I just installed a powerlab turbo kit on my friends built 06. He has a basic build with rods pistons and jwt cams. This was done by a local engine shop. The installation went fairly well we had some fitment issues due to his car being an 06 and him wanting to utilized the nismo headers. But with a little fabrication we made it work. We cranked the car and all was well I down loaded a base tune and we went down the road to tune the car. The base tune was ok for the wastegate pressure a little rich down low but cleaned up. I cleaned up the rich at low rpm and we started adding boost. We started at wastegate pressure which was around 7lbs. I took my time and made our way to about 9.5lbs making a 4th gear pass at this pressure afr went a little lean for me at 11.5. I told him to stop so I could add some fuel. While sitting on the side of the road the oil light comes on. Stays on for about 30sec and goes off. I look at the oil pressure and it is at around between 5-8lbs at idle and doesn't go above 25-30 with rpm. I tell him we need to go back to the shop and then motor starts making a tapping sound. we get back to the shop and the tapping sound is still there. we start checking oil lines and oil level everthing is fine. the car will rev and run fairly well it is just making a tapping sound,and then the car started smoking. well over the past two weeks i've been tearing the motor out of the car and I think tha t I know the reason the car is making the noise but that doesn't explain the smoke. After removing the turbo and piping off the car I notice that starting at the up pipe through the turbo and downpipe the is an excessive ammount of oil. This oil is also in the intercooler piping and intercooler. This is the problem i don't understand. The oil plumbing was done just as the installation manual feed on top and drain on bottom I don't see how i could of messed up that. I'm wondering if when putting the turbo housing together I didn't tighten the bolts up tight enough. Would that make this happen. I know the oil is not coming out of the motor because all pipes leading to the turbo are clean except the last pipe that goes to the turbo. I know I'm probaly gonna get flamed but if you have any information i would appreciate it.

 

You mention the oil drain was on the bottom.. did it have a straight path that was entirely down-hill to the oil return in the pan? It may just be a bad turbo seal (likely covered under warranty if this is a new unit).

Also, do yourself a favor in the future: If oil light comes on and/or pressure is low: STOP. Check things out, tow the car back, etc. Too much damage can happen too fast with a low oil situation.

 

Is there oil inside the crossover pipe? Have you tried to clean out the pipes, re-tighten everything and check all your lines and fittings; Let her idle and monitor the oil pressure? What was causing the "tapping sound"?

 

Oil Return Goes Straight Down To The Fitting. No Oil In The Crossover Pipe. If This Is An Oil Seal Problem That Could Cause A Drop In Oil Pressure Couldn't It. The builder used the wrong shims with the jim wolf cams.

 

Well the shims are probably the solution to your tapping noise, but turbo seals aren't likely to cause a major drop in oil pressure.

 

Hal, maybe you can give your expertise to this.... if you have smoke coming from your exhaust, oil is either getting into it at the turbine housing or it's already in the exhaust gases when it hits the turbo. You don't have oil in your cross-over pipe so it would have to be from the driver side only if this is the case. It may also be the turbo seal leaking oil into the housing.

Please do take this the wrong way, but did you check the lines to the gauge as well to make sure it's reading correctly?

Who did you purchase the kit from?

 

at this point i wont take anything personally but i checked the line where the oil pump comes out there are no leaks. if the smoke was coming from the motor wouldn't all my intercooler pipes have a sut or smokey look on the inside because the oil in them is fresh and looks very clean and the pipes are clean on the inside except the oil. The kit is from intense motorsports.

 

If there's oil coming out of the turbo into your IC piping, it's there because the pressure is high enough to overcome the seal but keep in mind that air pressure in the piping helps the seal to do its job. Anything that interferes with this balance will cause leakage (including as you note, the seal itself).

So improper drainage, elevated crankcase pressure (check PCV routing and ensure you have positive crankcase ventilation at idle and at boost - or at least a path for vapors to escape, ie open breather), choking, seal of course...

I'd be really worried if the oil pressure light came on. Do you tee off right near that sensor for the oil supply feeds to the turbos? That means something stopped oil flow through the turbos. You've got to find it.

 

You sound like you know what your looking for. If you run out of options call Intense and ask for Han. He will be able to help you figure out your problem. I'm sure if this issue is because of the Turbo kit (If it doesn't turn out to be the crankcase or PCV), they will get you squared away.

 

Yes you tee off right near the sensor for the oil supply. Unfortunately, the motor is out of the car so I can approach the oil pressure issue right this moment.

 

Did you take apart the Turbo since it's out to check the seals?

 

I took the impeller out of both housings cant see anything I was hoping someone could tell me if the symptoms sound like a leaky seal so I wouldn't have to tear the turbo apart.

 

I don't think a leaky seal is the cause of the problem. Your oil pressure seems really low. What kind of oil are you using? Even with 10W-40, mine was in the teens at max temp at idle and in the 60's at load. With 15W-50 it's in the 30s at idle and in the 70s at load.

The car smoking at idle really sounds like you've got your crankcase ventilation system blocked. Change the PCV valve and make sure the driver's side isn't plugged up (open to air with a breather for testing purposes). I know this from firsthand experience. My PCV failed on the driver's side and with heat, the catch can tubing I was using for the driver's side collapsed. My car turned into the space shuttle! It took me all weekend to clean out the IC piping. Not fun. I made darn sure to use SAE R9 fuel injection hoses from that point on.

 

Were using 10w40. The car doesn't smoke at idle it only smokes when you rev it. I will check the pcv valve and hose routing to make sure it isn' kinked though. I really appreciate all the input guys.

 

Just got home and checked the pcv hose and it was slightly kinked even with the intercooler pipe off. I understand how this could lead to oil in the intercooler piping on the cool side of the turbo, but could the oil go all the way back to the turbo? I'm gonna call intense tomorrow see what input they have for me.

 

After reading the original post, my bet is on a bad build with excessive bearing clearances. If you are idling at 5-8psi and you never see more then 30psi even at WOT, then you have serious internal issues or a massive oil leak.

The smoking also could be blowby from poor ring sealing due to excessive piston to bore clearance, or a busted ringland. If you said it was smoking upon decel after a hard pull with boost, I would suspect a turbo seal or PCV issue. However, smoking when the engine is revving without load, its either internal engine issues or just burn off of residual oil in the exhaust.

I would do a compression or leak down test asap.