Help with oil leak from Turbocharger oil container after engine rebuild - help!
 

As per my recent post (link below) I just had a top end engine rebuild. However, I am now experiencing an oil leak from the driver's side turbo charger oil container (see pics). Obviously I believe it is connected but, is it possible that I have a turbocharger seal failure?

For additional background, after the rebuild, the dealer told me not to panic if I saw an oil leak given the magnitude of the rebuild. I noticed a leak from the same spot and took the car in. He said that one of the return lines needed to be adjusted (or something like that that I cant recall). They kept the car for 2 days and indicated it was fixed. However, 2 weeks later, the leak is still there. Any help/suggestions appreciated. I am planning to take it again at the end of the week.



See my previous post on engine rebuild.
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...under-cpo.html

Looks like it is from the turbo sump drain plug. This plug requires a special crush ring that is incorrectly listed in the 996 Turbo parts catalog. If you look under the 993 turbo parts catalog the correct crush ring will be shown. From what I can see, this looks like the case.

Thanks!

Spray if off with brake parts cleaner to get the big stuff clean. Than hit it with starter fluid. That'll really leave it very clean. Spray a little Cruex (drug store jock itch stuff) on the suspected leaking area. Take a quick trip, stop and look at the area. The white powdery Cruex will show exactly where the leak is. Clean off Cruex with a spray of brake parts cleaner.
Good luck.

Is it leaking at the drain plug... or the oil line above it... or where the drain pan meets the turbo??? The first thing I'd do is tighten the oil line on top and fitting, then check the drain nut. If that doesn't fix it, drain the oil and there are two allen headed bolts that hold the drain pan to the turbo. One bolt is out of sight and you need to go up into the drain pan through the drain plug hole to get to it. I'd snug them both. If you've done all the above the only other thing could be the seals. There's a crush seal between the oil fitting and line and another on the drain pan plug as well as a seal between the pan and turbo. Your leak is happening at one of these points GL w/the repair

jjbravo has some good advise... if the rurbo is cool reach your hand around the top of the turbo in between the turbine and compressor you will feel an oil going into a check valve feel for any oil leaks/dampness and get back to me
tim

I have a feeling its not the drain plug but rather the oil feed line...

Guys - I appreciate all the input/ideas. Given the dealer just worked on the car and has to solve this, I am feeling it is better to leave "as is" as take it to them to sort it out before I start cleaning & tightening parts. I was trying to get a sense if this is a $2 thing (wrong crush ring as per porschespeeddemon) or a $2000 turbocharger but I guess it is impossible to tell without further investigation. I will keep you posted on what the dealer says/does - By the way are turbochargers covered under CPO? I hope they dont give me another BS answer that they are wear & tear parts! Thanks to everyone.

Taking it back is cool, just trying to save you that step. I try to fix everything I can myself, rather than giving a "tech" the opportunity to bust something else or crash my car on their "test drive".
Hope it works out for you.

Probably a good call, leaving well enough alone so they can re-evaluate it. Possible it could be the upper feed line, but hopefully a simple fix, and less headaches for you. Best of luck on a quick return.:)

The question that you need to answer is if there is oil above the tank or not. It's easy to feel/see. Porschespeeddemon is spot on about the gasket, but follow jjbravo's advice to find the leak and then the fix should be easy to determine and fix (hopefully) from that.

Don't tunnel on this, but I had a blown seal on my last setup- I had oil smoke coming out the exhaust.

Does anyone have the proper part number for this crush ring? Mine just started leaking from this area and everything seems clean except for right at the drain plug.

How much oil sits in the turbo reservoir? I may need to change crush washer on my drivers side as it's leaking but don't want to drain all oil out. Will I have to or does this reservoir only hold a small amount?

Dont have to if you dont want to but why not? If youre car is lowered its gonna have to be lifted or jacked up anyway so may as well. I changed out my intercoolers yesterday and did the plugs after only 6k miles, they were fouled up a little bit but not enough to cause concern.

Unfortunately I can't be sure but I seem to recall the same sealing ring that was used at the oil tank drain also fit the oil container drains.

Regardless when I needed these I just visited my local Porsche dealer parts counter and picked up a pair along with the sealing ring for the oil tank and the o-rings for the oil filter housing and of course a new filter element.

BTW, if the turbo oil pump is removed upon re installation new o-rings should be used. There is an o-ring on the oil pump cover and and o-rings on the lower coolant connection flanges. If the oil supply/return lines are separated new o-rings should be used for reassembly.