Turbo Continues to Leak oil-At witts end

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ChasingSand

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Motor is a built bottom end J35A4. I have had to have the turbo rebuilt about 4 times now as it continues to leak oil. We have tried almost everything and it continues to leak after each rebuilt. Turbo is a turbonetics TO4B with a -4 Feed.

Performance Tecknique in San Bernadino is doing the rebuilds but have not been able to provide much insight.

Have Tried almost everything and it continues to leak. Had it rebuilt last week and before install, I added a -12 Return and a Turbosmart oil pressure regulator to keep it at 40PSI on the feed line.

Fired it up today and it started leaking within 5 minutes. Tried putting a restrictor on the inlet and did not help at all.

Crankcase vents are clear and I have one -10 off each valve cover.

Also, Oil level when running drops below the return line in the pan.

Anyone experience this before? About to just call it quits at this point.

 
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I only run -3 line to supply oil to turbo. -4 is like three times the volume. Turbos don’t have great control on sealing inlet housing just idling. When they have boost the oil control is way better. Are you just starting and letting it idle?  If so why. Just start up and go driving (lightly during warm up) 

 
John@Outfront said:
I only run -3 line to supply oil to turbo. -4 is like three times the volume. Turbos don’t have great control on sealing inlet housing just idling. When they have boost the oil control is way better. Are you just starting and letting it idle?  If so why. Just start up and go driving (lightly during warm up) 
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Thank you John! I will go and get a -3 hose made tomorrow. Fingers crossed this cures it!!

 
The angle of the cartridge has a lot to do with it. The pressure stops at the shaft bearings and gravity takes over from there to drain the oil from the cartridge. Your oil drain should be straight down and unrestricted. The cartridge should be as level on the shaft plane as possible. If the turbo is collecting oil without an unrestricted path to drain then it will find other ways out. The drain should be bigger than the pressure line.

Peas

 
Cartridge is straight up and down. Unfortunately turbo is mounted lower than I like but I think I have the drain hose setup correct. Might go back to the 10AN as the had more of an upward swing. 

IMG_0646.jpeg

 
did you change oil viscosity?

you could put 45* fittings on the drain line, but that does not look terrible to me.

send the turbo somewhere else?

try replacing the center section.

I used to race with the who were sponsored by Turbos Direct & talked with them a few times.  they seemed to be SUPER smart folks.  Maybe a call to them & see what they think? https://www.turbosdirect.com/

Just some thoughts. 

 
Is it possible you are building crankcase pressure so the oil can't drain. My drain is more of an angle than yours and I had all kinds of problems. Finally had to build a drain tube much larger than a -10 line. But like I said my angle is much more horizontal than yours. Check your braided line for the drain and make sure that hose is not collapsed. 

 
Also I do buy all my turbos from Mike at Turbos Direct. Can't remember the exact size but I have mine jetted down as small as I dare go. Don't remember but .040 rings a bell. Plus I have a filter before that jet. Call Mike. 

 
Bobalos said:
did you change oil viscosity?

you could put 45* fittings on the drain line, but that does not look terrible to me.

send the turbo somewhere else?

try replacing the center section.

I used to race with the who were sponsored by Turbos Direct & talked with them a few times.  they seemed to be SUPER smart folks.  Maybe a call to them & see what they think? https://www.turbosdirect.com/

Just some thoughts. 
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I am going to call them this morning. Thank you for the direction. Hoping as John and @Jtmoney714 had told me the feed line (-4) is too much flow. Going to replace that today as well.

 
Pull the drain tube off a little so the oil exiting the turbo will drip into it, and start the motor.  Does it drain well or come out the sides?  If its coming out the sides, see if it's still leaking while paying attention to how much oil you're losing (don't want to lose too much and run the motor dry).  If it doesn't, then there's a problem with the drain.  If it still leaks, there's a turbo problem.  Shouldn't come out of the turbo as much more than a steady drip.

I don't think swapping to -3 will help if the restrictor is on the turbo itself (not on the engine).  The restrictor should limit flow no matter what size line is feeding it.

 
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John@Outfront said:
I only run -3 line to supply oil to turbo. -4 is like three times the volume. Turbos don’t have great control on sealing inlet housing just idling. When they have boost the oil control is way better. Are you just starting and letting it idle?  If so why. Just start up and go driving (lightly during warm up) 
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Hi John, do you run a restrictor on Journal Bearing Turbos?

 
i do not run a restrictor on journal bearing turbos, but always run -3 line

 
Has it been said where it's leaking? Have all the sealing surfaces been checked for warpage, nicks, grooving?

 
LegitDuner said:
Has it been said where it's leaking? Have all the sealing surfaces been checked for warpage, nicks, grooving?
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Leaking out of the exhaust housing side. Turbo was a fresh rebuild and claimed it needed new bearings and seals. Hoping the -3 hose and fitting I installed fixes it. 

 
ChasingSand said:
Leaking out of the exhaust housing side. Turbo was a fresh rebuild and claimed it needed new bearings and seals. Hoping the -3 hose and fitting I installed fixes it. 
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I was just zooming in on your oil pan. That fitting definitely could have gone up another inch. How many quarts of oil are you using for the motor? Like others have mentioned, I would probably go with an angled fitting at the pan minimally.. two 45° angles would be a straight shot right into the pan.

 
Is the oil level higher than where that drain empties into the pan. If so, then maybe that's the problem.

Peas

 
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LegitDuner said:
I was just zooming in on your oil pan. That fitting definitely could have gone up another inch. How many quarts of oil are you using for the motor? Like others have mentioned, I would probably go with an angled fitting at the pan minimally.. two 45° angles would be a straight shot right into the pan.
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Running 5 quarts and it’s in line with the oil level. Completely empty it takes 4.5 quarts before it starts to slowly drain out. When the motor is running it’s above the line as the level drops by about a quart. 

 
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