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AsphaltCowboy
05-07-2015, 17:37
I just installed a Ted's 6.5 in my '83 Suburban. Fired it up this afternoon and all seemed great at first but after idling for a few minutes there is definitely a problem.
There is a fair amount of smoke out the exhaust. Oil is spitting from the flange where the turbo connects to the downpipes and oil is also dripping out the tailpipe.

Only thing I can think of is a seal inside the turbo. I ran the parts truck that the turbo and manifolds came from and did not have this problem. What could've happened to the turbo while it sat in my garage for a few months?

Also any suggestions on where to get a replacement turbo? I'm kind of running out of time to get this thing moving.

rustyk
05-07-2015, 19:32
Check your air filter - if it's clogged you can get similar symptoms, altho they usually show under load.

AsphaltCowboy
05-07-2015, 19:48
No intake or air filter is installed since this was just an initial test fire.
This is all happening at an idle.

The only thing I can think of is that the new Ted's engine must have significant higher oil pressure than the totally shot donor engine. The donor engine's low oil pressure must have masked the problem.

Looks like Rockauto sells a new replacement "Rotomaster "GM3 turbo for about $400.

DmaxMaverick
05-08-2015, 00:01
If you've only done a test run, at (mostly) idle with no load, it may take a bit of running at higher temp and drive pressure. I've seen this many times before on "projects" when the turbo sits for a while. They usually seal up once cycled through. If the spindle isn't sloppy (wiggles a lot by hand), it's probably OK, and just needs a bit of flogging.

More Power
05-08-2015, 13:08
Pull the turbo to see where the oil is... If the oil is inside one of the exhaust manifolds, it's not the turbo.

phantom309
05-10-2015, 07:56
If it were my unit,. i,d check for certain that its engine oil,. for engine oil to make it all the way back to the tail pipe,. it takes a heck of a lot of oil,.

From reading your description,.

i.e a lot of smoke,. i might be suspicious of a cylinder not firing,.
and the fluid thats dripping might be diesel fuel,. engine oil doesn't find its way thru the cracks like diesel does,. mixed with the carbon in the exhaust pipes,.it'll show up as a pretty black fluid,.and diesel fuel being light will get blown out of the tailpipe quicker and easier than 15w40,..

If it turns out to be the turbo seals,.put on a gm8 turbo,. it'll work a little better,.

Dvldog8793
05-10-2015, 11:47
Most likely diesel fuel. For oil to get out the tailpipe I think it would have to be ALLOT of oil.

AsphaltCowboy
05-24-2015, 17:44
Thanks. Took it apart and ended up being the turbo. Not sure what happened to it that caused the seals to go out but I replaced it and all is good now.