Resolved Turbo Oiling issue

[JayB12]

Okay, I'm having some horrible oil issues with my turbo(s) and I really want some opinions.

First the car had a Garrett 3076r, that was on the car for 15k or so miles. I purchased it used a while ago. Fed it from the OFH with a .030" restrictor and a -10an drain line. One day it just started smoking badly.

Then I stuck on a dbb 6262 that just got rebuilt from PTE, so essentially new condition. Used the same feed/drain setup and it was smoking before I even pulled out of the garage.

I sent it back to PTE for inspection, they said everything looked fine, I agreed that it was possibly the setup and they replaced everything under warranty anyways.

So I got it back on the car, changed the oil feed to an FP inline filter (black one) with the .030" restrictor, changed the feed over to the head location, and upgraded to a -12an drain line.

Start the car up, blowing oil out the O2 housing at idle again!

I thought maybe it was the PTE unit, after reading everything on the Internet about them, so I swapped over to a BRAND NEW GT3582R from Garrett. It was going to be put on the EVO but I threw it on here to try it out. Used the same head feed location/-12 drain and the 35r is blowing oil out the exhaust housing at idle also....


I really am at a loss here, there is NO oil behind the turbine housing (ie in the cylinders/head/manifold/ on plugs. Ect.) so it isn't coming from the motor. There isn't any oil left in the exhaust, I even ran it open at the O2 housing (after a very good cleaning) to verify it wasn't that. There are no kinks/bends/dips in the oil drain line. Oil isn't overfilled.


Really lost on what to do. I ordered a gauge to put in the feed line to check out that pressure, but I doubt it's that crazy high to blow a turbo at idle...

Possibly a piston blow-by issue? I mean it has a vented catch can setup but the motor was built pretty loose. It's still around 170psi on all cylinders..also haven't done a leak down test because I have to pull the cams due to the overlap.

 

[JusMX141]

Oil drain is kinked or your PCV system is completely-screwed.

Head feed, .035-.040" restrictor is the "proper" way to supply a ball bearing GT turbo.

 

[Archer Fabrications]

Pte will void your warranty if you use the Fp filter.

I was told you can do a remote filter off the ofh, but for my 6466 was told a min -10 drain and a unrestricted feed to the turbo from the clean side of the ofh. There is a restrictor built in to the fitting so you dont need to firther restrict.

However indo have a friend local running his 6466 off a head feed with no issues but I'd rather follow warranty regulations.

Justin is right about the garrett ballbearing chras though those should be fed from the head with a restriction of the size he recommended.


In also curious what your oil pressure is at the feed.

 

[Lou98GSX]

maybe the oil is coming from one of the head studs . i believe that one of the studs goes in an oil galley .

 

[Archer Fabrications]

maybe the oil is coming from one of the head studs . i believe that one of the studs goes in an oil galley .

He said it isnt from the motor.

 

[JusMX141]

Pte will void your warranty if you use the Fp filter.

Of course they will- that's like a GM dealer blaming a Mopar oil filter for an engine failure. Obviously there are millions of vehicles on the road every day with a Mopar oil filter installed- any reason to void a warranty will do when you're running one company's filter on another company's turbo.

I was told you can do a remote filter off the ofh, but for my 6466 was told a min -10 drain and a unrestricted feed to the turbo from the clean side of the ofh. There is a restrictor built in to the fitting so you dont need to firther restrict.

So does the GT series, being that PTE essentially copied Garrett's design.

Garrett still knows that ball bearing units require a minimal amount of oil as possible during operation, hence the oil pressure requirement being 40psi from a restricted source on any GT turbo. Of course Garrett isn't foolish enough to eliminate the coolant lines on a turbo that consumes such a small amount of oil as it would lead to overheated bearing cages and broken shafts, but that's a completely different discussion.

 

[jimsgsx]

Check your pcv system and oil lines for kinks that was a great suggestion. Your options of what it could be are pretty slimmed down. I would take all the oil lines off and replace or at least inspect them thoroughly. How's your oil pressure?

 

[JayB12]

Okay, so this little brainstorm was very helpful. I think I found the source of the problem. A while ago (not that long before the first turbo started smoking) I put a little inline fuel filter to joint a line on my catchcan line because I only had two short pieces of hose left at the time and didn't want to run to get more. Long story short that filter is all clogged up, blocking both of the pcv lines from any air.

I'm cleaning it all up and hopefully it works this afternoon! I was literally about to buy another shortblock before I found this.

 

[Archer Fabrications]

You sure that fuel filter isnt also a check valve pointing the wrong way?

I was doing a boost leak test and looped my valve cover lines cause i thought air was escaping from it. Forgot about it and went down the block. Started smoking like mad. Didn't know WTF for 2 seconds and slammed on the breaks to unloop the lines. No oil in the turbo but smoke was coming out of the exhaust for the rest of the day was like Thick white/blue smoke. Pcv can royally screw you if it's not proper. I jist have two lines going into a gatorade bottle. It's not right by any means but it isnt causing blow by or smoke so ive left it for now. And i dont daily it.