Blowby under load?

[tjm]

I see oil in front of the compressor in that pic. If the tube you just took off is dry than turbo time.

inlet Tube to turbo charger is bone dry. Help me understand @Tuesdak - if there is no shaft play front to back then what could be making the turbo leak?

Turbo rebuilt December 2021
I just checked the crankcase breather - no oil sitting in it, nothing to drain. no blockage in either of the outlet tubes. I washed with dawn/water anyway.


Here is a better pic of the drain. looks fine to me as in there are no horizontal sections. its all downhill.

 

[Ozymandias]

Having it rebuilt short doesn't mean it is good after all.
I had a brand new out of the box Trurbo from a reputable shop and it failed on me from day one by having massive blowby into the crankcase so bad that my oil Temps went through the roof everytime I used it mildly hard. Also the oil was generally 20°F warmer then I was used to which was the first indicator of something is going on.

I got it replaced even (shortly) after the warranty period because it took me so long to figure out that the new Turbo was causing all my problems.

 

[Ozymandias]

There is an easy test for it that I figured out for this.
Start your engine cold, engage the EB, instantly grab the oil drain tube with your bare hand. If it heats up to the point you can't hold it any longer after a minute or so- Bingo.
If the Turbo is health the pipe stays cold as the (still) cold oil running down keeps it cold for much longer then a minute or two.

A secondary test is disconnect the drain tube and send it into a bucket, if it smokes/blows out the tube with the EB on - Bingo.
Don't worry, it takes some time to drain 11 quarts from the Turbo feed, you don't run it down to run this test.

 

[tjm]

There is an easy test for it that I figured out for this.
Start your engine cold, engage the EB, instantly grab the oil drain tube with your bare hand. If it heats up to the point you can't hold it any longer after a minute or so- Bingo.
If the Turbo is health the pipe stays cold as the (still) cold oil running down keeps it cold for much longer then a minute or two.

A secondary test is disconnect the drain tube and send it into a bucket, if it smokes/blows out the tube with the EB on - Bingo.
Don't worry, it takes some time to drain 11 quarts from the Turbo feed, you don't run it down to run this test.

How do you manually engage the pacbrake? Doesn't the torque convert have to be locked Ozy?

 

[tjm]

Ok I figured it out Ozy, forgot that the brake turns on on a cold engine until it reaches operating temp. Ran the test - drain pipe didn’t get super hot at all. Probably hung on for 2 minutes, could have gone longer. Exhaust pipe was super hot. Ambient temp was 47, I stopped hanging on when engine temp was 125

 

[Ozymandias]

Ok I figured it out Ozy, forgot that the brake turns on on a cold engine until it reaches operating temp. Ran the test - drain pipe didn’t get super hot at all. Probably hung on for 2 minutes, could have gone longer. Exhaust pipe was super hot. Ambient temp was 47, I stopped hanging on when engine temp was 125

Okay, that means your exhaust side of the Turbo seals well.

 

[tjm]

Okay, that means your exhaust side of the Turbo seals well.

Thanks Ozy. Question for you. Did you have to remove your pacbrake to replace your Turbo?

 

[Ozymandias]

Yes I did because it is incredibly difficult to line up Turbo and PAC perfectly inside the truck so that they don't leak at the connection.
Just make a mark before you separate the old unit so you can bring the new Turbo into the same orientation with the PAC.

But it can be done without if you worry to pull it.

I got a Mahle Turbo the second time, 800$ something from Rockauto. Make sure you get the right partnumber for the 04.5, they offer both variations for MY04.

https://www.rockauto.com/de/moreinfo.php?pk=5747925&cc=1424641&pt=5764

I believe this is the closest you can get in quality to the factory Holset which is prohibitively priced.

PS: I had also a slight amount of oil on the compressor side with my failing aftermarket Turbo.

 

[tjm]

I like that Mahle is made in Germany.

They have this nice troubleshooting UG as well located here

Inflation has jacked the price up to $1063 for a new and $775 for a reman.

 

[Ozymandias]

It's well worth it, whereas the "no label" Turbo always had a howl the MAHLE is perfectly quiet, also the spool time is a fair amount shorter with it. Very very similar as the Holset, I could tell them apart by behavior.

 

[tjm]

Ordered the reman, gets here Friday.

 

[Ozymandias]

Sounds good to me.

 

[tjm]

ok Oil sample came back fine. No evidence of fuel all particulates normal.

Compressor output side of the turbo i just replaced.

 

[tjm]

Wanted to close this out by first saying thank you for all the help. I hauled 13K pounds of feed/trailer with the new turbo over the same terrain without any turbo leaks.

Awesome group of people.

 

[Ozymandias]

Perfect, 2:0 for the Mahle Turbo.