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Oil leaking into the inlet of the turbo

30954 Views 14 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  jblackburn
So Im pretty sure I have a serious problem. I pulled the tube coming from the airbox off the inlet of the turbo tonight and there is oil leaking from a port into the compressor side/inlet of my turbo... Anybody seen this before??

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I'm sure others will comment here, but I believe that black tube going into the inlet of the turbo is the PCV return line. Every car with a PCV that I've owned has had a little oily residue. Compound that with the high heat that the turbo creates, and any oil vapors litterally cook onto the metal.

How many miles are on this car? What's your frequency of oil changes? Burning oil can cause this, I'd keep an eye on the oil level and see if that changes.
I just bought it last saturday. It has just under 25,000 miles. I have no clue what previous maintenance has been done but when i pull the dipstick it smells fairly old. almost like burnt oil. and when i pulled the intake tube off the turbo it smells like old burnt oil. like its overdue for an oil change. the computer said 98% oil life when i got it from the dealership so idk if they just reset it and never changed the oil or what happened. The oil leaking into the turbo is still wet like its fresh
GM has specified a new oil certification called Dexos 1 for 2011 and newer vehicles. This is either a synthetic blend, or a full synthetic oil. You may have a case where someone used a low quality oil, and ran it way too long.

I'd suggest an oil change with either the ACDelco Dexos 1 oil (blend) or a full synthetic meeting the Dexos 1 specification. You'll see the marking on the bottle meeting the certification.

There's a post on how to change the oil in the How To area if you're interested in doing it yourself.
yea idk about doing it myself yet but maybe.. is it sold at wal mart? or autozone or oreillys? thats all that is close to me. and do i need a filter or can i keep using the old one? Im going to go see if i can find the oil tonight.

by the way. the oil trail in the picture is burnt on.. its not wet at all like i thought it was

should i replace the pcv valve?
yea idk about doing it myself yet but maybe.. is it sold at wal mart? or autozone or oreillys? thats all that is close to me. and do i need a filter or can i keep using the old one? Im going to go see if i can find the oil tonight.

by the way. the oil trail in the picture is burnt on.. its not wet at all like i thought it was

should i replace the pcv valve?
It should be clarified the Cruze requires Dexos 2 approved oil. With that being said, yes, Walmart does sell it. Penzoil synthetic, Mobil 1, and a few others are all Dexos 2 approved. Yes you need to replace the filter as well. Where did you purchase your Cruze? Seeing as it only has 25k miles on it, it should still be covered on the bumper to bumper 36,000/3 year warranty.
It should be clarified the Cruze requires Dexos 2 approved oil. With that being said, yes, Walmart does sell it. Penzoil synthetic, Mobil 1, and a few others are all Dexos 2 approved. Yes you need to replace the filter as well. Where did you purchase your Cruze? Seeing as it only has 25k miles on it, it should still be covered on the bumper to bumper 36,000/3 year warranty.
The diesel Cruze will require dexos2 oil. We're talking about a 1.4T powered by gasoline, so it needs dexos1. dexos1 is GM's gasoline engine oil. dexos2 is their diesel engine oil. More information here: GM dexos information center

dexos1 oil can be found for about $20-25/5 quart jug at Wal-Mart. Pennzoil, Quaker State, and Mobil all market their versions of it.
If that cannot be found, a full synthetic 5w-30 that meets API SN will do.

If there's a dealer handy, call them up and ask how much for a new oil filter. Those are usually $5-6 there.
Doing it myself won't affect the factory warranty will it?
Doing it myself won't affect the factory warranty will it?
Not at all. Do make sure to save your receipts in a safe place such as an envelope in a cupboard just in case there is ever a question on whether the oil got changed.

Also, if you're planning on DIY'ing, please make sure to read the how-to since there are many good tips/tricks there. And to make sure you have the 24mm socket and extension before beginning...
I too have residue in the turbo intake. Im not sure what direction it goes cause that hose to intake seems to be constant vaccuum making me think its oil from turbo. Any1 else here no the answer to this residue?
I too have residue in the turbo intake. Im not sure what direction it goes cause that hose to intake seems to be constant vaccuum making me think its oil from turbo. Any1 else here no the answer to this residue?
It's a mix between oil from the PCV system and oil escaping past the seals in the turbo. The PCV system feeds into the intake line on turbocharged cars because that's what draws the most vacuum.

You can separate out this oily residue with a catch can rather than introducing it into the cylinders. Some cars already have a PCV system designed to do this, but the Cruze uses the traditional, low-maintenance type of system.
the Cruze uses the traditional, low-maintenance type of system.[/QUOTE]

Can you describe this in a little more detail
I wish I had a diagram.

This one will help for understanding a non-turbo engine:
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h63.pdf

Most cars draw a vacuum through the intake manifold, and PCV gases from the top and bottom of the cylinders that escape past the valve seals/rings are simply drawn into a loop by vacuum that is then recirculated through an EGR or PCV system and re-burned in the cylinders before being pushed out the exhaust system. Simple, cheap, and it works. Not terribly efficient - some oil loss occurs as a result of this, and the intake manifold and/or air filter are gunked up over the years.

Since the intake manifold on a turbocharged car does not produce vacuum when the turbo is boosted up, there needs to be a 2nd source of vacuum. You guessed it...the turbocharger, like a big vacuum cleaner, provides tons of vacuum at the intake side. So the Cruze simply has a 2nd hose routed there. That results in a little oil in your intake hoses, in addition to the oil that escapes past the turbo seals when boosting heavily and then is blown through a loop through the intercooler and back up to the throttle body.

It is mostly fine droplets of oil, but they do settle over time. It is this exact reason why catch cans are a common "mod" on turbocharged cars. Running higher boost pressures on tuned cars results in more "blowby" in the cylinders and more oil blown past the turbo seals as well. People don't want that oil gunking up their intakes and cylinders, so they separate out the oil vapor into a canister that can be emptied later on. It is typically just spliced into the PCV line that dumps vapors back into the intake manifold. Air into the engine, oil out into the canister.

My last car - a Volvo - had an "oil separator" box tucked under the intake manifold that served the same purpose as one of these catch cans . I believe Saab or BMW used a similar system on some cars - but I can't remember which. As typical for these brands, it was an over-engineered system that served to minimize oil loss, but required maintenance in the form of removing the intake manifold and cleaning the system in 100,000 miles. Most people wouldn't want to pay for that kind of service - just like people hate changing timing belts.

This system brought in oil vapors from the tops and bottoms of cylinders via the "hose to valve cover" and "hose to engine block" (from the bottom of the cylinders). It pulled a vacuum through the other hose on top of the canister from the turbocharger (to PTC nipple at the turbo). Finally, oil droplets settled to the bottom of the canister and were returned to the oil pan. There was also an additional small vacuum hose that led to the turbocharger from the intake manifold to provide vacuum for the system when the engine was at idle and the turbo was not providing vacuum. Great in theory, but it does clog up and require maintenance every few years - especially if conventional oils that sludge up are used instead of synthetic. When working correctly, this will keep most of the oil out of the intake hoses/manifold.

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So a catch can should be used on this 1.4T engine? If not what is reccomended to clean the intake hoses, IC and intake manifold? I can see this oil forming not being good
It wouldn't be a *bad* idea, but it's not entirely *necessary*.
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