12HT turbo charger leaking oil

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Jul 21, 2009
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I have an oil leak out if the turbo charger. It looks like the exhaust side. Before I go crazy to rebuild this thing are there any trouble shooting I can do to make sure? Could it be a gasket or engine seals? Any advice would be great
Mike
 
The only spot where turbo can leak oil besides the bearings is where the oil hoses connect to turbo housing, so check them...
 
If oil is dripping out of the exhaust gasket, then it is still comming out of the inner oil seal and entering the turbine (exhaust) housing then leaking out. Does your truck smoke with an oil smell? Some times that can be tuff to tell on a diesel as they all do sort of smoke. Id clean the whole area around the turbo off and then run it and check for where the leak is originating from.

Pressurized oil enters the turbo frot the top via an oil line, and exits on the bottom via larger return tube. Its easy to see if the top is leaking, but still clean it and check anyway.

The bottom is harder, but I have had leaks before underneath that were hard to track down that ended up being the return tube. Lay underneath the truck with a good light and check it that way as you cant see anything from the top. Make sure the pipe isnt crushed or something like that. They usually have 2 small bolts you can snug up, but I wouldnt tighten them too much as you can easily strip them or break them off. If it is leaking there, and tightening it doesnt help, then a new gasket is in order which would be cheap, but a major pain in the ass to change. If you do id clean the old surface off with a razor blade and make my own out of gasket paper, or even RTV silicone will work if you dont have any other choice. I like to put the silicone on and tighten the bolts on the flange just a tad until the silicone begins to squeese out, then leave it and do a final tighten in half an hour or so when it firms up. I would inspect the down pipe closely as if it is clogged up or not free flowing you can pool oil in the turbo center section and it will leak as the oil seals are not designed to hold back pressure.

Also, you could disconnect your exhaust down pipe, and if oil is dripping there then I would say it would be most likely you turbo seal on the exhaust side. Cource you could also be having major blow by and your enigne could be an oil burner, but you would have a cloud of smoke behind you everywhere you went if that were the case.

Oil can also leak from the compressor side, but that would be unlikely as it wouldnt drip out of the back easily. It is easy to check as you disconnect the air tube that goes from the turbo to the intake manifold and inspect it for oil. Not like a film, which is very common, but lots of drips or soaking wet in some cases. Most intake pipes have oil in them to some degree and are rarely perfectly clean.
 
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I had what I thought was a turbo leaking. Before I got all carried away I was advised that the crankcase vent from the top of the valve cover vents into the turbo air inlet tube and drops down into the turbo. What happened is the oil that accumulates in the air inlet tube gets to be quite heavy, and it leaks residual oil down and comes out right at the front edge of the turbo. I took a rag and wiped it all out, no more dripping leak.
I'm not saying you don't have a leak, but this was putting a puddle 4" around under my truck every time I drove it. Since then, not a drop.
 
Check your engines blowby and compression. Too much blowby pressurises the crankcase and blows air and oil out of the turbo seals.
 

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