What does it mean when oil is heavy in the air filter?

[Shaun091382]

Hi i was getting my truck looked at and around the turbine housing it looks wet and gunky with oil but i was told this was normal because of vapors coming from the turbo housing...but i was told when the air filter was replaced that there was a significant amount of oil in the airbox and on the filter and in the outlet from the turbine..i didnt notice my truck burning any oil nor was there a lack of power? any suggestions of what the problem may be? any course of action to correct it? my truck is a '93 Chev reg cab 6.5TD 4X4 thanks for any input!

[ucdavis]

I can think of 3 ways to get oil into airbox:
1) road oil picked up in the air intake (i.e. no problem)
2) intake-side bearing on turbo is leaking & running down 3" airbox-to-turbo-tube into airbox. If this was the case I'd expect only the lower part of filter & airbox to be oily, and I'd expect to be using oil (it'd get sucked into the intake while running) in a measurable amount. This should also be accompanied by smoke from the burning oil.
3) airbox didn't seal properly (notorious w/this unit) and was sucking oily road residue into box, some of which will get onto the filter. I had this last problem (though no residue on turbo, and mine's probably more exposed to road oil than yours) w/buncha gunk on corner of air filter.
That part about vapors around turbo is news to me & sounds like urban legend (assumes you're in an urban part of Canada; otherwise suburban, farmland, woodsy or wilderness legend as applicable).

[DmaxMaverick]

The oil in your air box is from the CDR. If the CDR is doing its job, it will pump excess blowby oil vapor (which condenses into oily goo) into the intake, between the turbo and air box. The CDR could be bad, causing excessive oil vapor to enter the intake, or you could have excess blowby, which is common. The CDR could be cleaned (usually unsuccessful), but should be replaced if suspected to be bad.

If you have a detectible amount of road oil getting into your airbox and soaking your filter, you have a SERIOUS problem, and the engine will be short lived (errr...shorter lived).

[britannic]

If you do clean the CDR, don't use chemical solvents as they will destroy the diaphragm.

[triggerman]

switch to a CI rated Diesel oil and see if that helps.

[triggerman]

Is your AC working OK, If your AC line has a leak between the core support and the condenser connection, the intake will suck this AC oil into the filter. Hoprfully you don't have a toasted seal in the turbo.