Oil Puddle On The Rocker Cover

[DaveB]

Hi there,

I had a bit of a search for this problem but I can't find anything specific... I have been getting a small (but growing) puddle of oil on top of the coilpack cover, under the join in the J-pipe. I can't see where it's coming from; I am guessing it is leaking out of the J-pipe join? There is only one other vacuum hose which runs under there; I *think* that runs to the boost sensor on the firewall.

Sorry for lack of pics; I will take some tomorrow. But I thought this might be a common problem... if the turbo was worn, would this cause oil to escape here? after the intercooler?

Thanks

DaveB

[M I K E]

i'm assuming when you're talking about the J pipe that the puddle is up towards the rear of the coil pack cover? if it is there and under the join to the TB i'd be taking the piping apart to have a look. won't take very long but it will tell you if that's where it's coming from. IF there is lots of oil in there then changes are it's your turbo seals that are on the way out or you're getting some pretty bad blow by. if there is alot of oil in there, i'd be checking your cooler as well, chances are there is a fair bit caught in there.. spose it all depends on how bad it is. if it was blow by, an oil catch can is a quick fix to stop most of it getting into your intake system but won't solve the actual problem. the only other place i can think of it possibly coming from is the valves at the front of the rocker covers for the breather pipes.

[DaveB]

Thanks Mike; yeah I really hope it's not blow-by!!! that would suck (like $3000+ suck). Engine only has (supposedly) ~110,000Ks on it. I change oil + filter religiously at 5,000Ks, mobil 1.

Here are couple of pic's; I will get into the pipes this week when I plan to replace exhaust studs and gasket.

Nice big detailed pics... sorry if u'r on dialup! (but, seriously, how do you use these forums on dialup???)

[M I K E]

the easiest ways to tell which one is going to be your problem is to take the hose running between the rocker covers and the inlet pipe off, take it for a bit of a flog and watch it. if theres no oil coming out of there then it's not blow by so take the inlet pipe off of the front of your turbo so you can get to the compressor wheel and give the shaft a wiggle. if it's got play in it then it's on its way out. 1-2mm in any direction is normally acceptable (left-right, front-back)

gl bud, hope the fix isn't too heavy on the wallet

[DaveB]

the easiest ways to tell which one is going to be your problem is to take the hose running between the rocker covers and the inlet pipe off, take it for a bit of a flog and watch it. if theres no oil coming out of there then it's not blow by so take the inlet pipe off of the front of your turbo so you can get to the compressor wheel and give the shaft a wiggle. if it's got play in it then it's on its way out. 1-2mm in any direction is normally acceptable (left-right, front-back)

gl bud, hope the fix isn't too heavy on the wallet

Thanks Mike, that's good thinking - exactly what I'll do Ah well better turbo than engine... I've never felt confident in the turbo, what with the loud whine which hasn't gone away after replacing gaskets... an excuse to fix it so I can feel confident at 10 or even 12 PSI would be OK.

[M I K E]

ok if she's whining she's dead. that would be the wheels rubbing on the housing lol

[DaveB]

ok if she's whining she's dead. that would be the wheels rubbing on the housing lol

...ah. Well I guess that's fairly terminal. i did wonder why they were machined really rough like that on the inside!! Well I will just check for excessive blow-by anyway, 'cause I'm a bit paranoid about 'ring-lands'/stuffed piston rings... have begun investigations into a replacement turbo. At this stagea it looks like it's gonna have to be a GCG hi-flow Better to replace before I end up with bits of something in the engine rather than after I guess (small chance if just the exhaust wheel goes I guess, but just in case...)

Edited November 4, 2008 by DaveB

[DaveB]

Well did the 'blow-by-test'... if anyone's interested this is pretty much all I think is involved...

I did a fair bit of driving, and I made sure that it was boosting hard for some of it (ie. up a hill at WOT in 3rd or 4th) and there was no sign of oil on the rag... so I don't think I have excessive blow-by but someone please correct me if I'm wrong!

[DaveB]

Well did the 'blow-by-test'... if anyone's interested this is pretty much all I think is involved...

and here's the result after about 30K's of driving...

[wolverine]

looks fine, if you were getting serious blow-by you would produce enough oil to soak that rag in no time.

[DaveB]

Cool Turbo it is then... cheers

[_Ryan_]

could be worth while to test mine like that, it has 107k km on the clock, well maintained, timing kit and water pump done at 80k km... could be an excuse to go for more POWAH

[zoomzoom]

just thought id check in. im the newest member of team possible-dying-turbo

[DaveB]

could be worth while to test mine like that, it has 107k km on the clock, well maintained, timing kit and water pump done at 80k km... could be an excuse to go for more POWAH

More POWAH is good... that is my excuse Also turbo is slightly cheaper/easier than replacing the engine...

just thought id check in. im the newest member of team possible-dying-turbo

Does your turbo make a high-pitch sound a bit like your avatar name zoomzoom? Mike's ingenious test is pretty easy; find a clean rag, a couple of cable ties; fit as per pic's and drive around for a bit. If the rags are clean, then oil in the pipes could be your turbo... I guess there are other things it could be too but I think mine is failing turbo oil seal. I only found oil inside the pipes.

[sturb25]

Thanks Mike; yeah I really hope it's not blow-by!!! that would suck (like $3000+ suck). Engine only has (supposedly) ~110,000Ks on it. I change oil + filter religiously at 5,000Ks, mobil 1.

Here are couple of pic's; I will get into the pipes this week when I plan to replace exhaust studs and gasket.

Nice big detailed pics... sorry if u'r on dialup! (but, seriously, how do you use these forums on dialup???)

Sorry to steal ur thread dave but does anyone know what this tube does and what it controls because i noticed that mine had split and im not sure how long its been split for so im curious as to what it will change being fixed. hopefuly more power!!!!!

[KiwiRS4T]

More POWAH is good... that is my excuse Also turbo is slightly cheaper/easier than replacing the engine...

Useless bit of information - engine is cheaper - I bought my RS4 with a blown engine for $3500. A low mileage import engine cost $1500 and installation was $600! My GCG turbo plus installation (too old and tired to do it myself) will be NZ$2,500. However looking forward to the power increase (turbo has just arrived in the mail) from 155 to hopefully somewhere in excess of 200AWKW

[M I K E]

Sorry to steal ur thread dave but does anyone know what this tube does and what it controls because i noticed that mine had split and im not sure how long its been split for so im curious as to what it will change being fixed. hopefuly more power!!!!!

i'm not 100% sure which tube you are referring to but if it's the one that runs from the rocker cover to the intake pipe, it's there as part of emissions to run the blow by (oil vapour) back through the combustion chamber

[wolverine]

Sorry to steal ur thread dave but does anyone know what this tube does and what it controls because i noticed that mine had split and im not sure how long its been split for so im curious as to what it will change being fixed. hopefuly more power!!!!!

pretty sure it is a vaccum line from the plenum to the charcoal cannister or somesuch. (i haven't gone up to check precisely yet)

has it been idling poorly?

[M I K E]

or if you're talking about the vac line then wolverine is correct

[66yostagea]

I've just done a heap of fixing on my S1. It had a smallish oil telltale on the rocker cover. 140k. I think that problem is from the roughness of the alloy pipe and the clamp can't seal off sufficiently. I have smoothed the pipe od and hope this fixes it.

Other oil leaks I found. The small hose from the P/S reservoir. The wire clips were fully tightened and deeply bitten into the hose and the oil weeped out at the bottom.

The other leak was from around the rocker covers. The screws holding the covers down were quite loose. There was quite a lot of oil dribbling down the back of the block.

I keep the engine bay pretty clean, so I was very surprised to see the number of smallish leaks that are generally out of sight.