i had a mate of mine rebuild my t3 turbo, when he had finished he filled it with oil and let it stand for a day or two. it started to seep oil oil, is this norm???? he said there was no seal to replace anything here in the kit. i've posted pic so people know what i mean, do you need to replace a seal to stop this befor he goes any further or is it ok when it is run in????



as you can see its only minimal but is it norm??? or is there chance it could seal when running in.

Riggie

 

Looks abit focked

 

There is no seal, this is why they tend to use oil, all you need to do is to fill the oil inlet hole with oil and let is dissapear a few times, this will take 20 mins max, spin the turbo by hand when doing it as it will help draw in the oil.
The pressure inside a turbo tends to stop so much oil being used, if he's used thin oil it most likely appears worse than it is.
Just let it idle for a few mins when started just to ensure a nice supply of oil.
tabetha

 

i see what you mean by the picture, but i can assure you it must be a reflection off the phones camera, had to double check today.... phew!!! lol


thanks to everyone who replied, really helped me. i know now that the slight leak is ok and my turbo rebuild can move forth lol.... super!!! lol

 

You have been told before by both me and Stu, and i will tell you again

ALL TURBOS HAVE OIL SEALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you think the oil flows through the core but doesnt pass into the exhaust and compressor housing because "its not allowed to"

I might go and talk to the brick wall it will probably listen/understand/talk more sense than you do.

 

Riggie: I can't really say too much about what your friend may have done to the turbo, but having rebuilt turbo's myself i can assure you 101% there is seals inside, and even a "minor" turbo service kit includes them.

The seapage you have currently is because the turbo has been filled with oil and isnt on a running engine, the oil seals in turbos rely largely on simple physics laws to control the oil within the turbo. Those marks on the compressor turbine looks serious in the pictures, are they actually worn?

 

i can confirm all turbos have oil seals, they are just a ring seal like you find on a piston, but smaller.
they are not perfect at sealing and hence why stagger gap ones are available.
however seeping without decent oil pressure is defo an issue.
you may find the old oil seal has damaged the compressor housing perhaps and hence you need an oversized one.
rebuilding a turbo is easy, just balancing needs a specialist.

 

no they arnt worn at all, just for some reason when i took the picture with my phone, something must of reflected off the flash... honestly they are fine.

 

Fair enough then if they aren't worn

have you fitted it yet then to see if the rebuild worked?

 

no not yet, bit of a dilemma now....i asked him 2day how he did it and he basically said took it to bits and built it back up. he didnt take into account that it would of been better to mark it so it all went bk the same way. im concerned it might not be balanced now, but i dont know. whats the protocall for rebuilding. could i get away with it???? should of done the getting thing myself lol

 

Hmmmmm, what sort of boost are you looking to run? If its low boost i myself would just give it a go, chances are it will be ok.

At the end of the day its done now anyway, you will never know where it was before now its been done so you either give it a go or send it away and have it done properly (which will be a waste of the home rebuild kit)

 

I thought that when you rebuild these things they would leak fairly badly untill ran in on the car, which i was told a good 10mile trip down the motorway would do. Its to do with the oil seals not mating up to the shaft perfectly untill worn in. a bit like piston rings really.

JAmes.

 

Not really mate, the difference being is piston rings slide up and down inside a slightly abrasive bore, the seal inside a turbo sits in a groove and the shaft around it spins, and mine didnt smoke once refitted would be my 2p's worth of proof to the subject.

 

refitted the turbo, no smoke at all.... well chuffed lol. spools up fine and holds boost great.

BUT, it was running 26-25psi befor i had it rebuilt. how it hold 16-15psi. i've only taken the actuator off and bolted it back on. could i of adjusted it by mistake while it was off? i didnt undo any bolts on the actuator arm, maybe i rotated the arm a few times on the actuator. just seems silly to loose 10psi just from rebuilding.

 

The only way you could of adjusted the actuator is by shortening/lengthening the rod.

The rod will spin inside the housing forever it wont make a blind bit of difference though, you have to physically undo the nut and then spin the eyelet round on the shaft.

Have you checked for boost leaks?

 

thats what i was thinking. i have not adjusted it then. only thing i can think of is i have fitted a PACE rs 500 cooler instead of the standard intercooler. wonder if it could be cause of that.

 

whats the best way to check for boost leaks?

 

The bigger intercooler will more than likely make a difference, but then that IC should be making the ACT's drop so i would expect it to overboost really???

Boost leaks? That can only really be slpit hoses and stuff mate, worth a look though a split hose is common to only leak when you come on boost for obvious reasons.

 

defo aint over boosting lol. al check hoses in morning.

 

The intercooler will make a big difference IF you have taken your boost pressure for the wastegate actuator before the intercooler (hot air) and you are reading a gauge plugged to after the intercooler (cold air).

 

i have taken the gauge reading from the plenum chamber, would that help??? far as im aware i have my-31 actuator plummed straight to my amel valve.it all went bk on the way it came off lol.
had a look 2day, there is a slight leak past the jubalee clip on the throttle side of the intercooler. i put a new jubaliee on and will try it later on.

 

Yes that would see a difference as Jesse described.

And the leaking jubilee wont of been helping

 

so how do i have mine??? my actuator is to the amel valve, n gauge is to the plenum.

 

Well as Jesse has explained the new IC will be making a big difference to the air temps which will be affecting the reading you see on the gauge as its after the IC, you could plumb the guage in before the IC?

 

So most probably you have the very same boost levels after the turbo as before.

 

got it sorted now, didnt alf bloody over boost!!! lol