Driving with leaking turbo

[Smoke777x]

Well my turbo seal is bad, well at least I'm pretty sure it is because it has some side to side and some noticeable in and out play. Then when i took of my down pipe and had the car idle for about 5 minutes my oil filter and my alternator were covered in oil, My lower inter cooler pipe is filled with oil and the car smokes bad enough that i cant see any cars in my rear view mirror. I'm getting a new turbo pretty soon, its just that my question is can i drive with these conditions, and for how long? I know i cant beat on it, but can i at least use it to go work witch is like 6 miles away and back every day, for about a week or two? Well thanks to every one in advance.

 

[thorlief4g63]

You may be physically able to but that would suprise me. Burning that much oil is going to collect all over various parts of you engine and could lead to some serious failure. I wouldnt drive it till you get a new turbo an oil change and seafoam it. Good Luck

 

[MrBoxx]

Stop driving the car NOW. Get the turbo replaced NOW. The longer you drive on it, the more damage you're going to cause. It's unlikely, though possible, that pieces of the compressor wheel will peel off and make their way into the cylinders. Not to mention the strong liklihood of oil starvation.

When my turbo was probably in the same condition yours is in, I thought I could drive it to work one day. I got two miles. Then I limped it home. Borrow a car, rent a car, take the bus, ask a friend for a ride. But don't drive your car in the shape that it's in right now.

 

[Smoke777x]

Im kind of thinking the same, I mean i drove it before when it was smoking like that, I just didnt do it for too long and kept adding oil every day. It killed my alternator tho, because too much oil got on it.

 

[Smoke777x]

You mean oil starvaition to the rest of the engine right?

 

[xdxoxuxgx]

That's definitely not a good condition to drive your car in. Though it may seem fine if you're not boosting, it's a high risk you take leaking all that oil everywhere, it's just a bad idea and not worth it.

 

[MrBoxx]

You mean oil starvaition to the rest of the engine right?

Yes. I like to think that a failing turbo seal/bearing gets worse exponentially, due to the spinning of the shaft on an eccentric orbit. The more it's imbalanced, the more it opens up that bearing and seal, which makes it more imbalanced, and so on. You may think that you're only losing, say, half a quart a day one day, but then two days later, you're losing a full quart per day. At some point, you're going to drain enough oil out of the crankcase to cause some serious problems with the rest of the engine.

 

[meliketoball]

Yes. I like to think that a failing turbo seal/bearing gets worse exponentially, due to the spinning of the shaft on an eccentric orbit. The more it's imbalanced, the more it opens up that bearing and seal, which makes it more imbalanced, and so on. You may think that you're only losing, say, half a quart a day one day, but then two days later, you're losing a full quart per day. At some point, you're going to drain enough oil out of the crankcase to cause some serious problems with the rest of the engine.

HEAR HEAR!