Do I have blown turbo seals?

[nismo tuned s14]

I have a GReddy/Mitsu TD06-20G turbo. I've put about 60k miles on it.

For the past month or so, oil has been mysteriously disappearing. It's not leaking anywhere, and I didn't see any blue smoke coming out of my tailpipe.

I checked my oil today, and it was a quart low from when I changed it last week. I refilled it. When I drove it again, my engine started backfiring and running rough when I was cruising at around 40 mph.

I checked my dipstick again to see if I overfilled my engine with oil. I didn't. I noticed a little bit of oil around my intercooler coupling. I took off my air intake pipe, and there was oil inside my turbo.

There is none in my catch can, so it's not coming from the valve cover.

What do you guys think it is?

[projectRDM]

Check all the intake piping, if there's a good spray of oil you're blowing it through the turbo. If there's just a little residue right at the compressor inlet I'd say it's just a bit of blowby and your problem lies elsewhere. Odds are though it's going to be be pooled up somewhere.

[nismo tuned s14]

I'm 99% sure there is oil in my intercooler. I saw some oil residue around the couplings. I'll take the piping off tomorrow to make sure.

There is a lot of oil on the compressor side of the turbo. It's more than just residue.

[projectRDM]

Rebuild/replace the turbo. And soon, the longer it goes the more oil volume and pressure loss you'll see.

[nismo tuned s14]

So you're saying it is in fact the turbo seals.

Yeah, I'll have to get this problem fixed asap. It's not running all that great, as you can imagine. Looks like it'll be parked for a bit.

[projectRDM]

Yes, there's no way for oil to blow back through the throttle body from the coldpipe side.

[obsolete]

old thread bump...wondering about oil on compressor wheel

I just took off my exhaust mainfold with the turbo and while i was carrying it, w/ compressor side upside down, oil started leaking out. i took off the compressor inlet pipe and saw oil around the compressor and it would leak more if turned upside down. is this normal?

when it was on the car, i didn't see any oil in my intake piping or intercooler piping. it boosts and idles fine with no leaks. just some white smoke on startup, but goes away once car is warmed up.

[lazysk8er2]

did u drain the turbo after you took it off cuz it would still be filled with oil after removal?

[obsolete]

no, i didn't. i thought it would be drained already through the oil return since car's been sitting for couple weeks. so if i didn't drain it, the oil spilling through compressor side would be ok or expected?

[projectRDM]

The oil journal is a sealed piece. A very small amount of oil *could* leak out from pressure, but if it's leaking as much as you say it's not normal. "Draining the turbo" would only get oil out of the journal, there shouldn't be any in the compressor or exhaust housings. That's a pretty damn stupid suggestion.

[lazysk8er2]

chye it def shouldnt be spilling out if its bad like that.

if im not intruding what kind of turbo do you have? is there excessive shaft play? anything you could rule out any obvious visual aspects? do you use an oil restrictor if its an upgraded turbo? do you have an oil catch can or is it going straight into the intake?

[obsolete]

upadate, it wasn't spilling out. just when i turned the inlet face down, it would slowly ooze out.

I have a T28. I just installed all new lines and put the motor back in since it was boosting fine before i pulled it. Still holds boost fine, but there is some oil on the inlet elbow and on journal piece. smokes while warming up, but not much at idle after that. there was slight shaft play front to back, but nothing side to side.

[obsolete]

so i was just reading through some threads and it seems that it's possible to get oil into intercooler w/ out blown seals. if i was priming the engine before starting it up, is it possible for the oil to get into the intercooler via the hose on the valve cover going to the compressor outlet?