile and my car is hardly driven but after driving a few hundred miles with the new setup it looks like venting the crankcase did it. I want to thank everyone who replied, much appreciated as always. Once I get new axles in I plan on seeing my tuner again and hopefully I can hit my goal (~350whp) without further hiccups or set backs.

Apologies for the very late reply, I haven't been on HT in awhile. The fuel filter is on the feed side right before the fuel rail. If you look under my throttle body you can see it there.