Mean Machine

Hey everyone,
I had recently sold my FD : ( because of gas prices a few days ago. however the person i sold it too just called me saying that he had taken it to the dealer who said "the turbo is leaking oil internally" and that they "would have to replace the entire turbo unit" for 7000$ canadian.
right before i sold it i had been driving it and it was working perfectly fine oil pressure and level was normal and the BOV sounded like it was getting plenty of pressure (vented to atmosphere). also i had the car at the dealer just shortly before i put it away for the winter and they seemed unable to notice such a problem then. basically im not sure but i think i smell bullshit. if anybody has had a similar problems i would love some advice and if so what are some of the signs. also if this is an actual problem is there any way to correct it that wont cost me a third of the cars value.

thanks alot in advance for any help
cheers, john

IRPerformance

iTrader: (41)

Its normal for these cars to have a little oil in the intake tract. If the car is making proper boost and isn't visually smoking it should be fine. The dealership are idiots. Not trying to be a dick, but used cars are usually sold as is so it was the buyer's responsibility to have it checked before the sale.

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

Turbos can go bad in 3 basic ways. There is a turbine wheel and housing, a compressor wheel and housing, and the shaft/center between where the oil is injected for lube.

There is a seal between the center and compressor, and if it goes bad then oil will get into the intake tract, puddle up, and eventually be blown into the engine to be burned and produce carbon and smoke out the exhaust.

There is another such seal between the center and turbine, and if it goes bad oil will hit the hot turbine wheel and housing and produce smoke there, out the exhaust. I've even seen it be bad enough to actually let some oil run out on the external area of the turbos. This is the most common cause of smoke from a turbo.

Finally, the bearings in the center section can wear sufficiently to have too much play or even let the wheels hit the housings. THis is not too common in rx7 turbos but does happen.

For problems one and 2, it's judgement call as to how much is too much, but ANY set of used stock turbos WILL have some oil in the intake and WILL smoke slightly out the exhaust. The more miles, the more oil loss.

Though new turbos do cost around 3 grand USD from mazda, you can get them rebuilt for under a grand. This is not always a 100% solution either, but it's better than 3 grand.

This is also a big reason why many owners go single turbo, for simplicity and a new turbo that is cheaper than new twins.

zullo

"he had taken it to the dealer", says it all right there. My local Mazda dealer insisted I needed a new motor AND new turbos to cure some oil in the intake tract. They somehow were able to make this diagnosis without pulling the turbos or running a compression test!

The engine and turbos were very strong for **3 seasons of track duty and daily driving** after that!