Need Input: Turbo leak, valve stems or other?

pic_jon

pic_jon

$5 Fine For Whinin'
Joined
Jun 9, 2011
Messages
416
I need your input/suggestions... Apparently my turbo is ingesting oil and not leaking oil. My turbo oil drain tube is completely clear of debris, so is the tube going back to the engine and the hose that connect the two. My cylinder head was rebuilt by a machine shop and now has ~15 miles on it.

I have a small amount of oil coming out of the exhaust and some on the compressor housing. The truck was smoking white/grey for a while. It still hazes white/grey at idle

Since the backside of the compressor wheel is not wet, HTT says the turbo is not leaking oil... So looks like I have other issues.

Here was HTT's response to the pictures: "Looking at the picture of the back of the compressor wheel I can say with 100% certainty that your turbo is not leaking oil. You are ingesting oil through the intake. Does your crank case breather drain to the ground? Or is it a California truck were the crank case drain is connected to the intake? I can't say were you're ingesting oil only that you are. I hope this helps"

Maybe I need to ventilate the engine a little better with a set of valve cover breather(s) and check the blow-by tube for blockage.

Valve stem seals? Lmk what you think.

IMG_1226.jpg


1000001015.jpg


1000001010.jpg


photo2-3-1.jpg


Backside of compressor wheel. Dry.

photo1-3-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
This turbo has less than 10k miles on it. I haven't got to drive it enough for the oil to push through the intercooler or even through the 1st intercooler boot coming off the turbo elbow.

Here's the intake on the head.

1000001047.jpg


Oil in the Turbo's compressor housing.

1000001043.jpg


1000001040.jpg


Wastegate actuator arm and back cover

BackCover.jpg


1000001033.jpg


Underneath turbo... This has to be coming from the exhaust housing/turbine side. The compressor housing is not leaking oil out.

1000001037.jpg
 
Looks like its in the exhaust manf. take the turbo off and look inside if its wet take, the exhaust manf off to see what cylinder is the prob.(pic # 2)
 
renopker said:
Looks like its in the exhaust manf. take the turbo off and look inside if its wet take, the exhaust manf off to see what cylinder is the prob.(pic # 2)
Click to expand...

Yup.. Just finished looking at it. There's a small amount in the front half of the exhaust manifold.. The back half is dry for cylinders 4, 5 & 6. Without taking the valve springs off, it looks like all the valve stem seals are still seated. Kind of makes me wonder if the head gasket is letting oil into a cylinder. This wasn't an issue prior to having the head rebuilt.

I'll pull the manifold off in the morning and see which cylinder it is. If the valve stem seals are in tact, do you have any other suggestions?
 
Just to reiterate, this wasn't an issue before pulling the head so I wouldn't think piston rings would be an issue. The engine was apart for 11-12 months. Anything is possible I suppose.

Looks like the lower bolt under cylinder #1 exhaust runner is a little damp. :stab:
 
pic_jon said:
Yup.. Just finished looking at it. There's a small amount in the front half of the exhaust manifold.. The back half is dry for cylinders 4, 5 & 6. Without taking the valve springs off, it looks like all the valve stem seals are still seated. Kind of makes me wonder if the head gasket is letting oil into a cylinder. This wasn't an issue prior to having the head rebuilt.

I'll pull the manifold off in the morning and see which cylinder it is. If the valve stem seals are in tact, do you have any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Why was the head rebuilt?
 
Do you have any fuel in your oil?

Also check you turbo drain to pan.. I have seen them blocked and do this!

Check the oil level also to much in the pan could do this also?

Hope this helps! Thanks!
 
Olee Poole said:
Do you have any fuel in your oil?

Also check you turbo drain to pan.. I have seen them blocked and do this!

Check the oil level also to much in the pan could do this also?

Hope this helps! Thanks!
Click to expand...

No fuel in the oil that I can tell. Dip stick reading/level has not gone up.

I verified that the oil return is completely clear.

Thanks for the input guys. I'll dig in a little deeper this morning.

Question:

Let's say I have a bad exhaust valve stem seal, can I manually pump oil on it while looking in through the exhaust port and see the oil come down the valve?
 
I would think the guide would have to be in pretty bad shape for this to work. There would be no vaccum present as the piston goes down that would help draw the oil into the cylander. Might have better luck flooding the valve with oil (submerge) with the valve lash or cam holding it off its seat. To do this you would have to plug the oil returns and build a retainer of some sorts. Lots of work.
 
Pulled the exhaust manifold...

The white and grey colors are not that bright in person. The camera flash exaggerated the colors big time.

Cylinder #1

1000001075.jpg


Cylinder #2

1000001069.jpg


Cylinder #3 (next two pics)

1000001061.jpg


1000001063.jpg


Cylinder #4

1000001066.jpg


Cylinder #5

1000001071.jpg


Cylinder #6

1000001072.jpg
 
looks like the seals were in deed leaking eh... ive seen gas shops have problems with diesel valve stems/seals more than a few times now.
 
The cylinder head was rebuilt in late July 2011. I installed it 4 months later. Just now getting around to driving it.

The machine shop used cheapo's. Looking at the receipt, they have less than $40.00 in valve seals.


Aside from 3rd gen style valve seals, I'm going to assume there is nothing better than cummins brand valve seals for the 12v.

If you guys have had better luck with a different brand, I'd love to hear from ya. :Cheer:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top