Forced Induction - turbo dumping oil out exhaust side

Is that something I can fix myself?

The turbo was rebuilt, and has less than 200 miles on the rebuild. I'd rather not have to send it off because it took nearly 3 months the last time, and especially if it's a 99 cent part I'd rather do it myself...

I pulled the turbo off the car today and let it hang by a wire. (it's a rear mount) Just the center section. Kept the pressurized feed hooked up, let the return just gravity drain into a pan with no hose on it, just the fitting. (no pump, no line, just gravity from a turbo hanging in the air)

It's dumping out the exhaust side, but the cold side didn't show any signs of leaking.

I turned the muffler upside down in a bucket and got about 1/3 quart of oil out of it... So it's been doing it consistently.

It's always spewed some out the back (just a little, looking at the bumper) but it's really pouring now. Cloud of smoke when getting on it, and dripping out of the tailpipe. (no smoke when I took it for a test drive just now with no turbo on it)

When it took the big turn for the worse, is after I let it sit in the driveway idling to warm up for about 5 minutes, not realizing that the ground for the oil pump (and buzzer) was not hooked up. After that the leaking went from barely noticeable, to the back of the car is covered up.


I do have a restrictor in it, and I can hold my thumb over the return fitting and hold back the flow without much pressure building up at all.


Thoughts? Tips?
(how to disassemble, where to find a seal, any issues with balancing, etc.)


This is the 67 (upgrade) that ships with the STS kit.

the seals in a turbo are hard to f up, do you have a restricter in the feed line? or if you have since put one in and its still smoking give it awhile while the oil burn out, it can take quite abit of driving

That's a lot of oil in there. When you found the ground not being hooked up, are you sure you didn't attach the wires backwards, and cause the pump to run in reverse? I'm not even sure if that's possible, but that seems like a lot of oil to be in the muffler.

I always had some oil back there, I cut the resistor out of the hot wire to the pump, and now it runs on hi constantly. I don't see much oil burning any longer.

...do you have a restricter in the feed line? or if you have since put one in and its still smoking give it awhile while the oil burn out, it can take quite abit of driving

I do have a restrictor in it, and I can hold my thumb over the return fitting and hold back the flow without much pressure building up at all.

I had the turbo center section just hanging in the air with the feed line hooked up, and both the housings off. Everything wiped down. Fired up the engine, and oil started running out of the return fitting. It also started dribbling out around the exhaust wheel after a short time.

That's a lot of oil in there. When you found the ground not being hooked up, are you sure you didn't attach the wires backwards, and cause the pump to run in reverse? I'm not even sure if that's possible, but that seems like a lot of oil to be in the muffler.

I always had some oil back there, I cut the resistor out of the hot wire to the pump, and now it runs on hi constantly. I don't see much oil burning any longer.


The only wire that was unhooked was a ground wire going to the negative post on the battery. The main ground wire had been unhooked to pull the starter for a transmission swap. When I put the main ground back on the battery, I missed the small extra ground for the STS system.

I may take the resistor off at some point, but even with the oil just free falling out of the return fitting during testing, a good bit of oil is still getting around the shaft on the exhaust side.

I've always had a little oil back there, but very little even after numerous shakedown/tuning passes at speed. But now it's dumping oil out constantly, even just idling in the driveway.

Can I get the replacement seal to put in myself? Where?

Is it possible to foul up the balance? (seems like as long as the wheel goes back on the same way it should be fine)

i wired my pump on high and it works fine no oil leaks i left the resistor in but jumped the pump 1psi activation wire to the other side of the psi switch so the only thing the psi switch is turning on is the pcv valve.

Summary:

Restrictor is working.

Eliminated the oil return pump as the problem, tested by letting the oil gravity drain straight down into a bucket.

Pretty sure it's the seal on the hot side. How do I fix that?

What should the torque on the nut be?

Is lock-tite needed? What type?

Any recommendations for a source for the seal?

:confused:

No help on this?