um okay so heres the deal, i noticed that the bottom of my exhaust manifold and turbo had oil on them, and it was seeping out the top and bottom of the exhaust where the turbo and manifold bolt together, so some how im getting oil in my exhaust manifold. so i removed a few valve covers and noticed the NEW valve stem seals that i put on were riding up and down on the exhaust valves, they werent staying on the head!!, could that be my problem??? and is it really bad to run it this way??, it doent leak when you drive it around, mostly at idle and its not a bad leak, but a leak none the less.


jason

 

turbo seals will do the same thing, leak oil into the manifold, usually though you get heavy blue white smoke when this happens, as for the seals I'm not sure, some engines the seals are designed to ride up in the valve stems, But I'd bet the cummins uses a positive valve seal, ....I just re-read your post, if you have an oil leak I'd bet on a turbo, Valve seals cant leak that much oil!

 

Turbo time

 

But what about the oil coming out of where the turbo and manifold bolt together? how does oil go backwards throught the turbine housing? and it oil does it at idle, i really hope its not the turbo


jason

 

the center section of a turbo has oil pumped into it, so if the seal on the exhaust side lets go it dumps oil into the hot exhaust, symptoms can be white/blue smoke as the oil burns in the hot exhaust. if the front seal goes(inlet side) the oil is forced into the intake system and if enough it can cause a runaway condition, as the engine burns the engine oil as fuel.

You might have excessive play in the turbo, good rule of thumb is to rotate the impeller by hand while pushing sideways, if the impeller touches the housing, the turbo needs to be repaired or replaced, there should be virtually NO forward backward play (in and out)

there is always play side to side when checking, but when the engine is running the engine oil pressure suspends the turbine shaft and centers it, because of the oil pressure.

Hope this helps

 

thanks, but im not really getting any smoke and the leak aint that bad, only if the truck idles for a long time, my question was if the turbo was leaking how would oil get into the manifold and seep out?? that would mean the oil would have to fight gravity and exhaust pressure to do that. thats why i was thinking the valve stem seals were leaking. but thanks, im gonna try that method to check my turbo bearings.


jason

 

If your valve seals are not staying on the guides that's your problem Bud.

Its only bad if you don't want to burn oil and coke up your valves, better fix it.

 

We have a winner!

You also might want to check your gasket at the manifold/turbo inlet. If oil is leaking there, you will be leaking exhaust as well.

 

Hey that's a good thing...

 

another thought, is the oil feed and drain tube leak free? oil filter tight? could be blowing back on the manifold

How about a pic, you know a pic is worth a thousand words

 

Thanks guys, i was kinda thinking it was the seals being the issue does anyone know a way to remove the valve springs without haveing to pull the head??? i really dont want to have to pull the head again i cant take a pic right now cause i removed the turbo and all the oil that was on it burned off a while ago, oh and i checked the filter and inlet and outlet oil lines but nothings leaking. thanks guys.


jason

 

Whatever cylinder you are choosing to work on, bring the piston to TDC, then compress the springs and pull the keepers. The valves will rest on the top of the piston. Just don't bar it over until the valves are retained.

 

I have the valve spring compressor that can only be used with the head off, and i have the 60lbs springs so they are even harder to remove, were can i get a valve spring compressor that can be used with the head still on??? thanks


jason