Turbo help needed

[haphazard_hoon]

1.6td, mk2

Pretty warm, decent weather right now for those who are curious. Starts great, little puff of black on startup, normal yes but after 4-5 minutes of warmup it starts HAZING blue smoke, at that point I'll play with the cold start lever and it blows out occasional perfect little blue smoke rings I swear and reeks of oil.

After warmup I'll drive it and then it's back to running beautifully, no oil burning idle.

Now with conservative driving it puffs a little grey/black, again normal yes but under heavy load at any rpm, boost, especially high rpms (talking 3k, I never really take it past 3.4k) it smoke screens blue and again..... reeks of oil.

Turbo (t2 I believe, can't be sure, I'm an idiot when it comes to turbochargers ) has an external oil leak AND it's introducing oil into the exhaust somehow, seal I believe? (internal and external problems... shoot me). Tailpipe is drowning in sludge. Builds boost just fine, does not sound any different or behave any different than it used to aside from the oil symptoms. The flexible braided oil drain pipe is pretty large in diameter so I don't think it's "not draining oil efficiently"...

Somebody please enlighten me, I have little turbo knowledge and even less experience with them.

Fatmobile, Durden, anybody? Thanks in advance!!

[TylerDurden]

I'm no expert, but I'd expect the shaft seals are worn.

How many miles on the engine /turbo?

[haphazard_hoon]

Unknown miles on both, 460-430-ish compression though. Now I do run thicker, non-synthetic 20-50 because I like how the oil pressure acts with the thicker oil so any thoughts? I'm close to just cutting my losses and getting an upgrade. Now I'm asking this because I'm not 'turbo-experienced'... what are my options for direct bolt-on fit with little to no modifications? T2/3/4, k14, ko4, etc? Not looking to make a ton of power, not aiming to exceed 15psi, should I go big or are smaller ones the better bet for daily driving etc? the more reliable the better.

Any help is much appreciated!

[TylerDurden]

The two turbos I'm more familiar with are the k24 (stock for that year) and the k14 (stock on the 91/92 ECO). I'd go with a k24 or equivalent.

If you go outside stock equipment or more boost, you might want an EGT gauge to keep it safe.

[haphazard_hoon]

Oil pressure, boost, and egt gauges are installed... love the ability to keep an eye on what's going on.

I have a lead on a k14, stock equipment or equivalent is all I'm really looking for. The intake port on these are trapezoid shape I'm told, correct? Looking for an accurate reference of what exactly to look for so it will be a direct fit with no issue.

I have reason to believe the rings are in decent shape considering there's good compression and virtually no visible blow-by... but what is a sure fire way to detect faulty valve seals/seats? This way I can be sure the oil problem is directly turbo related. BTW hydraulic lifters on this head if that narrows it down.

[colby]

A leakdown test would be a good way to determine the condition of the rings/valves/etc.

[haphazard_hoon]

I know, that is honestly what I was trying to avoid. I don't have access to compressed air really.

However the consumption of oil by the engine doesn't "appear" to be the problem though, even though there is evidence in the exhaust (turbo related?)

I'm convinced it is turbo related considering the external housing leak on the turbo itself. Doesn't explain the strange oil hazing idle during warm-ups that disappears after driving it though.

Weirdest part is that it doesn't seem to loose any noticeable oil capacity with that external leak present. It gets driven daily and the reading on the dipstick hasn't changed hardly at all in the past 2 months it's been like this

[Fatmobile]

Yeah, sounds like an oil seal on the exhaust side of the turbo.
Some K14s have the trapezoid.Some don't, I think some of the 1.9s came with a k14 and a triangle exhaust manifold junction.

Exhaust valve seals can leak but I can't imagine that much oil getting past them after it's started.
Positive pressure in the exhaust and all.

If it was because of intake valve seals it would have burned like fuel, wouldn't be wet or blue.