[TurboDilbur]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine here in Lakeland just bought an '87 GN. He wasn't getting more
then 12-14psi, and then all of a sudden it
shot up to 17psi. But... Oil started
shooting out the both breathers, the PCV,
and even out of the uppipe (no gasket). We pulled the turbo and the compressor blades
hardly spun. There was ZERO oil on the air intake side. The IC was dry, and TB was clean.

Would a seized turbo cause enough presure to blow oil out the breathers?

Also, the turbo looks stock, but the blades had a "BAL 40" stamped on em. Is this stock?
I have a PTE44 so I couldn't tell.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Turbo Dilbur

 

[Orlando_87GN]

A friend of mine here in Lakeland just bought an '87 GN. He wasn't getting more
then 12-14psi, and then all of a sudden it
shot up to 17psi.

I don't see how this is a symptom of a "blown turbo". It could possibly be a problem with the wastegate hoses blowing off, or springing a leak.

Oil started
shooting out the both breathers, the PCV,
and even out of the uppipe (no gasket).

That sounds like a blown head gasket or a hole in a piston. If all the boost suddenly makes it into the crankcase, oil will shoot out everywhere. (How does oil come out the uppipe?)..

We pulled the turbo and the compressor blades hardly spun.

Time for turbo rebuild.

There was ZERO oil on the air intake side. The IC was dry, and TB was clean.

How is this possible, if you just stated oil came out of the uppipe??!?!!?

Would a seized turbo cause enough presure to blow oil out the breathers?

No.

Also, the turbo looks stock, but the blades had a "BAL 40" stamped on em. Is this stock?
I have a PTE44 so I couldn't tell.

No telling..

Sounds like this car needs a leak down test, PCV, turbo rebuild and some spring cleaning. Also, the boost readings were not taken with the factory LED gauge right? Reliable boost readings can only be had with an aftermarket VDO or similar mechanical gauge...

Hope that helps.

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Email Address: mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

Current Combo: Stock Turbo, V4, MSD50's, TH DP, JayJackson 62mm TB, 16position MaxEffort Chip.
12.35 & 108.39 Street Trim.

 

[TurboDilbur]

The car had a leak down test just 2 weeks ago, the PCV is brand new and the correct one (new gromet too), all new vacuum hoses including the wastegate y-hoses. None of the hoses blew off either. We also did the spring cleaning, IC, tranny, presure cleaned the injectors, TPS, IAC, etc...

The oil was NOT coming up the up-pipe of course, just blew out the back side and drained down. There was NO gasket from the pipe to the turbo, hence the leak. But when I blew MY stock turbo many years ago I had oil in the IC and TB, and even some in my air filter. There's NO knock from the engine and was running fine (tuned by Turbolink) before it just started blowing oil out the breathers. I check the hose from the PCV just in case, but that was fine too. Even the oil feed line to the turbo was new, and not clogged.

I don't think it's a blown head gasket, but perhaps a piston. I've never had that problem.


quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There was ZERO oil on the air intake side. The IC was dry, and TB was clean.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How is this possible, if you just stated oil came out of the uppipe??!?!!?

Whats so hard to understand about that? The air intake isn't anywhere near the uppipe! There was NO oil from the inlet bell, MAF pipe, MAF sensor or air filter! The oil was simply draining DOWN the up-pipe and blowing out where the gasket SHOULDA been.

And yes, the car has 6 gauges, not using the stock leds of course. We ordered a new PTE51 today, so that'll take care of the turbo, just gotta figure out why oil was blowing out the breathers (3 quarts in just a couple mins) OUCH!

Thanks for the reply.
TD

 

[SurferX]

I'm no expert but do you mean the downpipe exhaust side of the turbo? If there was oil in the uppipe wouldn't it be draining down into the IC?
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Stock, No Posi, Cracked header... Work in Progress!

Http://www.surferx.com
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

[This message has been edited by SurferX (edited January 22, 2001).]

 

[Scottie-GNZ]

That is a lot of oil to lose in such a short time and sounds very similiar to my experience with a blown head gasket.

I blew a head gasket at the track. The gasket blew on the intake side and I stayed in it a little too long before I realized what happened. What happened was 20# boost from a PTE-51 into the crankcase, making the most incredible mess I have ever seen. The track was not happy with me either. I checked the oil level and only lost 2 qts but it incredible what 2 qts of oil looks like when it is blown past every engine seal and gasket.

BTW, I drove the car home

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Scottie's GNZ

 

[SurferX]

Originally posted by Scottie-GNZ:
That is a lot of oil to lose in such a short time and sounds very similiar to my experience with a blown head gasket.

Sounds like that's what happened to this guy. Scottie, how did you drive it home!? Was it running on oil and antifreeze or did it only blow into the motor and make it spit out of all the breathers? ( As I said I'm no expert )
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Stock, No Posi, Cracked header... Work in Progress!

Http://www.surferx.com
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

[This message has been edited by SurferX (edited January 22, 2001).]

 

[TurboDilbur]

Originally posted by SurferX:
I'm no expert but do you mean the downpipe exhaust side of the turbo? If there was oil in the uppipe wouldn't it be draining down into the IC?

No, not the downpipe. The UP-pipe, from the headers/crossover and UP into the exhaust housing. The seal musta went and it was just draining on that side. There was already an exhaust leak from the up-pipe to the turbo anyways. The IC is connected to the compressor housing. When I blew MY turbo several years ago it DID fill my IC.

This could be a head gasket, I'm no expert either. I'll have him pull the heads and make sure. I've only seen one TR with a blown head gasket and it had alot of WHITE smoke pouring our, overheated, and the oil was like a milkshake. This car started blowing BLACK smoke, didn't overheat (but he shut it off right away) and the oil from the pan seems fine.

Thank,
Turbo Dilbur www.turbodilbur.com

 

[Orlando_87GN]

I'll have him pull the heads and make sure.

No need to pull the heads just yet.. just do a reliable leak down test. Not a compression test either.

When I popped a head gasket in the number one cylinder, a compression test showed a healthy 160+ psi. And the leak down test showed 100% leak. No lie.

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Email Address: mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>

Current Combo: Stock Turbo, V4, MSD50's, TH DP, JayJackson 62mm TB, 16position MaxEffort Chip.
12.35 & 108.39 Street Trim.

 

[salvageV6]

Dibur, the "Uppipe" on a TR is commonly known as the pipe from the intercooler to the throttle body on the intake side of the motor. Hope that helps with some of the confusion.

 

[blkmagk]

That's the passenger exhaust manifold you are referring to. It has the O2 sensor in it with the purple wire, right? Sounds like your oil is coming from the drainback tube on the bottom of the turbo, the flexible looking on that actually isn't that flexible?

3 quarts in a couple of minutes? Man, that thing must look like a fountain. That drainback tube will leak real bad if it is cracked in one of the ribs. Unfortunately, they're not cheap. Something is definately up with the car. The crankcase is being pressurized to the extreme it seems. Can you hold your hand over the open breather hole and feel air blowing? If so, I'm sorry in advance.

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87 GN
Stock, basic mods, etc.

 

[TurboDilbur]

Originally posted by salvageV6:
Dibur, the "Uppipe" on a TR is commonly known as the pipe from the intercooler to the throttle body on the intake side of the motor. Hope that helps with some of the confusion.

I got that after I read some of the replies. Sorry about that.

 

[TurboDilbur]

Originally posted by blkmagk:
That's the passenger exhaust manifold you are referring to. It has the O2 sensor in it with the purple wire, right? Sounds like your oil is coming from the drainback tube on the bottom of the turbo, the flexible looking on that actually isn't that flexible?

Naw, wish it woulda been that simple. This car has the really nice ESP braided line on it. I put one of those on my '87 GN after 3 stock drain lines broke in the SAME place!


3 quarts in a couple of minutes? Man, that thing must look like a fountain. That drainback tube will leak real bad if it is cracked in one of the ribs. Unfortunately, they're not cheap. Something is definately up with the car. The crankcase is being pressurized to the extreme it seems. Can you hold your hand over the open breather hole and feel air blowing? If so, I'm sorry in advance.

This is NOT my car! <shew> But I do feel for this guy. He already yanked the heads, and it WAS a the head gasket. Bummer!

Turbo Dilbur

 

[TurboDilbur]

Originally posted by Orlando_87GN:
No need to pull the heads just yet.. just do a reliable leak down test. Not a compression test either.

When I popped a head gasket in the number one cylinder, a compression test showed a healthy 160+ psi. And the leak down test showed 100% leak. No lie.

Thanks, but tooooo late. He yanked em this morning and found it WAS a gasket. Poor guy.

He called GNT in Sarasota today, and I think he's gonna have the whole engine rebuilt anyways. 90k miles I think, but he the cash and wants the heads done anyway. Of course the stock turbo took a dump too, so I think he's gonna get a PTE51 or 52. He has a 9" 3200rpm Art Carr stall, so I told em to get the 52. I'm sure Dave at GNT will fix em up.

Thanks again, and sorry about the confusion over the "up-pipe"

Turbo Dilbur

 

[Scottie-GNZ]

Sorry to hear about the heads, but those symptoms sounded all too familiar.

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Scottie's GNZ