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Truck bought for parts, got it running, but…

T9000

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The 2 holes in the middle are the oil supply (big) return is smaller. At least that’s how it seemed when I started my truck with the turbo off. View attachment 889135
Found your post with lots of turbo pictures, not sure how I missed it, it has so many details I was looking for, excellent info, thank you for your efforts to document it!
 

Mogman

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I totally agree with everything you said. The reason I am asking all these questions is to not do exactly what you described, creating additional issues where there may be none, or something minor, besides throwing money out the window :)
The idea behind the defective turbo is that the compressed air, leaks into the oil supply, which someone on the forum tested it with water and indeed water was coming thru the oil input side in his case and i am asking all these turbo questions to understand how it works in more detail in order to troubleshoot this particular case.
Just like on my other REV truck, where indeed I was totally green and had this difficult start-up issues, some said that I need a new IP, but for such intensive job I needed some additional proof that indeed that was the real issue. So I fixed the basics first and it turns the real issue was that I had several cracked fuel lines on both, return and input sides, and on the input side I was getting air in the system, which also was making the engine RPMs to go up and down on its own, just sitting there.
I appreciate your input and everyone's else very much! And to tell you the truth, many times I think if our government would only be half as effective as our forum, things would run a lot better :)
I can only assume he pored water into a turbo and the water came out of the oil return which would not surprise me at all, there are two problems with that assessment.
First the compressor is not compressing at idle which is when you are seeing the blow-by and second is the way a centrifugal compressor works, there is no pressure along its axial plane, the pressure is around its circumference.

I have been around turbo diesels and diesel shops for many decades and have never heard anyone claim a turbo caused blow-by
 
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T9000

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I can only assume he pored water into a turbo and the water came out of the oil return which would not surprise me at all, there are two problems with that assessment.
First the compressor is not compressing at idle which is when you are seeing the blow-by and second is the way a centrifugal compressor works, there is no pressure along its axial plane, the pressure is around its circumference.

I have been around turbo diesels and diesel shops for many decades and have never heard anyone claim a turbo caused blow-by
I first thought the same thing, that it leaked on the small return line, but the water comes out on the larger, oil input line.
 

T9000

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The large hole is the return, the small hole is the feed.
Which brings up another question, where is the oil return line outputting into? Directly into the oil pan? And the oil pan is connected to the oil fill tube where the blow-by comes out of?
 

Maxjeep1

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I swear when I started my truck without the turbo I got a huge stream of oil from the big hole. It was like a geyser and it hit the the top of the body. Makes sense that the small hole would be the pressure side and return the large one.
 
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Mogman

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Which brings up another question, where is the oil return line outputting into? Directly into the oil pan? And the oil pan is connected to the oil fill tube where the blow-by comes out of?
I would imagine it just dumps anywhere convenient in the crankcase.
The oil filler tube is connected to the cam gear case which is open to the crankcase/oil pan
 

T9000

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I would imagine it just dumps anywhere convenient in the crankcase.
The oil filler tube is connected to the cam gear case which is open to the crankcase/oil pan
Then it sounds like that could be a valid path thru which the leaking compressed air would make it out thru the oil fill tube and bring up some oil with it, and create the whistling when opened. If that’s the case why is there some vapor that looks like exhaust? Or maybe it isn’t exhaust and is condensation from the cold incoming air converting to steam when hitting the hot oil? I can try to smell it to see if it’s exhaust? 😆 (a very scientific way to find out)
 

Mogman

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First everything from the valve covers to the oil pan are all the same "container" only the intake, exhaust and combustion chamber/cylinders are separate.
so anything going into the valve cover for example can come out the oil fill pipe.

Blow-By is a self defined term, it is the burned/un-burned gasses escaping (blowing by) around the pistons, so it would necessarily contain combustion gases.

When it blows out of the cooling system that of course is bad news, blowing smoke rings out of the fill pipe can be a bad thing.

Again I would not get too worried and certainly would not take any action unless other problems point to a blow by issue.

IF it were me I would put the cap back on the oil fill pipe, watch the oil and water levels and drive it about a thousand miles before ever thinking about it.

IF there is a bigger issue, like a dead body sooner or later it will float to the surface...

One thing is all the engines that come from the "factory" are "run in" before being shipped, may not be the case with your "rebuilt" engine, you engine may have never been broken in, you gotta put a load on any engine to seat the rings, and then maybe they did a crap job of rebuilding it but "picking at the scabs" is not going to reveal if there is a problem or not but putting some hours on it will.
 
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T9000

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First everything from the valve covers to the oil pan are all the same "container" only the intake, exhaust and combustion chamber/cylinders are separate.
so anything going into the valve cover for example can come out the oil fill pipe.

Blow-By is a self defined term, it is the burned/un-burned gasses escaping (blowing by) around the pistons, so it would necessarily contain combustion gases.

When it blows out of the cooling system that of course is bad news, blowing smoke rings out of the fill pipe can be a bad thing.

Again I would not get too worried and certainly would not take any action unless other problems point to a blow by issue.

IF it were me I would put the cap back on the oil fill pipe, watch the oil and water levels and drive it about a thousand miles before ever thinking about it.

IF there is a bigger issue, like a dead body sooner or later it will float to the surface...

One thing is all the engines that come from the "factory" are "run in" before being shipped, may not be the case with your "rebuilt" engine, you engine may have never been broken in, you gotta put a load on any engine to seat the rings, and then maybe they did a crap job of rebuilding it but "picking at the scabs" is not going to reveal if there is a problem or not but putting some hours on it will.
Yes sir! :) Sounds like a good plan, thank you!
 

T9000

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One thing is all the engines that come from the "factory" are "run in" before being shipped, may not be the case with your "rebuilt" engine, you engine may have never been broken in, you gotta put a load on any engine to seat the rings, and then maybe they did a crap job of rebuilding it but "picking at the scabs" is not going to reveal if there is a problem or not but putting some hours on it will. Will see how it goes after several hundred miles.
I think you are again, right on the money! Because the valve cover leak was bigger after I changed the oil (went to areas where it wasn’t before) which made me think maybe it didn’t get many hours of running after the rebuild, and just tightening the cover bolts stopped the leaking. Also the exhaust being loose it could be another sign of not being driven much after the rebuild as nobody could drive it too long with that much exhaust filling the cabin.
And, the pressure went down from pushing away the upside down oil cap, to just barely moving it after only about one hour of idling.
So all signs point indeed in the direction your are talking about.
 
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springer1981

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I swear when I started my truck without the turbo I got a huge stream of oil from the big hole. It was like a geyser and it hit the the top of the body. Makes sense that the small hole would be the pressure side and return the large one.
Not that I know what caused what you describe BUT if the oil return had any oil in the line or cavity and the engine started and that line vented the crankcase, crankcase pressure could push oil out of it much like what you describe.
 

T9000

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Not that I know what caused what you describe BUT if the oil return had any oil in the line or cavity and the engine started and that line vented the crankcase, crankcase pressure could push oil out of it much like what you describe.
I didn’t have oil coming out the oil fill tube after changing the oil, only vapor, but there is some oil from before in the intake duct, and I presume in the turbo as there is small seep at the top and perhaps that’s what triggered the engine being rebuilt.
 

Mogman

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I didn’t have oil coming out the oil fill tube after changing the oil, only vapor, but there is some oil from before in the intake duct, and I presume in the turbo as there is small seep at the top and perhaps that’s what triggered the engine being rebuilt.
That response was from springer1981 to the comment by Maxjeep1 about his experience starting his engine without the turbo in place.

Having oil residue in the intake is rather normal for a diesel engine, the crankcase vents through the CDR valve into the intake ahead of the turbo so small amounts of oil is again normal.
 

T9000

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Ok, I am about to test if the valve cover leakage stopped with the engine running and while cleaning the two cover pieces (one large and one smaller extension) noticed that some of the gunk seemed thicker, almost like dried RTV residue, but I am not sure because there was no resistance when I took it off:

C7B91892-3016-45A3-BB8F-4CF893D45C07.jpeg

D9AACCC5-242F-4397-AE47-0A2EC82B3309.jpeg

Is there supposed to be any RTV on these pieces to seal something?

BTW, I found out that the transmission was changed around 2018 or later, so that maybe explains the exhaust being loose.
 
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springer1981

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Ok, I am about to test if the valve cover leakage stopped with the engine running and while cleaning the two cover pieces (one large and one smaller extension) noticed that some of the gunk seemed thicker, almost like dried RTV residue, but I am not sure because there was no resistance when I took it off:

View attachment 889789

View attachment 889790

Is there supposed to be any RTV on these pieces to seal something?

BTW, I found out that the transmission was changed around 2018 or later, so that maybe explains the exhaust being loose.
No RTV, those are barely more than dust covers.

They do have a rubber type of edge molding of sorts... look in the TM.
 

Mogman

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Ok, I am about to test if the valve cover leakage stopped with the engine running and while cleaning the two cover pieces (one large and one smaller extension) noticed that some of the gunk seemed thicker, almost like dried RTV residue, but I am not sure because there was no resistance when I took it off:

View attachment 889789

View attachment 889790

Is there supposed to be any RTV on these pieces to seal something?

BTW, I found out that the transmission was changed around 2018 or later, so that maybe explains the exhaust being loose.
Tons of them have RTV on them trying to seal them, waste of time and effort IMHO
 

T9000

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Tons of them have RTV on them trying to seal them, waste of time and effort IMHO
Yes, there is so much other open space around these two dust covers where stuff can get inside, maybe the rubber mentioned above is to prevent rattling as it’s metal on metal and a relatively large cavity so maybe can resonate. I am just speculating…nice touch if that’s indeed the case :)

EDIT: This one screw was missing from the exhaust heat shield and the rattling was so loud, was sounding like something was coming apart:

BA96F113-310D-43B9-9547-4F1393261206.jpeg
 
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