Turbo leaking oil...pics...no-one can help?

[Makebeleaf]

96 Golf TD 1.9

My turbo is leaking oil...








I'm not sure if it is from the wastegate...





Oil-burnt oil on firewall?






or the actual unit...





Oil seems to be dripping down off the wastegate onto the rear engine mount.

Is it the wastegate or the turbo itself?
When I try to move the arm on the wastegate it doesn't seem to move...I haven't tried to move it when the car is running. Should I be able to move it?
Can this be repaired by myself? Do I need a new turbo?
What will happen if I leave this problem alone?

Questions, questions, questions....hmmmm

[vanbcguy]

I'm no expert by any means, BUT here's my $0.02...

#1.  Make sure the oil drain isn't kinked/plugged or otherwise screwed.  If the drain ain't drainin' for some reason you'll get oil spewing out of your turbo like a sieve.

#2.  Is the oil DEFINITELY from the turbo and not from the valve cover gasket?

#3.  If all of the above check out OK, then it's probably the turbo itself.  I'm guessing you're not blowing so much oil out of your intake that it's leaking or you'd probably already have a runaway.  It DEFINITELY isn't the wastegate - there's no oil supplied to it or involved with it.  You can find turbo rebuild kits around, or you can send your turbo out for a rebuild but it seems like that's the most likely cause if the above 2 points check out ok.

[burn_your_money]

If it's not dripping and making a mess on the ground I would ignore it. But I'm cheap like that.

You can try cleaning all the oil off and then keeping a very close eye on things to see where the oil is originating from. My guess is that it's the large o-ring on the compressor side of the turbo. I haven't taken apart any turbos (I watched one disassembly) but I think you might be able to change that o-ring with the turbo still installed. Someone who knows what they are talking about should be able to tell you though.

The wastegate will take a lot of effort to move by hand.

[Makebeleaf]

Can you tell me where the oil drain is?
I looked around on the net a bit for turbo info but I couldn't find much. Is there anything online that shows how to work on a turbo or are they too hard to work on?

[Vincent Waldon]

These turbos actually leak a tiny amount of oil over time by design...so without knowing how much its leaking currently it's hard to know if somethings wrong or just slowly wearing.

In other words, if this is the buildup of oil since 1996 you may just be seeing fairly normal splatter... I'd be inclined to clean the area really well (engine degreaser, brake cleaner, compressed air, car wand wash) and then see where the leaks are and how much.

[Makebeleaf]

Any instructions on how to take it apart? (the compressor housing and outlet hose).

[fatmobile]

Will a clogged air filter cause the turbo to suck oil into the compressor side?

[Makebeleaf]

96 TD 1.9 AAZ

Is there a diagram or pictures anywhere of this type of turbo so I can understand it a bit more?
I haven't taken a turbo apart and am not sure of the workings and how to get it off and apart.

[Rabbit on Roids]

they said clean it dude.

so go clean it.

dont take it apart unless something is whammied.

vince said they are made to leak a little oil. and that doesnt look like alot of oil either. my rabbit would DRIP oil from the turbo. that was the only leak. and it came from the blow by out of the valve cover going into the turbo intake pipe. when these engines get higher miles, they make more blow by.

[Makebeleaf]

thanks....I didn't know what you meant by a little oil. To me it looks like quite a bit. It does drip down onto the mount underneath and kinda spreads around down there so after awhile it looks like quite a bit.

[Smokey Eddy]

I think i have some pics... i took my Garett T3 apart recently and am about to take my compressor housing off this evening.

I think its not worth the fuss of trying to do it without removing the whole turbo...

the compressor housing is held on by 6 bolts (12mm? or maybe a 1/2 [13mm]) in pairs of 2...

Other than the obvious hoses you need to remove its just those 6 bolts that hold the compressor housing to the turbo.

[Makebeleaf]

Thanks...as soon as the weather isn't sub zero I'll have a go at cleaning it off....then maybe take it off for a better look after the cleaning if it's a bad leak.

[Smokey Eddy]

I've had an oil problem where im bleeding boost from the pressurized lines to the intake and this is causing the  turbo to not only over spool but the exhaust minifold pressure is far greater than that of the intake... thus pushing on the seals and squeezing some oil through.

The amount of oil loss is significant in comparison to normal operating conditions.

Also keep in mind that the oil vapour from the crank case gets fed into the turbo so its naturally going to be a mess inside. I second the motion to take all the crap off, clean it up and like ... replace hose clamps and stuff to just make sure everything is tight.