I think my stock turbo is blown...

[float_6969]

Definitely not the compressor side oil seal. The intercooler pipes are totally clean and free of oil. As you said, the exhaust side is hard to diagnose as any oil that leaks past is burned instantly. It seems to have gotten worse now that it's colder, which would lean towards a weak oil seal on the turbo. The oil pressure when the car first starts is probably very high due to the cold temps and might push past the seal, but you would think the increased viscosity would prevent it from from making it through those small clearances.

I have an oil change coming up. I have been using 5w-30 Max life. Maybe I'll switch to a 0w-40 and see if there is any effect.

 

[mikewashere]

you could go with a 0w30 for the rest of the cold temp, and switch to a 10w30 in the summer. the 0w30 should give you the start up protection your after.


Your valve stem seals are capable of leaking under high manifold vacuum as well as start up. I'm going to lean more toward valve stem seals/piston rings if I HAD to guess.

 

[float_6969]

My thinking with the thinner weight was two-fold. If it's the turbo, the thinner cold oil should reduce startup oil pressure and reduce the leaking past the oil seals in the turbo. If it's the valve stem seals, it should leak past them MORE and INCREASE the oil on startup.

Is it possible for the compression rings (1st and 2nd) rings to be OK, but the oil control ring to be bad? This would explain the good compression and leak down numbers, but still allow for the oil consumption.

 

[float_6969]

Little update. Things are definitely no different. I just had to put another quart of oil in. My wife noticed something though that I'm going to start keeping an eye on. We went out the other night to go to a family members house for dinner and the car didn't smoke when I started it. I mentioned that it hadn't done it in a while and asked if it had happened to her. She said no, and wondered if it stopped because the oil was low. Sure enough, it was down to the low mark. So just for kicks, I didn't fill it back up, but just kept checking on it. It stayed at the low mark for about a half dozen starts and never smoked. I finally got tired of checking the oil all the time and topped it back off. The next time I started it, it smoked like CRAZY and has smoked on every start-up since. Any idea's as to why oil level would effect the amount of smoke on startup?

 

[BRIAN_MP5T]

Having the oil at the lower mark could alter how much pressure was created initially.


(Story Time)

When the engine is cold, the oil pressure is alarmingly high. All efforts should be taken to not exceed 1600 RPM until the engine begins to warm up.

In MP5T, when I first start the engine the pressure goes to 60 PSI at idle then gradually over one minute returns to 30 and then when warm is no more than 15 PSI.

If I start to drive immediately on a cold engine, the pressure will go above 70 PSI even if I drive conservatively.

You can blow a turbo seal at 85 PSI.

 

[Sport23]

^I see about the same pressure on my stock MSP. The oil pump bypasses at ~75psi so your turbo seals should be ok, but things do happen...