Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

Background...

ZY Turbo (I know) rebuilt by Majestic Turbo in June of '05. ALL of it except the compressor housing was replaced with Garret parts including a Garret bearing center section. I have always (at least 95% of the time) let it cool for 3 minutes before shutting down.

After about a year of boosting and 10k miles, I was no longer able to generate more than ~1lb of boost. As to not potentially overspool my turbo, I did not bring it up past ~5k rpm in case I had a boost leak.

I did a pressure test of the entire intake system and have no leaks. I also compression tested my motor to find that it is still in good condition.

Now...

I investigated further and found that I had a significant amount of oil in my cold pipe directly from the turbo. This potentially explains the smoke I have recently noticed coming out of my exhaust while cruising in the ~2-4k rpm.

I immediately checked for shaft play and found very a very minimal up/down motion which is no different than when I put the turbo on originally. I was told that there should be a slight amount due to there not being oil in the turbo at the time of the check. As I said, it's not more than there was so this seems to be okay.

There is no in/out play (from intake to exhaust and back motion) at all.

There is also no sign of the compressor turbine hitting the compressor housing.

I see that there is what appears to be some oil on the OUTSIDE of the exhaust housing but that could have been there for a while as it is minor and only noticable on the flange at the bottom (I cannot tell if it came from the center section).

My thoughts...

I did some searching and found that my culprit, since I do not have any unusual shaft play, might be that the outer seals have started leaking. I find this to be strange that they would both go at about the same time. It seems as this can be a DIY job though since my research has said no rebalancing is required. (can someone confirm this?) I cannot seem to find just the seals available to purchase anywhere on the internet and Majestic won't sell them to me.

Input from anyone here is appreciated. The turbo is a T3/T04E with a Garret bearing oil cooled center section.

Edit - And I checked the oil return line and it is not kinked anywhere and looks just like when I originally installed it over a year ago.

Re: Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

Whats your oil feed pressure?

Re: Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

My oil feed pressure is 38psi at 4k through a 3AN line. My return is a 5/8" ID hose which is not kinked and never goes higher than 45 degrees from the turbo outlet.

It's had this oil line configuration for over a year.

Re: Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

there is a guy on ebay that sells just the seal separate.

Re: Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

Any chance you could post a link? I had searched eBay and could only find entire repair kits.

It's a T04E center section.

Edit - And does that sound like the problem?

Re: Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

the guy is turbos r us.
here is a link to the 4 piece carbon seal. if you don't see what he needs just message him.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/T3-T4...QQcmdZViewItem

Re: Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

Thank you for the link whiterice! I think I'll buy the one from that link since I have a T04E center cartridge.

Can anyone confirm that changing these seals should not require rebalancing of the turbo shaft?

I need to find a write-up for torque specs so I can put it all back together properly.

Re: Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

well, if you scribe or mark the nut, shaft and wheel before you disassable, you should be ok if you line everything back up.
next, you have to make sure you have a 4 piece carbon seal and not one of the others:
You have to take it apart to find out.
1. Dynamic Seal
2. Encapsulated Carbon Seal
3. Four-piece Carbon Seal
[url=http://img192.imageshack.us/my.php?image=061b5ee.jpg]http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/6464/061b5ee.th.jpg

Re: Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

Great additional information whiterice! I have an e-mail out to Majestic asking now.

Are any of the others rebuildable without rebalancing?

I put a question out to the turbo guy on eBay and asked about rebuilding it myself. They said the same as here where if I mark everything before disassembly, reassembly should net the same balancing. But they did suggest that I have it balanced regardless just to be on the safe side.

Re: Oil in compressor housing but no shaft play?
 

Here's the response I just got from Majestic.

They keep great track of their work apparently.

So I guess I'll hope it's a dynamic seal from their response and pick one up. I'll send a mail to that seller on eBay to see if they can get me one.