Intake leak test results...

[CyberEye]

I did an intake leak test last summer and fixed all the small leaks. Now a year later I did one again, with worse results.
When I run the tester off of the turbo, if I put my ear up to the oil cap, I can hear air entering the crank case and bubbling oil.
When I run the tester off of the throttle body elbow, I can still hear the air through the oil cap but no more oil bubbling.

I pulled the PCV valve off, and it's not causing the blow by. What are some other things that could be causing the air/bubbling?

 

[kenamond]

I did an intake leak test last summer and fixed all the small leaks. Now a year later I did one again, with worse results.
When I run the tester off of the turbo, if I put my ear up to the oil cap, I can hear air entering the crank case and bubbling oil.
When I run the tester off of the throttle body elbow, I can still hear the air through the oil cap but no more oil bubbling.

I pulled the PCV valve off, and it's not causing the blow by. What are some other things that could be causing the air/bubbling?

The dripping oil you heard in the first test was oil from the turbo center section dripping. That's why it went away when you tested at the TB elbow.

Ring blowby, leaking valve stem seals, and a bad PCV valve will all give you air coming out of either the oil cap or the VC breather. The only one of these that would be classified as a boost leak would be the PCV valve. You checked your PCV, so it's not that. I've just been asking around regarding this same problem; how do you know you fixed all of your intake leaks when your rings or valve stem seals are leaking.

Someone suggested doing a leak test on a fully warmed up motor. The rings will be better sealed. I even thought about pulling the plugs, adding 2tbsp of oil, replacing the plugs, then repeating the test. The oil will help seal the rings even more (like a wet compression test). But I've not done it yet.

If you can't find any bubbles in the test, and you're holding 20psi and leaking down around 1psi/second, I have no idea how to tell if you have fixed all of the leaks.

My UICP replaces the TB elbow, so I can't do a TB elbow boost leak test. If you still have the stock hose clamped to your TB elbow, you could also put a cap on the hose and test back at the compressor inlet to see if you get leaks between the turbo and TB elbow. I'm not sure how fast the leak through the compressor seal is, but it might give you a warm fuzzy about no leaks up to your TB elbow.