Oil in turbo + intercooler pipes

[meerkatmag]

I've recently fitted a turbo to my van and generally it's been driving nicely since. But the other day I had an intercooler hose pop off at full boost and while putting it back together (tighter this time) I noticed there's a fair amount of oil inside the pipes. I took a few other hoses apart to check and really the whole system from turbo outlet into the intercooler is laced with oil, in a few places it has pooled a bit. Is this normal? There is a PCV system attached before the turbo inlet so I guess it could be all from that. It does seem a lot considering I've only driven it a few hundred miles since fitting the turbo.

I did have some issues with the turbo oil drain pipe, as it's so short the AN hoses kept kinking so I was forever making new ones. Finally got it to work with a 16mm rubber hose and barb fittings, rather than a full AN10 hydraulic line. I did drive it a bit with some of the kinked hoses, now I'm worried that this restriction could have messed up the seals in the turbo?

How much oil would you expect to see in the turbo hoses? Is some oil normal? Does it sound like something is wrong?

[Chug]

Anything other than a light misting of oil I would be wary of, you don't want a runaway engine, has the oil level dropped significantly? Check the turbo impeller closely for movement and condition.

[meerkatmag]

There's no oil getting to the intake at all, it's only oily at the outlet of the turbo and the pipes leading to intercooler. I don't think any noticeable drop in oil level but I will check that again tomorrow. I might give it some more miles and check again to see if it continues.

If the turbo is leaking internally Ill need to get it rebuilt presumably?

[meerkatmag]

I've upgraded the drain hose so it is straighter and has less restriction and I've fitted a pressure sensor to crankcase to check there's not any excessive pressure. It remains less than atomspheric pressure all the time, never going above 0psi.

the leaking is not so bad now with the new drain hose, but there's still the tiniest seeping oil coming from the base of the compressor housing.

Oil pressure when warm is 65psi at 3000rpm and 20psi at idle. No restrictor into the turbo. Is this too high for the K04?

Any ideas what's wrong? I'm wondering if there could be something wrong with the turbo rebuild?

Some pics of the install and the point it's leaking if that helps.

IMG20231011121344.jpg

IMG20231011122538.jpg

[meerkatmag]

Just to correct something above. My crankcase sensor seems to be off by a bit. Looks like crank pressure is 1.5psi at its highest. Seems like this is pretty good?

I gave in and fitted the 40psi oil pressure restrictor. I know everyone says not to do this. But without any other advice I've got no choice. It appears to be drying up now so hopefully that's fixed it. I guess the turbo might have slightly shorter life?