New Turbo, Bad??? - Updated pics

[fred2ka4]

Well I got the call from the mechanic that oil was still leaking from the turbo and I thought it would be something easy as one of the things I forgot to get was new gaskets for the turbo ........ I wish. When the car was started I could clearly see oil leaking from under the car only to find out that it was coming from the gasket in between the turbo and high flow cat .... .... The first thing the mechanic checked was the pressure in the oil return line in between the line and the oil pan. Nothing, great pressure.

After all that he removed the HF cat and oil poured out from the back side of the turbo ..... again. So here is my question to my fellow Audi brothers, what else could cause this to happen other then the fact I may have received a bad center section even though ATP says this is not the case. I don't want to assume that the turbo is bad but I don't know all the scenarios that could exist in order for this to happen. Any help would be greatly appreciated as ATP says they highly doubt it's the new center section.



NEW PICTURES IN POST #16

[ghost6303]

if there were a clog in the oil return line the oil would find another way out, like past the seals. just a thought.

[fred2ka4]

if there were a clog in the oil return line the oil would find another way out, like past the seals. just a thought.

That was the first thing the mechanic thought, no clog, great pressure measured from the return line coming off the turbo going into the oil pan.

[Tifun]

Sounds like a faulty seal.....it happens.....

[fred2ka4]

Sounds like a faulty seal.....it happens.....

Not according to ATP as they told me not one turbo has ever been returned since this program started, and they also told me the additional labor was my own fault as they didn't tell me to have a mechanic install it .........

But I am with you in thinking I was the one to get the first bad one ...... ..... it happens.

[ghost6303]

well there shouldnt really be pressure in that line i dont think. the return line should be more or less free flowing back into the pan. i dont know exactly which way he hooked up a pressure gauge to it, if he put a T connection inline and measured that way it would mean theres something between the gauge and oil pan causing restriction because there shouldnt really be any blockage that would create pressure.

edit:

the additional labor was my own fault as they didn't tell me to have a mechanic install it

what? they expect any average customer to be able to install a new CHRA themselves?

[Tifun]

Is it possible he hooked the oil lines up backwards????? not sure if it's possible with your setup. I agree with ghost, there should be no real pressure in the return. Are there any kinks maybe that could be slowing the flow or maybe you have to small of a return line even. Just food for thoughts.

[fred2ka4]

I am not 100% sure how he measured it but he did say he removed the line from the oil pan and the oil flowed out, so he was able to determine that there was no blockage. He did say the pressure built up gradually and then he hooked it back up again and it still leaked from in between the turbo and HF cat the entire time he had the line unhooked.

He captured the oil in another container and then poured it back in and he could only do this for a short period of time so as to not starve the car and turbo of oil, so I am not sure if this is the correct way to measure but if the oil flowed out, there was no obstruction to force it out the seals.

[fred2ka4]

Is it possible he hooked the oil lines up backwards????? not sure if it's possible with your setup. I agree with ghost, there should be no real pressure in the return. Are there any kinks maybe that could be slowing the flow or maybe you have to small of a return line even. Just food for thoughts.

I'm not a 100% sure but the kit has been on the car for over 5 years and has worked flawlessly and the oil return line is not kinked. He did assure me that the lines were connected the correct way but I do not even think that is possible as the return line is on the bottom and is a lot shorted then the feed line.

I'm picking up the turbo tomorrow and ordering all new gaskets, but the turbo is going back to ATP to be rechecked but I just wanted to try and eliminate any other possible scenarios that may have caused this.

[mike-2ptzero]

Is it possible he hooked the oil lines up backwards????? not sure if it's possible with your setup. I agree with ghost, there should be no real pressure in the return. Are there any kinks maybe that could be slowing the flow or maybe you have to small of a return line even. Just food for thoughts.

I am going to guess you have never dealt with the oil lines on a GT turbo. The feed line is only -4 and the return line is -10 line. It would be impossible to get them switched seeing that they are different sizes and the fittings at the turbo are completely different.

[A4Rob]

I am going to guess you have never dealt with the oil lines on a GT turbo. The feed line is only -4 and the return line is -10 line. It would be impossible to get them switched seeing that they are different sizes and the fittings at the turbo are completely different.

Exactly. My inlet line is a -3 and exit is -10. Big big difference.

[Militant-Grunt]

Something tells me they took your blown turbo, took some brake cleaner to it and sent it back to you. That or someone did a really shitty job rebuilding the turbo.

Fred save yourself some money and get an entire center cartridge and replace it yourself, its not very difficult to do.

Also I would check if your mechanic removed the red plastic plugs from the oil feed and return inlets in the turbo....

[mike-2ptzero]

Exactly. My inlet line is a -3 and exit is -10. Big big difference.

Huge difference, you could pretty much slide a -3 line into the -10 line.

-4 line on the very top and the -10 just under it. Would have to be blind and no feelings in the hands to not be able to tell the difference.

[fred2ka4]

Well I'll find out all of these little details this morning as I am going to pick up the turbo from the mechanic to send it back to ATP, I'll get some pics at the same time and post them because this is really frustrating. I also made sure to tell ATP to clock the turbo correctly this time as it was not done the first time but I don't think that had anything to do with it.

[Tifun]

I am going to guess you have never dealt with the oil lines on a GT turbo. The feed line is only -4 and the return line is -10 line. It would be impossible to get them switched seeing that they are different sizes and the fittings at the turbo are completely different.

I guess I didn't really think that out, which is even worse considering I just put my turbo back on yesterday lol.

[fred2ka4]

So here we go again, as this is how the turbo looked when it came out of the car after only being ran for only about 2 hours as he was trying to trace and trouble shoot the oil leak. Let me know what you think and what could have contributed to this as there was no blockage or plugged lines other then a bad seal/center section? Sorry for the crappy phone pictures.

Also as you can see there are three completely different fitting on the turbo so it is impossible to accidentally get the lines mixed up unless you wanted to do it on purpose. No oil leaked anywhere else from the turbo as it only came from the exhaust housing of the turbo.

[Tifun]

I hope they don't try to tell you that clocking it caused your problem.

[mike-2ptzero]

I hope they don't try to tell you that clocking it caused your problem.

I hope not because everyone knows that wont do damage to the insides of the CHRA. Just sounds like something wasn't done right when it was put together.

Hey Fred, was there a restriction fitting on the oil feed line or was that already on your oil feed line when you connected it to the turbo? Just asking because I remember you saying that ATP put all new fittings on the turbo when they sent it back, so I am just wondering if they put a non restricting fitting on there but even then it shouldnt have caused the oil seal to blow so quickly seeing that I ran a non resticting fitting for nearly 5 years without blowing the oil seals.

[fred2ka4]

Hey Fred, was there a restriction fitting on the oil feed line or was that already on your oil feed line when you connected it to the turbo? Just asking because I remember you saying that ATP put all new fittings on the turbo when they sent it back, so I am just wondering if they put a non restricting fitting on there but even then it shouldnt have caused the oil seal to blow so quickly seeing that I ran a non resticting fitting for nearly 5 years without blowing the oil seals.

I'm not sure about the restriction fitting on the oil feed line and the mechanic did ask me about that and I told him I didn't know as the turbo was on the car when I bought it and I've had the car for about 5 years with no problems. If there was one on there it should have been put back on when the turbo went back in. Is it needed?

Here are some pics of how the turbo looked when it came off and when I got it back ....


When it was taken of:




When I received it back from ATP:

[mike-2ptzero]

I'm not sure about the restriction fitting on the oil feed line and the mechanic did ask me about that and I told him I didn't know as the turbo was on the car when I bought it and I've had the car for about 5 years with no problems. If there was one on there it should have been put back on when the turbo went back in. Is it needed?

Here are some pics of how the turbo looked when it came off and when I got it back ....


When it was taken of:




When I received it back from ATP:

It is the brass looking fitting on the first picture. Yes it is needed because the GT turbos require much lower oil pressure then what our engines run. But if he put all the same parts on the new turbo then that isn't the problem, but you might want to check to make 100% sure it does have a very small hole in it now that you are taking the turbo off again.

[fred2ka4]

So it looks like the restriction fitting was on there during the whole precess as shown by the pictures:

When it first went to ATP:





When it got pulled of the second time to go back:





Both times the restriction fitting was on there so it looks to be just a failed seal so this time around I am going to push for a new turbo since their mistake has caused a lot of inconvenience and additional labor. I know that clocking the turbo is easy and not a factor here but I did tell them to notate the position of the turbo and return it the same way.

When I got the turbo back from ATP/Garrett, the fitting was on the housing as that is the way I sent it to them. What are the chances they reused my same fitting, or maybe put a different fitting on there that has more flow and would this have caused my problem?