Hey guys,
Need your help. (already searched)

Tonight I determined where my annoying oil leak is coming from. But it wasn't where I expected.

Oil is leaking (roughly 1 drop every 5 seconds) from the seal where the GReddy downpipe meets the cat (basically where the flanges meet up).

What could this mean?

The oil leak is definitely not coming from the oil supply or oil return lines. It's DEFINITELY dripping out of the DP flange. I also checked above the DP flange to make sure it wasn't coming from above, and merely appearing to drip from there.
Nope, it's definitely coming from the exhaust somewhere and leaking out at that flange.
Prior to installing my turbo kit (Greddy Civic kit) on my 90 crx, I had ZERO oil leaks. (kit has been on roughly 500 miles)

What method(s) do you guys recommend I use to determine if it's possibly the turbo seals or maybe my oil return line is backing up?
One thing I noticed recently, is that when I check my oil level via the dipstick, the oil line on the dipstick is no longer a clean line; it's this smudgy blob that is very difficult to tell what level I'm at.

Thanks for any help


Modified by TAG at 8:10 AM 12/5/2003


Modified by TAG at 8:39 AM 12/5/2003

 

That is not cool. Oil in your exhaust is bad. First thing I'd say is pull the down pipe and check it out. See how much oil you have and check the impeller to see if there is oil on there. It's a start you know.

 

Sounds like oil pressure in your engine is high enough to push oil past the seal on the turbine side or blew the seal. 2 things to do in this order: 1. order an oil restrictor that will limit the amount of oil total oil pressure going into your engine and if the seal is not busted, the leak will stop. it should cost you around $15 at http://www.atpturbo.com. 2. if it doesn't work, then the seal on the turbine is busted and he may need to have the turbo rebuilt.

Rad

 

Thanks for the helpful replies guys.
I'll pull everything apart tomorrow and see where the oil is leaving traces.

Thanks for the info on the oil pressure reducer. My oil supply line is tapped into the block at the stock pressure sender location. Is the pressure there higher than at the oil filter? (I have a GReddy sandwich adapter sitting on my shelf, so if this is the case, I can easily move my line there instead)

How much does it usually run to get a turbo rebuilt? (I'm new to turbos...I'm guessing you can't just replace the seals?)
Thx

 

yes oil pressure is very high at the filter I killed 2 turbos before I learned about this the second turbo didn't even need a rebuild just because it was leaking. the 15 dollar restrictor saved 350 buks for a rebuild

 

Just thought I'd update my post. I found the problem.
Some of the oil pan bolts had worked their way loose. Oil was pushing past the gasket seal and dripping along the DP, not through it. The union between the dp and cat was the lowest point, so it merely LOOKED like it was dripping from there.

Problem is now solved and my garage floor looks a lot better now

 

LOL, such an easy fix and yet nobody caught it. I'm going to paint my oil pan silver here in the next couple days that way it's easier to see oil leaks.

 

Yep. And I overlooked it because I was the one who performed the oil pan work.
Unfortunately, my torque wrench doesn't have a setting low enough for those bolts, so i was just guessing on the tightness. That's what did me in.

Guess it's time to buy that "smaller" t-wrench for the future.
Nothing like sopping up oil leaks each night, sigh