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Is it normal to have oil on the bottom of the turbo?

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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 03:51 PM
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Is it normal to have oil on the bottom of the turbo?

So I was doing an oil change and I decided to spend some time inspecting everything from underneath. Since I am having issues boosting the car past 4psi I figured what the hell, I'll look.

Anyways... there is fresh oil on the bottom of the turbo that faces the rear end (closest to transmission).
I wanted to know if that was normal or if my turbos are going bad/already bad.
They are the original turbos and the car has 64,500 mi.
Everything else is looking good (thank god).
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 04:23 PM
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Not normal. Could be the seals in the turbos turning bad.
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 04:34 PM
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Might be the oil return lines, thats whats wrong with mine.
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 05:24 PM
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As in the gaskets for the lines are bad or your lines are actually damaged?
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 05:45 PM
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Could be clean your lines with break cleaner and run the car for a test drive them check them out. My twins were junk at 60k when I went single.
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 07:34 PM
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The back turbo tends to want to leak around the oil return line. It is a bit of a bitch to fix, but can be done by removing the rear turbo intake, getting under the car with a long extension and 10mm socket on a ratchet.
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 07:46 PM
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yeah my oil return line on the rear turbo is leaking as well, im gathering that this is a normal problem now?
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 08:34 PM
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Could this be effecting oil temperature too?

I think my turbos are junk to be honest.It sounds like air is rushing out while it spins up but I've never heard it on any other car or what a turbo sounds like (this is my first turb car).
I can only get 3-4 psi max and all of my hoses have been replaced and every single ~1" dia hose has screw clamps and every small silicon hose has been replaced and using nylon zip ties. Every bigger coupling has brand new silicon with large screw clamps.

losing my mind!
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 10:31 PM
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Originally Posted by pauli311
Could this be effecting oil temperature too?

I think my turbos are junk to be honest.It sounds like air is rushing out while it spins up but I've never heard it on any other car or what a turbo sounds like (this is my first turb car).
I can only get 3-4 psi max and all of my hoses have been replaced and every single ~1" dia hose has screw clamps and every small silicon hose has been replaced and using nylon zip ties. Every bigger coupling has brand new silicon with large screw clamps.

losing my mind!
If you hear air rushing you are bleeding off boost for some reason. Perhaps when you our someone replaced your lines a few lines were misrouted(very common) thereby causing your charge control system to be inoperable and making the turbo's blow off their boost. IN all honesty I've seen about 30 sets of turbos from FD's that are running poorly due to control problems. The owner replaces them only to have the same problem with the new set(local dealer has sent over a dozen such cases to me) and upon inspection of the turbos there is nothing wrong with them. After inspecting the system I usually find a check valve oriented incorrectly or a hose routed incorrectly.
Art
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Old Aug 5, 2007 | 10:33 PM
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You honestly have just a boost leak mate,,, you can hear the air noise so there must be a leak somewhere (the oil leak you describe is on the 2nd turbo this wouldnt prevent you from building boost you would likely just smoke a bit under boost) keep searching for that boost leak,,,its within the primary set up-> check this link
http://www.autosportracetech.com/RX-...leshooting.htm
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Old Aug 6, 2007 | 08:21 AM
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The oil you're seeing is fairly typical for original, 14 year old twins. It might be a fixable problem (return line) and it might not be (seals).

The boost problem is not the turbos themselves--it's the control system, as RTS3GEN mentioned. You most likely have a problem with a solenoid, check valve or vacuum line. I believe Banzai Racing is out in your area, have them fix the problem for you, a silicone hose zip tie job would most likely be in order.
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Old Aug 6, 2007 | 08:32 AM
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Maybe the crossover/y-pipe coupler is split and leaking boost, along with oil from the turbos(internally)?
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Old Aug 6, 2007 | 10:37 AM
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having oil anywhere but inside the engine is not normal.
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