Rear Stock CT12A missing bolt, leaking oil?

[nctexan]

This is the rear twin on my 1J. The location where I believe a bolt to be missing is circled in red. Is this bolt location to actually hold the turbo housing together or is it for something to be bolted to the turbo (doubtful). The other two green circles are oil drops. Is this where one would typically see oil in the event of a gasket leak from the turbo? Thanks for any info!

 

[mkiiichip]

Nah, nothing goes in that bolt hole. I dont know if you can zoom in on this photo like I can, but there is no bolt there.


The oil leak looks like it has to be oil leaking out of the charge pipe. which would mean there is a boost leak there also, and oil in the charge pipe. That is puzzling, I think your going to have to take it apart to find out.

Any oil in the intercooler?

 

[te72]

It's kinda hard to tell looking at the pictures posted, I would have thought that there would be a bolt in that hole, possibly for a bracket? Are there any coolant pipes or brackets for the BOV that might attach to that part of the turbo? Or possibly something for the evap can?

 

[nctexan]

Nah, nothing goes in that bolt hole. I dont know if you can zoom in on this photo like I can, but there is no bolt there.
View attachment 53546

The oil leak looks like it has to be oil leaking out of the charge pipe. which would mean there is a boost leak there also, and oil in the charge pipe. That is puzzling, I think your going to have to take it apart to find out.

Any oil in the intercooler?

I didn't think so, I don't think I would have missed that before I dropped the motor in but I don't take myself that seriously, hah!

By "charge pipe" what exactly are you referring to? I will scope out the intercooler for oil tonight.

Oh and yeah I thought the same thing when I uploaded my photo, that it would be too small to see, but all you do is click on the preview and it blows up to original size. It is awesome being able to do a direct file upload instead of having to convert the image within a photo hosting site!

 

[nctexan]

I know this isnt really on topic but I thought you guys might like this, the first time I took her on a roadtrip since even before starting the swap (like 5 years, swap and everything else took almost 2!)

 

[mkiiichip]

Car looks great, its a great feeling to complete a swap.

By "charge pipe" what exactly are you referring to? I will scope out the intercooler for oil tonight.

You know what, i must not have been thinking straight, that pipe above where you are seeing the oil is not even a pressurized pipe. Not sure what i was thinking.

Oil tends to travel down, so the source has to be above there somewhere. Oil feed or drain, possibly? I mean there is not that many possibilities in that area.

 

[nctexan]

Thanks man, it does, no doubt. But I'm not so sure it will ever be "complete", hah!

Yeah I took another look last night but didnt see where it could be coming from.

 

[te72]

Try cleaning it up as best as you can, driving the car for a couple days, then seeing if the oil comes back? Oil/coolant stains/drips can be temperamental in my experience. If it comes back, you know for sure you have a leak somewhere. If they don't, it could have been just something that dripped down once or twice, but isn't a proper leak. Follow my logic?

 

[nctexan]

I do, thanks for the reply. I cleaned it up a few days ago, am getting under the car this evening.

 

[te72]

You will have to update us, nobody likes threads without endings.

 

[nctexan]

Well I got under car last night, the oil drop has returned and its even more evident. I pulled the Turbo heat shield back and tried to get a pic, the oil seems to be coming from somewhere on the Turbo housing I can't tell where though. I will post pics when I get to my PC.





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Oh, and I'm pretty sure I have a rear main seal leak too, even though I replaced it before I dropped the motor in:

 

[te72]

Sure you aren't posting pics of my engine?

Seriously though, quite similar, but mine isn't quite that bad... I just chalked it up to one of my twins on it's deathbed. Not terribly concerned with it myself. Definitely a good reason to keep on top of your fluid levels...

 

[nctexan]

Sure you aren't posting pics of my engine?

Seriously though, quite similar, but mine isn't quite that bad... I just chalked it up to one of my twins on it's deathbed. Not terribly concerned with it myself. Definitely a good reason to keep on top of your fluid levels...

Nah it's too damn cold up there to be stealing pics of someone else's moneypit!

So what causes the CT12a's to do this? I assume it is a metal seal of some sort? If so that is confusing in itself as a metal seal shouldn't start to leak, unless the sealing force acting on it has diminished or pressures/temps are exceeding is capacity.

What are the effects of the oil leak on the turbo system and the engine in general? If I continue to run the turbos with the leak will it hurt my motor? I'm guessing not if you are saying you are not concerned about it going out. I'm running two catch cans on my setup, on one the cold site w/ the pcv (I actually need to empty it out it is so full, and a larger on on the hot side). If this leak is on the turbine side, which I think it is, then wouldn't that mean that any leaking oil is going into exhaust?

Are you going to go single? After this guy's recent posting, http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?146063-Custom-CT26-Upgrades/page20, (post 195) I'm tempted to just upgrade the twins, throw a y-pipe on there and call it a day. My whole intention is to daily drive the car anyhow.

 

[te72]

I'm going single while we swap all the good bits of my car to a different shell. As long as you keep your fluids in good shape, and you accept the fact that your turbo(s) could die at any point, I don't see it being a problem.

As for the technical questions, I can't really help you there. I'm more of a driver than an engineer.