Turbo spitting oil

[joshoisasleep]

So my Garrett turbo seems to spit oil into the compressed air. It was brand new a couple of months ago. As far as I know it's always done this.

I thought I saw it doing it once before but then every time I've removed the air intake pipe to inspect it it's been bone dry, so I assumed it had stopped. This time when I re-attached it I didn't do a good enough job, and it blew itself off while I was driving under boost... when I went to re-attach it I noticed there was oil everywhere. I can only assume that it only spits oil when boosting hard, and then blasts itself clean before it can be inspected?

Another thing I noticed was that my newly installed EGT gauge showed a semi-sudden increase in EGTs (to around 900 ish?) just before it blew off... does it sound to anyone like the oil in the air caused the EGTs to increase? I also have a gauge on my air intake and as far as I remember the intake temp didn't spike like the EGTs.

How bad a situation is this??!

[crushers]

boost drops off so egts head up...that makes sense since you are over fueling...

[RufusTheDufus]

What's your turbo oil drain tube look like? The only time I've seen a newish turbo blow oil through the compressor is when there's something restricting the oil drain.

[Dougal]

Is your turbo ingesting any oil from the breather? I second checking the drain pipe.

[roscoFJ73]

Was this one of those budget Garrets seen on ebay recently?

[Dougal]

Originally Posted by roscoFJ73

Was this one of those budget Garrets seen on ebay recently?

Nope, I tried to buy one of those from ebay but I can't currently raise the guy.

[VTCruiser]

are you using an oil pressure regulator at the oil inlet?

[fjbj40]

if your oil drain is ok then it is seals...time for a rebuild

job

Daryl

[RufusTheDufus]

Could you post a photo of what the the turbo inlet looks like? (pop the intake hose off the turbo and try to get a photo of the compressor wheel.) That might help diagnose the source of the oil.

[BlueHZT60]

Originally Posted by fjbj40

if your oil drain is ok then it is seals...time for a rebuild

job

Daryl

DITTO, just did that to my "new" turbo that had less than two years/20,000 on it. $600 including the mechanic to do the job.

[wesintl]

Originally Posted by VTCruiser

are you using an oil pressure regulator at the oil inlet?

The oil pressure of the 3b you shouldn't need one unless there is significantly high oil pressure for another reason.

[Tapage]

Just a thoughts ..

In my 2H ( asume the same for a 3B ) it's a hight oil press engine .. att that raise up to 85 PSI cold .. ( little scary go over it ) and thinking the 1HD-T that it's factory turbo didn't raise much more over 64 PSI no matther what make me think that Toyota don't make high oil press pumps in factoru turbo engines ..

To your question .. I thought what I can see that is't much more oil that I can get in my setup. Maybe you are pushing to much oil press, and then hurting the oil seals on the turbo.

Edit: care with that much oil in your intake .. I've seen few Monteros with the 4M40 engine running crazy ( you can't shut off ) with only oil in the intake due to turbo seals failure.

[Gold Boy]

it's possible that your oil down pipe gasket is leaking badly, and the oil is working its way in to to your turbo rubber hose connecting sleeve.

[joshoisasleep]

Hmmm. I think I overfilled my oil. Could it be as simple as that? I'm going to need to get a mechanical oil pressure gauge now, because the stock one generally shows pretty low pressure.

And crushers no I didn't mean after it blew off, I meant before that for the EGT spike. I mean the EGTs did go up even higher after it blew off (I put the pedal down a smidge just to see what they did without the turbo), as I'd expected, but mainly I was wondering if oil in the air would cause the EGTs to raise. I would think it would... it makes sense that it would act similarly to just unburnt fuel??

[Dougal]

If your engine is running hot then yes the oil can be burnt as fuel, raising your EGT's.
But with the engine running cooler it'll most likely be charred to carbon without burning cleanly.

I've had a diesel running on it's own oil, but it'd only do it while EGT's were around 600C or higher.

[RufusTheDufus]

Originally Posted by joshoisasleep

Hmmm. I think I overfilled my oil. Could it be as simple as that?

Depends on how your oil drain mates up to the engine. If it comes into the side of the oil pan at a point below the oil level you'll have problems at higher RPMs. This situation will allow the turbo drain to pressurize a bit which can force oil past the seals. It can also cause the seals to fail prematurely.

[Dougal]

Overfilling can also make it head out your breather and through the turbo. Making it look like a turbo failure.

[RufusTheDufus]

Only if your breather routes to your intake. I couldn't tell from the photos if that's a possibility in this case. The stock 3B breather vents to the atmosphere and wouldn't cause this type of behavior.

[crushers]

then the inlet side of the turbo would also be oily

Originally Posted by Dougal

Overfilling can also make it head out your breather and through the turbo. Making it look like a turbo failure.

[crushers]

i find this statement interesting...it begs the question...why doesn't Toyota have a oil pressure regulator on their turbos?

quote: are you using an oil pressure regulator at the oil inlet? end quote

Originally Posted by wesintl

The oil pressure of the 3b you shouldn't need one unless there is significantly high oil pressure for another reason.

[wesintl]

Originally Posted by crushers

i find this statement interesting...it begs the question...why doesn't Toyota have a oil pressure regulator on their turbos?

quote: are you using an oil pressure regulator at the oil inlet? end quote

I guess it depend on quite a few things. Some turbos have built in oil restrictors. I think t series garretts should have a max of 30psi. 3b oil pressure is what 35-85 @3000k rpm? I think your probably fine unless your really on the 85 end. I dunno. I think most of the ricers use that that have oil pressure of 100psi+

It's certainly a good possibility you blew the seals if there are no other culprits.

I had one and pulled it because I didn't want to restrict the bearings of flow. I figured after alot of reading I'd be fine without it.

[joshoisasleep]

no I'm not using an oil pressure regulator I'm pretty sure.

This turbo is definitely still under warranty... maybe I'll see if I can find a shop that can do Garrett warranty service. I'm going to hook up a new oil pressure gauge tomorrow but I somehow doubt my engine has high enough oil pressure to do this from what you guys are saying...

[RufusTheDufus]

Does your crankcase vent to the turbo inlet?

[joshoisasleep]

The crank case vent being the tube that smokes a little sticking out the passenger side of my engine? If that is the case then no. Why would you set it up like that? (I didn't install my turbo myself)

[RufusTheDufus]

Originally Posted by joshoisasleep

The crank case vent being the tube that smokes a little sticking out the passenger side of my engine? If that is the case then no. Why would you set it up like that? (I didn't install my turbo myself)

Yes, that's the tube.

On modern engines the crankcase vapors are directed back through the engine to be burned (re-burned?) using various methods. It's a form of emission controls. Some people like to change the routing of the stock crankcase vent tube because it's smelly and basically bad for the environment. On a gasser it would be the equivalent of installing a PCV valve.

I personally don't think it's a good idea to introduce crankcase vapors into the intake on a turbocharged engine, especially one with an intercooler. It introduces nasty stuff that can build up on a turbo, especially on a tired engine.

I have a 2005 VW TDI that routes crankcase vapors through the intercooler. They plug up after a while.

[crushers]

care to explain how this works?

Originally Posted by RufusTheDufus

I have a 2005 VW TDI that routes crankcase vapors through the intercooler.

[RufusTheDufus]

Take a look at the intercooler cleaning procedure in the TDIClub.com FAQ:
TDI FAQ

Here's the pertinent part:

You should be aware that the CCV (crankcase vent) system is the reason for the gunk accumulating in the intercooler in the first place. The CCV hose goes from the round black housing on top of the valve cover and into the air intake pipe. Pull that hose off the black CCV housing and check for sticky black gunk inside. If you don't want to have to clean the intercooler again, and if it's legal where you live to not have a CCV system, then you can connect a 3/4" PVC hose to the black PCV housing and run the hose to somewhere (keep it away from moving parts and from the exhaust system), and plug the end of the hose that normally hooks up to the PCV housing with a 3/4" pipe plug and a hose clamp. In most areas, this setup is not legal for on-road use, so you'll just have to periodically clean the intercooler to maintain peak performance.

[crushers]

okay, so the PCV hoxe still runs to the inlet side of the turbo...

the reason i asked is because if you try and run the PCV hose to the pressure side of hte turbo (intercooler, ducting, intake) you will have 8 (towhat ever) lbs of boost pressurizing the crankcase... this is not good at all.

[crushers]

so i just got off the phone with Alamo (building custom turbos since 1978) with the concern of a oil restrictor..

here is his comments:

Garret turbos have built-in 20 thou restrictors for their ball bearing turbos since the ball bearings will coat with oil and actually slow the propeller speeds.

the important part of installation is the size of return line and location. read NO RESTRICTION

oil cools the trubo shaft as well as lubricates

the custom turbos i recieve from them have ceramic bearings in them with the restrictor built in. (didn't know that...cool)

NO external restrictors needed unless the turbo is not being installed in a vertical oil drain situation.