diesel in oil

[freerider170]

i may have found why my turbo blew, i think i found diesel in the engine oil. see picture
what should i check first? injectors seals? fuel line? or injection pump shaft seal?
thanks for any help.

 

[Old.Tony]

The usual culprit for diesel in oil is an injector seal. Very important question: has the oil level risen? I think it's unlikely that this is going to destroy a turbocharger, diesel is unlike petrol and your fuel pump uses the diesel passing through it as a lubricant.

Diesel in the oil is somewhat dangerous, especially if the engine starts pumping it out the PCV in quantity - you'll find the engine will run by itself, and increase revs until it detonates (diesel runaway). There are two methods to stop a diesel that's in runaway: blocking the air intake (not with your hand, it'll rip your flesh off!) or removing the PCV hose from the intake.

I'd check that the oil level is rising first, look at the seals and see if any appear to have degraded, before jumping any further.

 

[BarneyB]

How many kilometres on the injectors & seals?

 

[freerider170]

i'll be checking the fuel return line first, then the injectors seals.
i just bought the car, only 120 000kms on it, but it had a blown turbo.(fixed with a second hand one).
i've juste done a oil change, i'll keep an eye on the oil level.
thanks

 

[Horatius]

Which engine?

 

[freerider170]

Which engine?

Sorry I didn't mention it, yd25

 

[tweak'e]

check the injector spill line.
vacuum test it and make sure it holds vacuum.
then injector connections.

 

[fuzzylogic]

i may have found why my turbo blew, i think i found diesel in the engine oil. see picture
what should i check first? injectors seals? fuel line? or injection pump shaft seal?
thanks for any help.

What should picture look like, if there wasn't diesel in your oil? No lighter coloured halo around the dark circle? Is that a paper towel? Cheers, and good luck with it...

 

[freerider170]

Oil level look to be the same after 300-350kms trip, but my rear main seal is leaking. So not very accurate

 

[hotshot 5691]

The usual culprit for diesel in oil is an injector seal. Very important question: has the oil level risen? I think it's unlikely that this is going to destroy a turbocharger, diesel is unlike petrol and your fuel pump uses the diesel passing through it as a lubricant.

Diesel in the oil is somewhat dangerous, especially if the engine starts pumping it out the PCV in quantity - you'll find the engine will run by itself, and increase revs until it detonates (diesel runaway). There are two methods to stop a diesel that's in runaway: blocking the air intake (not with your hand, it'll rip your flesh off!) or removing the PCV hose from the intake.

I'd check that the oil level is rising first, look at the seals and see if any appear to have degraded, before jumping any further.

Hi
When you mean seals, is this the copper injector seat seals?.

My injectors tested fine at service shop but I think I have diesel in oil sump.

Cheers Carl

 

[Old.Tony]

Not the injector seat seals (there's a nozzle gasket and an O-ring at the base of the injector, it's probably not leaking there), but there's a chance it's around the connection between the injection tube and the injector which doesn't have a washer. It's covered by an oil seal that closes off the opening that the injection tube passes through. Debris or damage could cause this to leak.

Be sure it's diesel in the oil - if the oil level is rising, it may be diesel getting in there. Usually you'd see a very slow drop in oil level (oil vaporising and passing out the PCV to be combusted).

Diesel in the oil isn't necessarily going to kill a turbo, either. Diesel fuel is oily and will lubricate things (not as well as normal engine oil, but it's no solvent). However, lack of oil changes resulting in sludge building up will restrict oil flow and that's going to increase the risk of damage (and in particular, to the timing chains as the tensioners gum up). If you didn't buy this car new, a really good engine flush is highly advisable (and perhaps do it on the next service too).

Another turbo killer is quick shutdowns when hot. If you've been (or the previous owner had been) hauling up a hill and then just shutting down without letting the turbo cool, the turbo will still be red hot and if the oil flow stops, the oil that's still in the bearings will cook, form varnish and start destroying the bearings which are only brass sleeves (the GT2056V doesn't have roller bearings).

 

[tweak'e]

Diesel in the oil isn't necessarily going to kill a turbo,

it absolutely does kill turbo's. its a known issue. diesel may be oily but it does a terrible job at lubrication at high temps, especially modern low sulfur diesel.

its why you do the spill line mod on the zd30 if you add a lift pump.