I've got some problems guys

[Ford428CJ]

So Ford428CJ, your turbo looked like it was throwing oil, and was kinda spooling up and down at idle? Hopefully its something as easy as that.

Well I thought my turbo was losing oil. To send it off and have it updated was about $400 or so. And I was like $^!*, that sucks What I'm telling you is to make "SURE" that's what the problem is before you go ripping and tearing into stuff. You could save yourself a lot of money and time. Just don't guess that's what it is, make sure that's what it is (your oil leak)! JMO

Next find out why the turbo is spooling up and down. Just do one thing at a time and I promise ya it will work out!

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

One sure-fire way to know if the turbo seals are leaking:

Take the exhaust apart at the bottom end of the down-pipe.

Place a clean light-colored something under the open end of the pipe(sheet of plyboard, old sheet, old rug, big piece of cardboard, etc.).

Start the engine and let it idle for about an hour, periodically observing what is coming out of the exhaust pipe.

If raw engine-oil is drip-drip-drip out of the exhaust, the turbo ain't long for this earth.

 

[typ4]

Dont condemn it yet, I just talked to the local diesel guy And he said that the free flow exhaust will let the turbo come up and down at idle. he said if you had a very low pressure gauge , like a half pound or so it might show up, usually the exhaust back pressere regulates the turbo , sort of. This was his opinion, I put new bushings and seals in that before you bought it so I REALLY doubt they are bad in so few miles. I would be happy to inspect it anytime you want to pull it.

Also I just read somewhere to poke holes in the valley pan and I know we didnt do that, it may just not be draining well.

 

[SKimballC]

Also I just read somewhere to poke holes in the valley pan and I know we didnt do that, it may just not be draining well.

I didn't do that to either of my trucks and I had no problems . It should be easy enough to find the source of the oil leak.
All this bad turbo talk sounds premature to me. I would try to find the source of the leak and keep an eye on oil consumption for a couple weeks before jumping to any conclusions.

 

[Ford428CJ]

I didn't do that to either of my trucks and I had no problems . It should be easy enough to find the source of the oil leak.
All this bad turbo talk sounds premature to me. I would try to find the source of the leak and keep an eye on oil consumption for a couple weeks before jumping to any conclusions.

Thats what I have been saying the whole time. Thanks SKimball

 

[FordGuy100]

Well, I'll give it some time and see what happens. I checked my oil level and it looks like I've burned 3/4-1 quart of oil in the last 400 miles or so, so my oil consumption isnt all that bad. I guess I kinda jumped into the whole your turbo is going bad thing, I was kinda trying to prepare myself for the worst if ya know what I mean. I was looking around for an oil leak with the engine running with one of those bendable little mirror things and I would stick it by the second to last injector line on the passenger side and look back up and towards the intake side of the turbo and I would hold the mirror there for a good 30 seconds and bring it back out, and there would be a couple of very small oil specs on it. I couldnt really tell were they were coming from. Before that though I took my finger (with the engine cold) and ran it on the back of the turbo to look for oil. The only place with a good amount of oil (brought my finger back out and it was fairly black with oil) was on the bottom end of the intake side of the turbo below the rib type things towards the middle of the housing. I'll try to get a picture of what I'm talking about if you guys dont know what I mean.

Other good news is that I took the drivers side wheel off and looked around, and it was a rock that caused the noise/gouging. Looks like a rock got stuck on the top of the outermost brake pad for a little bit and then disloged. I figure that because the brake pad isnt ground flat like it was rubbing against something, but more jaged. So that is all good.

And I fixed my brake lights, all I did was take some of the wiring away from the area that the wiring goes to the back of the pedal assembly.

 

[RLDSL]

On yours, if it still has the original valley pan, it may need the extra holes punched in it to keep the oil flowing down. in '93 when the factory turbo came out they changed the valley pan design to allow the oil to flow from the turbo and the aftermarket valley pan gaskets are all made to the turbo spec, so if it's been replaced, it should have enough flow.

if you hooked the cdr up, might want to take a good look at the seal where the turbo hooks to the snail and the seal between the snail and the intake manifold. some oil vapour build up around a lose seal on the pressure side will spatter all over the place. I really doubt there's a problem with the turbo. You had too many old hands REAL familiar with turbos in there for that to have slipped by.

Glad to hear it was a rock on the wheel . I had that happen a couple of times on different vehicles. Really tore one up on an oldsmobile when out running a back road through some rice fields .

--------Robert

 

[Diesel JD]

Justin, I think Robert might have it nailed about your oil leak. The newer valley pans are sometimes upgraded enough to allow you to get away with not punching extra holes for drainback, but it sounds like your truck has been babied and never torn into...that means it has the original valley pan...needs the holes. I had my mechanic do that when I installed my setup even though I *might* have the upgraded valley pan...I didn't want to find out I needed them and didn't have them...I don't know anything about the spooling up and down. If its true that the free flowing exhaust allows that its good to know so I won't worry too much when my 4" pipe goes in there. Take your time and make sure you get it right.

 

[FordGuy100]

So can you guys explain to me what these holes in the valley pan are all about? I suppose I couldnt just go in there and drill out some holes, I'd probably have to take a bunch of crap off first, probably including the valley pan, which equals a PITA. If I have to do it I will, but it sounds like a daunting task. Honestly it isnt throwing that much oil at all, or at least thats what it looks like from all the places I've looked so far.

 

[RLDSL]

With the turbo and pedestal off, if you look down the hole in the valley pan, there's a baffle to keep the oil spray from sloshing out the CDR . At the edges of the baffle there is a relief opening on each side. On the early ones the openings are very small to just allow blowby gasses past, the later ones they redesigned it to where the gaps are large enough for the oil flow from the turbo to drain back into the engine without building up which could cause oil to leak out around the grommit.
If you had the old style pan, you could pull the turbo and pedestal off and take an ice pick or other sharp pointy thing and punch some holes straight down in the baffle to allow for the extra oil flow.
I understand this step was included in the instructions for some of the turbo kits.

-------Robert

 

[suv7734]

So can you guys explain to me what these holes in the valley pan are all about? I suppose I couldnt just go in there and drill out some holes, I'd probably have to take a bunch of crap off first, probably including the valley pan, which equals a PITA. If I have to do it I will, but it sounds like a daunting task. Honestly it isnt throwing that much oil at all, or at least thats what it looks like from all the places I've looked so far.

If you find it's necessary just get an awl or something else with a sharp point and drive it throught the bottom of the baffle to poke some holes in it. Using something long may allow you to do it without removing a bunch of parts. If you remove the valley pan it must be replaced (not reusable). Don't use a drill as the shavings will...

 

[FordGuy100]

Oh, so just get in there and poke a bunch of small little holes with a pic or something? I was thinking you guys were talking about drilling some big holes or somehitng along those lines. I'll start looking for were the oil leak is coming form later on today.

 

[RLDSL]

Oh, so just get in there and poke a bunch of small little holes with a pic or something? I was thinking you guys were talking about drilling some big holes or somehitng along those lines. I'll start looking for were the oil leak is coming form later on today.

If it is coming from around the grommit, use a new one if you didn't when popping the turbo in. And yes, no big deal to pop a few holes in the pan once the turbo is off ( just don't whack it too hard and loose your tool down in there or you'll have one serious creative language session

------Robert

 

[Diesel JD]

Gotta poke it pretty hard, you're going through 2 layers of metal. I think its probably something like that or a minor leak.

 

[typ4]

The grommet is new.