I was hunting down a boost leak today when i found my drivers side intercooler had a fair amount of oil in it. The other intercooler is clean and shiny. So from what i gather ive got a blown turbo oil seal. Whats the best way to go from here, turbo rebuild, or save up and replace both? how much is it going to cost?
Shame it wasn't the passenger side, that turbo can be removed with the engine still in. Since it's the driver's side it'll require an engine pull. Best to recondition or replace both turbos.
Good point only differnce in the manual is its a LHD. EDIT: So how long to remove a left/right turbo on its own, is it also the age and the condition of fittings, IE a new car would be alot easier.
Heres a quote from my friend who is a flight turbine engineer/mechanic "An oil leak on the impeller side can cause detonation and one on the exhaust can cause smokey exhaust and ****s with the oxygen sensor" My cat warning light does come on now and then but i thought it was just the boost leak on the drivers side running that side rich. If it blew smoke id have oil in my exhaust but it seems pretty clean. I had about a litre of oil in my drivers side intercooler tho, which would mean a blown oil seal on the intake side(IMO), if i continue to run like this i run the risk of detonation or hydro lock(way down the track). So why would i want to simply hose it out and bung it back on, itll just fill up again i feel. Before i started the engine i noticed both throttle bodies were clean, now the drivers side is oily. I recon the car was put away 9ish years ago with good seals, they've degraded over time and spat out when ive started it up last week. There is no other reason for oil in an ic is there? Still feel like rolling the car up on ramps and doing it with the engine in. How many weekends will it take me, are we taking bets
It's hard enough getting at the turbo bolt tabs with the engine out let alone with it in. As other members have said, pull the engine. Its gonna be a hell of a lot easier to work on. 2 weekends on your own if u take the engine out. With it in... Nearly impossible. If you end up pulling the engine, may as well upgrade turbos while ur there...
Now this makes sense, starting to take the engine out now. Already bought a used set of stockies from sanouske, but i know once everythings out and the plenum off im gonna want to upgrade the turbos and injectors and change the timing belt. So ill prolly have a spare set of stockies and a rooted set for the bin
May not be turbo's at all. Could be oil control rings not doing thier thing, blocked pcv's or high blow by. Turbo oil seals will not degrade from sitting, they are of the same construction as piston rings.
Everybody freaks out about the pcv's. If i run the engine with the oil cap open and the pcv's are stuffed then it should stop blowing smoke right? Oil control rings? The ones on the pistons? hope there not screwed, if they were my plugs would be oily right, gonna go check now. I should record the car running, theres alot of smoke
Will take a long time to stop blowing smoke as there is alot of oil in the system. Of coarse your plugs will have signs of oil, it is everywhere if you have 1 litre in your cooler. The point I am making, don't assume it is a turbo, many other things need to be checked before you ... 1.pull the engine 2.replace suspect turbo 3.refit engine 4.test drive to find it is still blowing smoke 5.sell car for $3.80 because it has given you the shits
Ran it for 45 minutes today, smoked up heaps when i put my foot down after it warmed up. white smoke everywhere, def oil. Cat light was on solid. Had the oil cap off with a rag over it. Id love for it to be just a pcv valve but that wouldnt really explain the oil in the ic, So i pretty much have to replace the turbo on that side. Everyone advises that the engine come out for this so i guess its gotta happen Just got the exhaust bolts off the turbos today. If it still blows after fixing everything including oil rings then its yours for $3.80 a2zed (after a recording in the paddock:br
I'm assuming the use of the rag was because it was spitting oil everywhere? Do u get excessive blow-by? ie: Remove the rag/oil cap, put your hand over the oil filler and see if there is excess air being forced out. If so, doubt its the turbo seals... Could be rings as eric mentioned. Get the engine compression tested... If compression test comes up good/semi ok, could be pcv's. Many a zed has had excessive smoke from clogged pcv valves. They are a relatively inexpensive fix and worth a shot before ripping the engine out. I had a hyundai accent a few years back that the owner had sold cheap as it was blowing heaps of smoke. Turns out he buggered where the vac lines go and ended up blocking off the line going to the pcv. Blew a shitload of smoke at idle. Fitted a new line and it was sweet as! Anyways, food for thought...
did it with he rag off and it blew some oil around the engine bay, not much just a mist. Ive got a crappy compression tester, i can test it by cranking the car over with the starter? Just that everything already off the engine. Took the exhausts off, no oil ran out of them after standing up all day. **edit** it only spat oil out the cap while i reved the crap out of it, at idle it was fine. STOP SCARING ME, I WANT IT TO BE TURBOS NOT RINGS!! Seriously tho guys, thanks heaps for the support. If i didn't have this forum to back me up i would of sold the car months ago.
Someone has probably mentioned this already but there is another possibility for oil in the intercoolers in the FAQ http://www.pexcom.com.au/z32cms/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.43
