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  #1  
Old 08-20-2014, 03:12 PM
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tracking down turbo drain oil leak

hi folks, i (we) have been slowly leaking motor oil down the outside of the turbo oil drain. first i just tightened the drain bolts - no change. today i removed and cleaned the drain tube and replaced the drain gasket - no change. so... what else could it be? a pinhole leak in the hard line? any suggestions, i will check out right away! thanks.




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Old 08-20-2014, 05:43 PM
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Your first problem is that your engine is WAY TOO CLEAN.....

It certainly could be a pin hole at the junction... might try cleaning it and scuffing it with sandpaper around that junction the last thing at night... and put a bead of red silicone high temp around it... let it cure overnight...
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Old 08-20-2014, 06:12 PM
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i stared at the picture for a little while. isn't that the pinhole right there?! mystery solved! thanks!

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Last edited by bricktron; 08-20-2014 at 07:55 PM.
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  #4  
Old 08-20-2014, 07:57 PM
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does anyone have a spare one of these hard lines around? i may try to have it welded tomorrow - but dubious on whether that is practical.
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Old 08-20-2014, 08:16 PM
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If you clean it well...
I would suggest brazing that hole...
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  #6  
Old 08-21-2014, 03:53 PM
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thanks leathermang.

i removed the pipe again, cleaned it again, and there is no hole where i thought i saw one! however, there is a fracture all the way around. that dark stain i couldn't remove may be evidence of a previous fix to this part. of course it had to be a california-specific part to go down - i actually have one of the federal ones here to compare.

i was going to use the high-temperature JB weld on the pinhole but now i'm thinking hard about taking it to a welding shop.
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Old 08-21-2014, 04:05 PM
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Quote:

i was going to use the high-temperature JB weld on the pinhole but now i'm thinking hard about taking it to a welding shop.
Personally, I'd try the JB Weld. If it works, great...and if not, the metal/epoxy can easily be wire brushed off in preparation for welding. It's not a fix that if it doesn't work would result in a catastrophic failure, just the same leak you've got now.
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Old 08-21-2014, 04:34 PM
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If its fractured all the way around I would re-braze the line or replace it entirely.
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Old 08-21-2014, 06:20 PM
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Glad I saw this, my engine leaks oil from around there and I was terrified it might be leaking from a turbo gasket but with how clean yours is... i think maybe it could be leaking from the drain.
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Old 08-21-2014, 07:03 PM
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I like brazing too, but if JBWeld works as well? I'd go that route.
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  #11  
Old 08-21-2014, 07:07 PM
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For whatever fix is used... the most important thing is to determine what caused it.. like some support rod missing..... and fix that....
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  #12  
Old 08-21-2014, 11:28 PM
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it's a reasonable question, leathermang. the turbo should never move relative to the sump, so i'm not sure why there would be any stress on this pipe. this example looks like it had been repaired (i think silver soldered) before.
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Old 08-22-2014, 10:07 PM
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i wasn't convinced the JB weld would hold and i really wanted to put this to bed, so i took the pipe to Cantwell in San Bruno. the boss recommended brazing a fillet of silicone-bronze between the pipe (0.5mm wall thickness) and the relatively heavy flange. this work cost $40.

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Old 08-22-2014, 10:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bricktron View Post
i wasn't convinced the JB weld would hold and i really wanted to put this to bed, so i took the pipe to Cantwell in San Bruno. the boss recommended brazing a fillet of silicone-bronze between the pipe (0.5mm wall thickness) and the relatively heavy flange. this work cost $40.

Looks like great work! I'd expect so at Silicon Valley pricing.
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  #15  
Old 09-20-2014, 03:26 PM
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great work it may have been, but the line is leaking again. i think leathermang was right that there's a support bracket missing. i have never seen an original 85 CA install from below, and of course i have deleted the trap ox, but the test pipe did come with a small 90 degree tab on it, never attached to anything - which i removed to access the bolt behind it. nonetheless, i can see how to easily make a small bracket to support the underside of the turbo assembly, and fix this hard line again.

but: the turbo is solidly on the motor, nothing loose. i understand that the turbo oil inlet pipe is restrictive so that the much wider drain pipe contains mostly air at a very low pressure. what about cutting the federal drain pipe for its flange and hose clamping a mostly vertical length of very high-temp, oil-rated hose instead? that way the weight of the turbo would have nothing to break. i haven't measured the temperature of the oil drain after a hard run yet. perhaps no such hose exists.

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