do turbo seals just go bad?

[kittay]

So the red only has around 5000 miles on it, and recently started smoking. When i was able to pull over, oil was POURING out the exhaust and dump. I added oil, got it home, and noticed when it gets in boost, it sprays oil out the BOV. I pulled it off, and sent it out to get a rebuild, but I'd hate to have something cause it to blow, and have it happen again. It had very minimal shaft play, which fp had told me before was normal for the turbo when cold.
My motor was recently freshened up, has around 5000 miles on it as well. The head only has around 500 miles on it.

I called fp and they seem to think it was just too high of crankcase pressure, but I've never had any issues with the dipstick popping up, which is usually the first sign. They suggested recirculating from the catch can to the intake, like how it was stock. Has anyone done that?

My thought was too high of oil pressure, but why would that just come on out of no where? It is feeding from the housing not the head btw.

So I'm thinking the turbo seals are blown, so does this just randomly happen, and that's why it's pushing oil so badly? Or did something happen to cause it to go bad?

I'm kinda a bit stumped. Any input would be appreciated!

 

[JusMX141]

A bad turbo seal would not cause oil to "dump" as you're describing unless it was literally MISSING.

The only thing that could cause oil to blow out of each side of the shaft without excessive shaft play would be the inability to drain. Any chance your oil return line collapsed while it was parked?

 

[kittay]

A bad turbo seal would not cause oil to "dump" as you're describing unless it was literally MISSING.

The only thing that could cause oil to blow out of each side of the shaft without excessive shaft play would be the inability to drain. Any chance your oil return line collapsed while it was parked?

The oil return line looked fine when I pulled the turbo off. It did seem to leak oil from it before the turbo started to smoke.
You think maybe just replace the return line?

 

[JusMX141]

If you're running a full-metal 1G stock drain, I don't think there's any way you could blame the drain itself but if it's a rubber hose drain you may want to inspect it well to be sure there are no kinks and replace if necessary.

 

[1995gsx20g]

it couldn't hurt to check the feed pressure going into the turbo if u just wanna be sure..

kittay- i followed your hole build thread a year or so ago. besides the turbo hows the car doing?

 

[kittay]

it couldn't hurt to check the feed pressure going into the turbo if u just wanna be sure..

kittay- i followed your hole build thread a year or so ago. besides the turbo hows the car doing?

Well it'll hopefully see the track this year.. then over the winter I'm going to finih it up the way I want it
It was really hard on me getting divorced.. I'll just leave it at that, so I'm just now starting back on it.

How would you check the feed pres?

 

[1995gsx20g]

oh sorry to hear that.

i hope another great write up follows this winter

T a gauge into the oil feed line between the turbo and oil filter housing. remember to check at all rpms the motor will see.

recently someone on here was checking oil pressure with the car on jackstands and ruined the trans because part of the trans didn't get lubrication at that angle. he said he was a big guy and he had it pretty high but its something that i personally don't want to risk after seeing the pics of the "brand new trans"

 

[kittay]

For sure.. As things have been slowly getting better for me, more things will come for the car It's hard cause I kinda wanna keep both of them! Esp after seeing the new 16g FP came out with

But yuh, I got the red sent out.. FP said it looked like something went thru the turbo, enough to send it off balance and completely chewed up the seal.

Only thing I could think of is when I spun a rod on the old 190k motor, it send something thru.. Then when I put it on the fresh motor it wasn't noticeable til it got bad enough..

 

[Spanky_DSM]

Will bad turbo seals hurt performance?

i have excessive crank case pressure escaping from the valve cover, and dont have boost leaks..

will this cause a power loss?

turbo still spools but not like it use to.

 

[JusMX141]

You shouldn't run the car like that, no.

Once you develop a turbine seal leak due to excessive inlet pressure, excessive crankcase pressure, or an otherwise restricted drain, you have a very small window of time to remedy the problem before oil passes between the seal and cartridge...burning to both parts and causing an uneven sealing surface.

Often a turbine seal issue, if ignored, can escalate into a full-blown turbo issue rather quickly depending on how badly the seal is allowing hot exhaust gas to enter the cartridge and dry out the turbine-side journal bearing. Basically if you're running with a bad turbine seal it's only a matter of time before the turbo fails to the point where it cannot be repaired.

 

[Spanky_DSM]

You shouldn't run the car like that, no.

Once you develop a turbine seal leak due to excessive inlet pressure, excessive crankcase pressure, or an otherwise restricted drain, you have a very small window of time to remedy the problem before oil passes between the seal and cartridge...burning to both parts and causing an uneven sealing surface.

Often a turbine seal issue, if ignored, can escalate into a full-blown turbo issue rather quickly depending on how badly the seal is allowing hot exhaust gas to enter the cartridge and dry out the turbine-side journal bearing. Basically if you're running with a bad turbine seal it's only a matter of time before the turbo fails to the point where it cannot be repaired.

thanks for the reply.

my car smokes lightly once every 2 weeks.

But to get everything clear, will bad turbo seals act as a boost leak?

 

[RocCitySlayer]

You shouldn't run the car like that, no.

Once you develop a turbine seal leak due to excessive inlet pressure, excessive crankcase pressure, or an otherwise restricted drain, you have a very small window of time to remedy the problem before oil passes between the seal and cartridge...burning to both parts and causing an uneven sealing surface.

Often a turbine seal issue, if ignored, can escalate into a full-blown turbo issue rather quickly depending on how badly the seal is allowing hot exhaust gas to enter the cartridge and dry out the turbine-side journal bearing. Basically if you're running with a bad turbine seal it's only a matter of time before the turbo fails to the point where it cannot be repaired.

Yep... I witnessed it happen personally to my turbo

 

[Spanky_DSM]

Yep... I witnessed it happen personally to my turbo

oh well, its a t 25 so no biggie..

but to answer my question..

will bad turbo seals act up as a boost leak?

 

[RocCitySlayer]

oh well, its a t 25 so no biggie..

but to answer my question..

will bad turbo seals act up as a boost leak?

Thats good. I blew my HX35 ... And when my oil seal was leaking oil, my turbo spooled the same as it did before. Other then smoke coming from under my hood and blowing out the exhaust when I boosted and let off. So im not sure about yours but mine fully spooled untill it would no longer spool
I learned my lesson and will never again continue to drive my car if my oil seal ever goes again after I get things fixed.

 

[Spanky_DSM]

dang it..

i cant seem to find any boost leaks besides in the biss.

 

[RocCitySlayer]

dang it..

i cant seem to find any boost leaks besides in the biss.

Maybe you dont have any, I would definitly get a new turbo or rebuild you t-25 before its to late. I wouldnt drive it or even run it untill you do that. Its not fun when your turbo goes from rebuildable to completly junk

 

[Spanky_DSM]

well the thing is it doesn smoke heavily..

it has its time of the month but that only lasts about a day..

Could knock have anythin to do with this?

 

[RocCitySlayer]

well the thing is it doesn smoke heavily..

it has its time of the month but that only lasts about a day..

Could knock have anythin to do with this?

Im not sure.. I would check the turbo for shaft play though.

 

[Spanky_DSM]

Thanks for the replies RocCity!

Can anyone chime in wether if knock will affect boost levels?