How much oil is bad? And other questions.

[Milkman]

LoL. So I ordered a manual boost controller a while back (finally showed up after 32 days) Installed it this evening & turned it up to see what I could do, I won't be leaving it this high just yet. Made almost 20psi boost, then my worn out charge tube on my AAZ popped off. There is a light sheen of oil on everything around the turbo now.

I'm concerned with how much oil there should be. There is no excessive shaft play in the turbo, but I'm still pretty new to forced induction & the oil scares me a little. Now I know the PCV system recycles a little oil into the air intake before the turbo, is that all I'm seeing? There was NO oil in the exhaust side of the turbo when I last had it off to do the headgasket, but there was some light oil coating in the intake side which I just brake cleaned out.

Am i worrying for nothing?

[R.O.R-2.0]

yes..

turbo seals are like piston rings..

its not a definite seal.

[Milkman]

I pulled the air intake pipe off, as well as the pipe to the crankcase breather. Found the air intake coated with oil from about where the breather pipe comes in, down to the turbo.  Whew!   Just a PCV system oil. Time for a new crankcase breather.

Thanks for the info.  

[R.O.R-2.0]

I pulled the air intake pipe off, as well as the pipe to the crankcase breather. Found the air intake coated with oil from about where the breather pipe comes in, down to the turbo.  Whew!  Just a PCV system oil. Time for a new crankcase breather.

Thanks for the info. Mods can lock this one. 

time for a new crank case breather? why? the old one is working just fine..

most, if not all VW diesels have oily intakes.. what are you worrying about?

[Milkman]

most, if not all VW diesels have oily intakes.. what are you worrying about?

Well there is "oily" & then there is liquid oil pooled in the low spots & running out. 

Only have 136,000km on this car, but a breather is cheap maintinance. I had to order a fuel filter anyway..... 

[R.O.R-2.0]

but a PCV breather has nothing in it to go bad, and really no reason to be replaced, other than it being plugged..

and yes, my vw also, has oil pooled in all the charge piping..

you are overthinking things.. just get used to that oil you saw. if you own a vw diesel for very long, you will see that oil alot.. lol.

[Milkman]

20 years of owning gas jobs is hard to let go of.....  lol. Well I'll replace it because I'm OCD like that, but then I'll just turn a blind eye from here out. 

Now what about when I add my intercooler & piping? I was always under the impression that oil on the intake side of a diesel was bad, run away engine & all that. 

[R.O.R-2.0]

20 years of owning gas jobs is hard to let go of.....  lol. Well I'll replace it because I'm OCD like that, but then I'll just turn a blind eye from here out. 

Now what about when I add my intercooler & piping? I was always under the impression that oil on the intake side of a diesel was bad, run away engine & all that. 

well, like i say, pretty much every vw diesel has an oily intake system..

and its not the oil in the intake you gotta worry about, its the amount, and you gotta have quite a bit for it to even matter..

i drained CUPS of oil out of my intercooler when i took it off my 1.5TD, and it never once ran away..

[Milkman]

Can I have your old crank breather?   

Once I verify that the new one is not some poor chinese pile of junk you are welcome to the old one, just pay the shipping. 

and its not the oil in the intake you gotta worry about, its the amount, and you gotta have quite a bit for it to even matter..

i drained CUPS of oil out of my intercooler when i took it off my 1.5TD, and it never once ran away..

Well that makes me feel better. It is hard to get used to how dirty these diesels can be! Sure is fun to play with & drive though! 

[R.O.R-2.0]

Can I have your old crank breather?   

Once I verify that the new one is not some poor chinese pile of junk you are welcome to the old one, just pay the shipping. 

and its not the oil in the intake you gotta worry about, its the amount, and you gotta have quite a bit for it to even matter..

i drained CUPS (prolly more like a quart or so) of oil out of my intercooler when i took it off my 1.5TD, and it never once ran away..

Well that makes me feel better. It is hard to get used to how dirty these diesels can be! Sure is fun to play with & drive though! 

yea, when you still have the same amount of oil in your intake, you will look back, and realize that you replaced a perfectly good breather.. least there not like 300 bucks tho..

[Milkman]

I'm movin, I'm movin! LOL.

So another question then. How much boost can I safely run on this thing? Head, head gasket & bolts are new. New timing belt. Head was ported & polished. I plan to do the governor mod this weekend if I have the time. Intercooler is in the plans as well.

Anything else I should know or try?

[R.O.R-2.0]

i run 15 all the time, max of about 25 psi..

you really dont need an intercooler until you are over 15 psi..

governor mod is a good idea if you want power past 4k rpms..

i wouldnt be running much over 20-25 psi with just the stock bolts.. if you want more boost than that, your gonna want head studs, and maybe a metal head gasket.. *you have an AAZ, you may have a metal gasket already*

[Milkman]

Around 20psi max is about where I was hoping to run for now. So I'll continue forward with the intercooler.

Don't know how often I'll need power past 4k rpm, but I would rather it be there if I need it.

I do have a metal headgasket, a 1 notch, that I put in when I replaced the head. 20psi for now with stock bolts is ok? Good. I may change to studs someday, but not something I will worry about for the time being.