BB turbo oil leak from core

gtirx2

Member
Well I am most likely only going to be venting in this thread as I proberly know all the checks I should be making already :lol:

But as per the norm my cursed bastard piece of shite gtir is already giving me grief and I have only been playing with it for a couple of days.

A quick run down,the car/engine has sat for 5 1/2 years and the turbo around a year and is unused since its return from being rebuilt with bronze cages and wheel upgrade etc,the turbo is a direct bolt on 64 2871.

The turbo has always been well lubed when sat and before fitting I filled the core full from the return side until oil came out the inlet then drained it,i am questioning this abit now...

Anyway done a prime build oil pressure etc before starting a day early,the oil light went out but did not really register much pressure on the main gauge,all normal to me though for just on the starter.
So a day after and even before a start up and only after a starter prime I notice a small dribble of oil on one of the bolts that hold the exhaust housing on,thought strange but thought it could of been where I had been messy lol

Anyway start the cursed fucker today and get it up to temp,around 80c oil and fans kicking in just idling with a few blips now and then.
All seems good no smoke etc and sounds great.

But I now notice that this wet patch is now almost a drip and looks to be coming from the core,it also looks like it maybe slightly coming from the compressor side aswell so leaking past both seals.

Engine oil pressure when started was 6bar cold dropping to 2 bar at a 1k hot idle

The oil drain is still the stock one but with elongated holes as its a stock fit turbo,looks fine to me,pretty much as stock.

The breather setup is just 2 -10 venting to air from the rocker cover atm.

The engine compression tests 11 1/2 bar hot atm which is exactly the same as it did 5 years ago.

So what do you think?

Maybe should not of filled the core before fitting,maybe need an extra restictor or maybe the seals have somehow gone bad in the time its sat if that's even possible?

The other thing I noticed which may sound stupid but bare in mind its been a long time with a few changes lol, is that the down pipe got red hot just sitting there idling.
I know its going to get hot lol but it was spit roasting hot back to past the sump in what seemed like very little time.
Its a janspeed down pipe now so no cast elbow and the exhaust housing is smaller and the manifolds wrapped so maybe its that,i just cant recall it getting quite that hot before?

The turbo also seems to ever so slightly whistle at idle now very faintly, and when blipped there seems to be quite a larger amount of flutter,I assume this is all normal 2871 behaivor?

Like I say its been a long time :oops::lol:

Anyway I will give it another try tomorrow and see if it gets better,I cant drive it atm as its only bodged together but would like to solve this leak if I can.
 

The Doc

Moderators
Staff member
Has the turbo got a oil feed restrictor built in...some didn't. Was the down pipe actually glowing red along with the turbo and manifold?
 

gtirx2

Member
Turbo dynamics said run without any extra restrictors to start with so can only assume it has one built in.

The down pipe etc was not glowing but was boiling if that makes sence lol,it would sizzle water as far back as the sump.
That was just at idle,concerns me how hot it will get once given a thrashing..
I will have to check the ignition timing but this is untouched since it was parked up and was spot on before.

I will give it another go shortly,i am hopeing it May have been where i filled the core with oil and its seeped past the rings and possibly sat behind the heat shield or backing plates and is just leaking out.
 
Last edited:

gtirx2

Member
Well I maybe just being optimistic but I think the leak may have stopped,maybe I should not of filled the core with oil before fitting?

Exhaust well that gets hot real fast,maybe its just where its a different one piece downpipe/elbow as its sizzling within just a few minutes.

The turbo does seem to whistle abit at idle but not being used to bb turbos I am not sure what to expect,it also seems to like a long drawn out flutter when reved.

Hears a couple of poor quality vids of the noises,sounds like a bog of spanners in the vids but sounds ok normally I think lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BS1VL5j1dc&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CczYXFD6NJw&feature=youtu.be
 

shroom

Active Member
Well I maybe just being optimistic but I think the leak may have stopped,maybe I should not of filled the core with oil before fitting?

Exhaust well that gets hot real fast,maybe its just where its a different one piece downpipe/elbow as its sizzling within just a few minutes.

The turbo does seem to whistle abit at idle but not being used to bb turbos I am not sure what to expect,it also seems to like a long drawn out flutter when reved.

Hears a couple of poor quality vids of the noises,sounds like a bog of spanners in the vids but sounds ok normally I think lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BS1VL5j1dc&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CczYXFD6NJw&feature=youtu.be
Jesus just blew my eardrums out listening to that. BB turbo do sound a lot different to your stock offering, that sound seems similar to what I heard on my cars with similar turbo's.
 

fubar andy

Moderator & N/W Rep
Staff member
You should really run with the restrictor in the oil feed (someone correct me if I'm wrong), I remember someone on the forum running without a restrictor and had some issues.

Bit of a daft question, but are all our connectors tighened up correclty and also has is the return feed back to the sump been tightened up and been fitted with a new gasket.
I forgot to replace my gasket in the past and its leaked from the return feed!


That was just at idle,concerns me how hot it will get once given a thrashing..
I will have to check the ignition timing but this is untouched since it was parked up and was spot on before.
That's normal for it to be hot on tick over, may times I've splashed water on the elbow and downpipe as its "sizzled" once warmed up.

Go for a gentle drive when its dark, cruise up and down your local bypass (off boost), pull over, pop the bonnet and have a look at the turbo, manifold and downpipe. If its dark and not glowing, then its not getting too hot.

Granted if you hammer it for 5-10 mins solid down the lanes, jump out and pop the bonnet, then you should expect it to be glowing red, again which is normal.

I had the opposite last year when the manifold, turbo and downpipe were all glowing when I was driving off boost! :hide:
That was a combo of my timing being 20 degree advanced and a faulty injector.
 

gtirx2

Member
Thanks for the replys guys.

I went without the restictor in the end and decided to only fit one if I got any blue smoke, I think in most cases the built in restictor should suffice if it has one fitted.

I think/hope/pray that this leak may have been where I reverse filled the core before I fitted it as it seems ok atm :)


Yeah I will have to keep an eye on the manifold/turbo temp when I get it on the road,just seemed hot in no time, it has been such along time since I have played with one of these though.

All the oil lines are tight and yeah I used a new gasket,pretty sure it was seeping out the core.

I am getting more paranoid about lack of oil now :roll::lol: as it is abit noisey.
Its proberly normal though as shroom pointed out,and I know they make abit of noise when shutting off.
Its just all the youtube vids don't help with mixed opinions of iffy bearings or lack of oil comments.
Its certainly has a slight whistle to it when idling and just sounds abit bearingy when shutting off.

Sounds similar to this one but not quite as loud..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdCno67nEYY

Think this is said to be normal, but I can find similar sounding clips where they say its fucked :lol:
 
Last edited:
Top