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Turbo rebuilding


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The oil seals in my turbo are starting to go, when I took my plenum off to paint it there was a bunch of oil inside of it, and when I hammer on it I smell burning oil a lil while later, and it seems to lose oil if I get on it too. So where would I get the seals and are they hard to replace??

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First I would do I little investigating.

The oil may be ring blow by (all us turbo owners expierence it)

The oil finds it's way into the intake via the PCV fittings (there are two) that go into the MAF to turbo pipe (the corrugated rubber pipe with the plastic can on it)

A new PCV valve from Subaru (aftermarkets are bogus) may solve this problem.

BTW the oil galleries on your turbo are inside the cooling passages, the oil would end up in the coolant not the intake.

 

Getting a turbo rebuilt is normaly a job for a professional as the balance and sealing is critical due to the RPM the turbine shaft rotates at.

Do as you wish.

Hope this helps

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give what skip said a try and then go for the big buck turbo rebuild. every ihi i have seen that was toast, would fill the intake up with oil. when these turbos go bad its not just seals, its usually the shaft and the bearing that share a little wear each. you cant realy do it yourself and expect to have a reliable turbo. sounds like its time for an upgrade.

 

oh... as far as i have seen, the coolant passages are cast iron, and they couldnt get oil in them, cuz its just a little galley through solid metal. the coolant has no contact with seals, just freez plugs.

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Rebuild kit is $125 from Turbo City, If you want to attempt it.

You NEED a ridiculously thin pair of snap ring pliers to get 4 snap rings out. Also, there are some allen or torx screws (don't remember) that are loctited in there, try not to gouge them up, or they will never come out. Unless you have a tig welder.

Kit comes w/ new hydrodynamic bushings, snap rings, trust plates, metallic seals, some other dohickies, and new little bolts to replace the ones you will probably destroy. Index the compressor wheel to the shaft, and she will work. Did this for an Xt turbocharger that eventually ended up on a *ahem* Honda.

BTW it still leaked cuz the cartridge was worn out, no amout of rebuilding could have fixed that. But it made 15 psi.

$0.02,

Eric

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If the oil seal is leaking, you will find excessive carbon deposits on the tubine, like on a sparkplug. If the exhaust smoke is blue and you suspect the compressor side oil seal is leaking, check for excessive oil in the plenum. If its obvious that the turbocharger is blowing oil into the pipe, first check the PCV system and other possible engine causes before condemning the turbo..

Rob

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I've definatly got a problem with mine. It's blowing huge clouds of smoke, and I burn through about 8q of oil a week. I've gone trough the motor, new heads, checked the rings, removed the pcv system, but it still smokes. There is no oil in the intake, or evidence on the plugs. I've pulled off the crossover pipe, and there is no smoke coming out of the heads. So I'm suspecting the seal on the exhaust side has gone out. So I'm either looking for an EA82 turbo unit, or a rebuild kit, or reseal kit. I don't have much of a budget to work on here, and need to get my car more reliable, it's my daily driver! Thanks.

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Something I haven't seen mentioned yet in this thread: oil is a hydrocarbon. You put enough of it down the exhaust, add some heat and oxygen, and kiss your cats goodbye. There's even a TSB on something I worked on recently that mentioned this -- Cadillac Northstar? Passat? Can't recall.

 

IOW, after fixing the oil consumption problem, you'll want to evaluate your cats to see if they still flow OK.

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