So I changed my spark plugs this weekend an removed my hard pipe and throttle body to do so and noticed there's oil in my hard pipe that goes to my intercooler. Is that suppose to happen? I thought only air should be going in there?
Here's a pic

 

Its from your turbos

 

I'm pretty sure the the stock crankcase ventilation system has a line venting to the primary turbo so I think what you're seeing is somewhat normal

 

Not sure where the other half of my post went...

Without a catch can, some oil is normal due to the vent line from the oil filler neck. If its a significant amount, the oil seals on the turbos are prob going out so you'd need new turbos/rebuild yours.

 

Oh alright, it's not a ton it just looks like the inside walls of the pipe has oil but when I pulled the pipe off none came out just looks like it's wet everywhere. I'm trying to hold off on rebuilding the turbos as long as I can because I plan on going single and don't want to put money in the twins when I know I'm going to replace them.

 

well if it gets worse stock twins can usually be had for around 250 no need to rebuild

but a cheaper solution is adding a catch can and seeing if it helps

 

What kind of driving are you doing with the car (street only, autox, some track)?

 

Cars just all stock and my DD it just has a DP.

 

Basically, for a car which see aggressive driving (auto-x, some track days, etc), getting oil into the intake tract is normal due to the way the crankcase is vented. It's basically vented right back into the primary intake nozzle so any "moisture" through that system ends up in your intercooler piping. Oil can and does get pushed through the crankcase ventilation system during hard driving/cornering which is why those owners go with a catch can. However, if there is no aggressive driving/cornering, oil in the intake tract (especially pooling oil) is not normal.

 

Awesome! So nothing major to worry about then. I do semi hard pulls to like 5k rpm lol but yeah no pools of it.
Also, there was oil on the side of my engine case by the top left spark plug, it looked like a fitting was the issue, is that the oil sending unit?

 

glad I read this. I have small amount of oil in my hard pipe. No where near as much as SP Rocket. I do drive my car pretty hard, so its good to hear that it can be somewhat normal.

 

take it to redline every now n then

it helps clear out the carbon build up from DD'ing

i call it spirited decongestion

 

Hahaha clever "spirited decongestion" I don't think hwy patrol will like that around where I live haha
Yeah I baby this thing man I'm afraid of taking it to redline though lol
Reason being is because I bought the car with about 108k miles it has about 40k on a rebuilt engine and I don't know how abused it was. So I don't want to risk killing the engine before I can save up for the single conversion for it. Here and there ill push maybe 5k rpm in a third gear pull.

 

Drive that damn thing! If you DON'T rev it, that is even worse than not revving it to redline every now and again... Carbon lock occurs from your Nancy driving techniques. Rev it! You're not going to hurt it. But to the point of the thread, I get oil out of my bov on the track due to my lack of a catch can. Otherwise the oil in the intake piping right there is normal. Catch can is on my list this summer before track season because that makes a spectacular mess on track days.

 

Hahahahahaha ok so I revv to redline while in neutral or take it to redline in a few gears?
I took it to 6k today approaching a light and slowed down right after as a local cop was looking dead at me like thinking to himself "you're lucky I didn't radar you" or thinking "on my way home so you're lucky punk!!" Lol

 

lol, well yes please watch for lawmen first.

but I generally hit redline on fwy onramps in 3rd, getting up to ~80 and just shifting into 4th then 5th and letting off the gas to cruise speed. dont really feel like a speed demon, and can still hit all the RPMs.

40k on a rebuild is low miles, even if abused by previous owner--if you have good compression and arent abusing it anymore, redline is CAKE for these motors


EDIT: one more thing to note, I read on these forums, that the secondary injectors don't even come on until 6k+ rpm, another reason to hit redline every now and then--preventing them from gunking up.

also, for the record, I have about teh same amt of oil in my hardpipes as well

 

Haha yeah that cop wanted to stop me!
I hit 3rd gear redline this morning on the on ramp.....felt good!! 😈 (Evil face)

 

Usually when you start regularly seeing dark smoke out the exhaust with spirited accelerations is when the turbo seals have given up and a rebuild is in order. Some Oil in the hard pipe is normal.

 

The crappy stock pcv system dumps oil into the primary turbo inlet. Its really a poor design as it gets oil in the intake tract and intercooler. Put a catch can inline with that hose and eliminate the pcv valve.

 

It's been going like 20 years with the stock system, why change it if you're not doing a bunch of mods? Keep it the way it is, it'll be fine unless your turbos are failing. Save yourself the hassle of having to check the catch can and scrutinizing the amount of oil that gets in there.

 

Yeah I figured I'd keep it stock until I go single and mod from there. As long as nothing's wrong and the car is running fine ill keep it how it is. For now at least. Thanks guys.