Thread: Has anyone rebuilt a Turbo with a kit??

Originally Posted by Peppercorn

I have oil leaking in my turbo and it's getting bad enough to do something about it.
I am considering buying a Turbo kit and rebuilding it myself. I am savvy enough I think.

I'm just wondering if anyone here has done one and any difficulty that I should be aware of??


Edit........I've just had a horrible thought. What if the crankcase pressure is so high that the oil from the turbo can't make it's way back into the sump?? Maybe that's why I have oil on the compressor side of the Turbo??? The engine runs well and up until recently didn't use any oil. I assumed it was leaking via the turbo. I hope I'm wrong about the crankcase pressure!!

It's easy to check if your crankcase pressure is too high, it can come only from cylinder compression (unless you are "wacked" enough to block all your engine breathers) !!! Start with compression test, or even better leakdown test.

Endless discussion with turbo rebulding is balancing afterwards. Since turbo is spinning at such high rate it needs to be balanced precisely.

Now, I have seen people doing it themselves (hammer used in disassembly process as well) and turbo runing without problems afterwards. But on the other hand, some don't even want to think about rebuilding without balancing. It's a gamble I reckon.

Yes I've rebuilt turbos. Generally it's a waste of time and the problem is, as you've guessed, turbo drain or crankcase pressure related.

Check your breathers. Also check your air filters. Excessive vacuum before the turbo comes on boost can draw oil out.

Balancing can be avoided by marking the wheel, shaft and nut prior. Install in the same orientation if working on the turbo.

Rebuild is easy and kits are cheap, you will need large circlip pliers, also look for a turbo cassette-cost a little bit more but you just drop it in.

Originally Posted by Dougal

Yes I've rebuilt turbos. Generally it's a waste of time and the problem is, as you've guessed, turbo drain or crankcase pressure related.

Check your breathers. Also check your air filters. Excessive vacuum before the turbo comes on boost can draw oil out.

Balancing can be avoided by marking the wheel, shaft and nut prior. Install in the same orientation if working on the turbo.

Yea...........I've just set up the Provent breather system and it's not showing any excess oil collection.
The air filter has been cleaned and is only been in for about 20K so, it should still be OK
The drain from the Turbo "may" be blocked??? I'll check tomorrow but I'm a bit worried.
The engine has never gone better imo. doesn't blow smoke and has plenty of power. Starts easy even in the cold.
It doesn't seem to blow too much fume at idle at all.

The problem I'm having is an oil leak at the Turbo. But it's dripping on the TOP of the exhaust manifiold and collecting underneath below the manifold. Straight under the exit of the Intercooler Hose where it bolts on to the inlet manifold. I 'think' its dripping from the join? It's definitely NOT coming from the Rocker Cover.

Also, I just cleaned the intercooler which had a build up of oil in it. Not a large amount but definite proof of oil passing thru it.

So, I'll do the breather test tomorrow but I'm starting to get a bit concerned it may be more serious than I thought.

It's a worry when you can't find a buck just to fix your truck!

Originally Posted by Peppercorn

Yea...........I've just set up the Provent breather system and it's not showing any excess oil collection.
The air filter has been cleaned and is only been in for about 20K so, it should still be OK
The drain from the Turbo "may" be blocked??? I'll check tomorrow but I'm a bit worried.
The engine has never gone better imo. doesn't blow smoke and has plenty of power. Starts easy even in the cold.
It doesn't seem to blow too much fume at idle at all.

The problem I'm having is an oil leak at the Turbo. But it's dripping on the TOP of the exhaust manifiold and collecting underneath below the manifold. Straight under the exit of the Intercooler Hose where it bolts on to the inlet manifold. I 'think' its dripping from the join? It's definitely NOT coming from the Rocker Cover.

Also, I just cleaned the intercooler which had a build up of oil in it. Not a large amount but definite proof of oil passing thru it.

So, I'll do the breather test tomorrow but I'm starting to get a bit concerned it may be more serious than I thought.

It's a worry when you can't find a buck just to fix your truck!

All turbos pass some oil, so needing to clean out the intercooler after many thousands of km is expected.
Was this problem as bad before the provent was installed? I had a very very bad experience with my provent. It sucked oil out of the sump which caused the engine to run on it's own oil, blowing the head gasket and I think breaking some rings.

Originally Posted by Dougal

All turbos pass some oil, so needing to clean out the intercooler after many thousands of km is expected.
Was this problem as bad before the provent was installed? I had a very very bad experience with my provent. It sucked oil out of the sump which caused the engine to run on it's own oil, blowing the head gasket and I think breaking some rings.

Far out!! Yea the problem was there before the Provent. How the hell did that happen??? Did you set it up wrong?

I've just had the top intercooler hose off today and there isn't any oil inside to speak of at all. So............ that's not the problem. I cannot believe it is a Crankcase Compression problem either. It just doesn't add up.

So I cleaned up around the top of the head bolts and around the rocker cover and removed the Rubber Sound Deadener so, I can see if there is any oil dripping down and accumulating under the No.1 exhaust manifold on the block.

The only other place I can think of that 'may' be passing oil is the head gasket, but I really doubt it.

I'll drive it around for another week and see what I find and if the leaking persists I'll take a photo and see if anyone can think of something that I havn't.
The problem isn't extreme at all at this point. It's just a pain in the bum and a leak I can't solve which means I 'may have' a problem that I don't know about. It's one thing having a problem and living with it and having a problem and not knowing about it, then taking it somewhere and break down.

Originally Posted by Peppercorn

Far out!! Yea the problem was there before the Provent. How the hell did that happen??? Did you set it up wrong?

Installation according to the book. Summary of damage and situation here:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/isuzu-land...ml#post2069076

IMO the design of the provent is completely wrong. It can suck oil from your suck and flood the lower chamber. Which would be okay if the return air to the engine wasn't taken from that point and didn't have a return port that once flooded with oil can only vent it out to your intake.

It has been one of the worst and most expensive parts I've ever bought. It only performs well when highly modified and the flow reversed.

I've rebuilt turbos with kits before.

not specifically a landrover one but basically a basic turbo is a basic turbo.