Oil in exhaust

[dhirocz]

I had something like that happen to me a couple weeks ago.

Climbing a hill on us-19 in WV, I started to notice a slight screech. I was boosting under 20 psi, backed off the fuel and dropped another gear. just as I climbed to the top in 5th, about 15 psi of boost, the turbo let go. Shaft separated, sent the compressor wheel into the housing and destroyed it, and sent the turbine straight down the exhaust. I found it in the can.

I ended up paying $500 for a tow, and bought a new turbo and actuator. I personally removed the CAC and cleaned it out, checked it with a boroscope for metal, cleaned out the air intake, and removed the exhaust and hosed it out clean of all oil deposits. It was a mess. Fortunately I didn't get any oil pushed into the CAC or beyond.

It didn't look that bad until I dropped the exhaust. Crazy thing is, the shaft was tight and it didn't leak a drop up until that point. VG ring was free, it just decided it was time. I would have expected an oil seal failure or another VG ring maybe with a bad turbo, this one broke the shaft and separated with little warning...I'm not one to hammer my equipment either.

All I can say is if that turbo is screeching, just replace it. When I pulled out the turbine, I found the source of my screech...the rear bushing seized to the shaft and came out with it.