ok. so i have a hellion kit on my 2003 cobra and this is my second t76 bb t'netics turbo to leak oil from the charge pipe coupler.
the feed line is a -4 line with a .040 restrictor and a -10 drain. here are some pics of the drain. im running 5w20 royal purple as well. the car drives and idles great. i had the turbo for 2 weeks. the first week, no leak, but i didnt get into boost until a dyno day on saturday. the car put down great numbers 623hp and 645tq at 16lbs of boost. at first i thought my oil drain housing was loose so i put some gasket maker on it and tightened it up. now i get the oil seeping out of the coupler.
i have both valve cover pcv holes going to a vented catch can. any idea on what to do? im looking at buying another turbo but im afraid to have the same results.
thanks!

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I've learned over the last 10 years and well over 17,000 turbo rebuilds that has long has the turbo isn't damaged. 99% of all oil control problems are do to poor oil drainage usually caused by to much crankcase pressure. You say you have two lines going to catch cans, Your using at least a -10 to the catch cans right and the catch cans are mounted lower than the valve cover? And just IMO a .040 restriction is to small. You may have some turbo damage using one that small

 

i believe im using regular 3/8 hose for my pcv lines. the catch can sit about the same the same height as the valve covers. should it be lower or higher? should my pcv lines be thicker/bigger? how big?

 

they need to be lower so if any oil gets pushed out the line it can drain into the can and not sit in the line and block any pressure from escaping. You not using pcv valves with these catch cans are you?

 

no, im not using any valves. this is what my catch can looks like.

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That doesn't look to bad. I think has a quickie test i would block off both those catch cans, and get a friend to start the car and bring the rpm's up to around 2000. And then take the oil filter cap off and see if you feel any pressure coming out. I can't tell you how many times I helped a customer using this quickie method out in the parking lot and has I took the cap off if it would blow my hand off and the engine would be smoking like a freight train. If it doesn't feel to bad then it may be time to check your turbo checked out

 

i dont understand. what im a testing with this test? pressure is released, the catch can always fills with moisture and such from the oil pan. your asking me to plug the holes on pcv and open the oil cap? what does it mean if there is air blowing my hand away.

my car doesnt smoke at all btw.

 

if you block off your breather cans and take take the oil filter cap off, if you feel pressure coming out that is crankcase pressure, blow by whatever you want to call it. you have two posts on this same subject. If you turbo is leaking out the compressor side and the turbo is in good shape, that's a textbook example of a turbo that not draining correctly. Unless the turbo is damaged there is probably another issue. The piston ring seal on a turbo doesn't blow out unless the turbo has been damaged . And if you just had you car up on the dyno and the turbo didn't blow itself to bits I would be willing to bet you have other issues. Just because the car starts and runs doesn't mean something isn't wrong. I've seen it to many times, like a said 99% of oil control problems are a direct result of to much crankcase pressure, especially on add-on, DIY set-ups.
You can do a quickie check in less than 5 minutes, is it not worth it? Or do you want to just keep buying turbos and never get rid of the problem

 

ok, so if get crankcase pressure coming out of the oil cap, does that mean the turbo isnt being drained properly or does it mean something else?

 

nothing out the oil cap. what does that mean.

 

Thats good, I would get the turbo checked out to see if there is or is not a problem with it.

 

i took apart my old turbo that had the same problem and noticed a some oil between the cover and the backplate. it all collects at the bottom. is this normal?

 

Unless the shaft is all loose and sloppy, the turbos not draining period. You may be getting alot of windage off the crank. What size is your drain flange adapter. I mean like is it a 3/8 NPT to -10 or something like that. NPT adapters, especially cheap ones will have a real small hole for the fluid to run out. If you get a chance take off your drain flange and measure the size of the hole in the AN adapter. If its less than 1/2 inch that could be your problem. post a pic to if you can

 

funny you mention that. i dont have the car with, but i looked at the parts list from hellion and there is a 3/8 to -10 oil return fitting. is this too small. what do you recommend.

 

LOL, bets thats your problem. When I would get turbos in for repair and if they had a little ass adapter like that I would run a 1/2 drill through them.. Most of the time there is plenty of material to do so. If you take off the fitting and look through it and there is a big step in going from one size to the other, what you probably have is 3/8 on one side and 1/2 on the other. Even if you have a -14 line it can only flow has much has that little adapter will allow. If thats what you find when you take it apart, go to to local Hot Rod shop and get a quality fitting, I preferred Aeroquip or Russell, or just get a 1/2 drill and see if you have enough meat in your fitting to drill it through. If you don't have enough materail to do so, go get another drain flange that can accept at least a 1/2 NPT adapter. Heres a link to what you want:

http://www.atpturbo.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ATP-FLA-009&Category_Code=FLA

Dave

 

i was reading the instructions and it looks as though the fitting used when tapping the oil pan is 3/8 to -10. should i increase the size of he punch? i'll replace the rest of the oil fitting, but i think this might seem like a good idea.

any thoughs

 

yes, absolutely. You ever hear the expression " A chain is only has strong has its weakest link" That probably were your at. Even if you used a -18 line on a -4 size adapter won't flow anymore that the -4 adapter. You cannot ever make the drain line to big. Bigger is always better on drain lines. Always

Dave

 

dave, that makes sense...but the turbos I have seen the drain from the turbo is smaller than 3/8. Meaning the 3/8 drain I put over it doesn't shroud the turbo's drain.

 

I haven't built but one turbo set up, but I would say your vent lines from your valve covers is to small also, I would go at least 5/8 hose I have a #12 line from my valve covers....the turbo will create alot of crank case pressure and going through a 3/8 hose just doesn't seem like enough, might not hurt to try anyway......good luck bro

 

thanks soo much guys. any one know where i can find a fitting to tap my oil pan? -10 to -10 something like that?