While working on the fuel system I noticed that on the turbo elbow, where it connects to the duct going to the intercooler, there is an oily trace. I pulled off the ducts and there are traces of oil in them, close to the turbo. I pulled off the entire right hand duct and the traces of oil disappear on the end of the duct that attaches to the intercooler. The stuff in the impeller housing is thick and oily, I cleaned it all out. Is this normal? Is a bit of oil allowed to be in the air pressure side of the turbo?
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You shouldn't be seeing oil there. Oil there is caused by a leaking turbo seal. Make sure the turbo drain is clear and that you don't have a blocked crankcase vent tube.

 

When i bought my CTD, it was the same way. The guy who had it before me had cleaned the K&N filter and loaded it up with way too much oil. Just a thought

 

My air filter is stock, so the oil couldn't come from it. Guess I will clean it and watch it for a while. If it appears again, is there a repair or is it a turbo replacement?
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Same thing happened to my hx-35, the front seal trashed on me. All that oil will get in the intercooler ,and in your intake. It is a real mess to clean up. I suggest fixing the problem ASAP.

 

Your playing with a runaway if that seal fails.
I would remove it and have it properly inspected for seal failure before you possibly loose a motor. I know of two that took the motor out due to runaway from oil seal/turbo failure.

 

You are scaring me, BCS and DrD! The intercooler is still bone dry, so the problem is in its infancy still. Is the seal reparable or is it turbo replacement? Can I take it apart and replace the seal?
How freely is the impeller supposed to spin? If I spin it by hand it rotates but stops immediately, it will not keep spinning. Is this normal?
-P

 

When you spin the turbo by hand it should continue spinning freely for a couple of seconds. Do you have any in and out play on the wheel? How about side to side, can you touch the sides of the housing with thw wheel?Rebuilding the turbo is not hard, it will cost apporximately $100 in parts. I rebuilt mine, just get a parts diagram off the Holset website and it will be much easier putting things together. There is no black magic involved, just keep parts SUPER clean. Go with a genuine Holset rebuild kit. Sometimes they are on ebay, otherwise you can go to High Tech Turbo and get one.

 

Thanks Crimedog. My turbo does not keep spinning, it comes to a stop once you get the finger off the blades. Well, maybe it makes another turn, but that's it. Certainly does not spin freely. I was surprised to see that, I expected it would spin fast and easily. Guess its time to rebuild it.
For oil in the air side, the dodgeram.org quotes Holset to say that during idling, oil will mist through the seals, which is annoying but normal. I have idled the engine quite a bit, its winter. So maybe the oil is not a problem. But no free spinning sounds not so pleasant. The FSM says nothing on this other than the tolerances on axial and radial play.
Edit: No, no play, the impeller feels rather stuck than loose.
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Do you have a pyrometer, maybe you shut down too hot a couple times? A little oil cooked on the bearing to wear away and/or cook the seal?

 

No, I don't have the pyro gauge. And who knows what the previous owner was doing for shutdowns. I myself drive in such a way that I always end up on slow streets before stopping, so it ends up putzing along at 1000 rpm for good 3-5 min, then I let it idle for 30 s and shut down. It could be that it's got oil cooked on the bearings. Would it help to disconnect the lines and spray it with solvent? Can that be done?
-P

 

If its only $100 bucks I'd just rebuild it,be worth the peice of mind!
just my.02

 

$100 is fine, but in the kit I found on e-bay, looks like there are no seals in it, only bearing spacers and lock rings. Did your kit come with seals? Where did you get the rebuild kit, from a dealer?
Thanks!
-P