You can rebuild a turbocharger and it can still consume oil from there...when the bearing housing is worn, no amount of new parts will take up the slop unless you do oversize bearings or a fresh housing.

 

Thats good to know. I didn’t like the idea of reusing the housing but I couldn’t find much information regarding that at the time and they’re not as readily available as all the other components. It did seem like even with the new bearings something wasn’t right with the way the shaft moved in there. I wouldn’t mind going to the 99 bearing housing for the ease of removal, and being able to fit billet intake plenums, but sounds like I would need a drivers side manifold and 99 collector, so I’m not sure if my Riffraff up pipes would work. And I’d need the 99 deleted pedestal among other things.. so at that point I’d imagine I’d be better off with a t4 setup?

 

Look up tp-38 center cartirige. You can find them all day.

 

The compression numbers you list don't support the idea of dusted / scored cylinder walls bad enough to consume that much oil. My truck has lower compression that that (I know it was dusted and have compression in the low to mid 300's) and it doesn't use that much oil. I just towed our TT to FL for spring break pushing it hard and it used about a quart in 1,000 miles. Under normal conditions, it uses almost no oil. I think you're either burning it through the injectors or the turbo. Check the fuel filter to see if it is blackened at all - it's a free test. If it were the turbo seals leaking, I think you would be able to see some oil in the down pipe after letting it idle a while. Once you get the exhaust hot from driving it, it would be burned off, but after a cold start and idling for 10 minutes or so, I'm guessing you'd be able to see the oil in the down pipe if it were leaking through the seals on the exhaust side of the turbo. My truck will idle all day at <300 degrees EGT at the manifold, which isn't enough heat at the turbine to burn the oil out of the DP, IMO. I know this for a fact because after doing injector swaps you'll get a lot of oil out the exhaust and into the DP, and even after idling for a good long while, it doesn't burn off until you get the truck on the road and rod on int a bit to get the heat into the exhaust.If it's leaking the oil into the compressor, you should see it in the intake boots and manifolds.

Your compression is fine, and I think your turbo may be fine as well (but the above test would reinforce that). It may be time to call Rosewood Diesel to talk about a set of injectors. I highly recommend them.

 

Only reason I know this is I had to have a turbocharger rebuilt with oversize bearings to clean up shaft play, otherwise it would still burn oil. It was a weird Euro turbocharger, so no major parts around. It will have shaft play, but there is a specification for it. My pal also had same issue on a T3. Last I looked, a standard TP38 bearing housing was about $75. I plan to do this when I go with the S300 turbine wheel, despite my turbocharger being fresh. HPOP first, mine is beat.

I am battling about two quarts per 1200 miles consumption. The oil pan sealant is leaking, but the rest is oil tight! My compression is decent. I have not had my injectors done, so I could be losing some oil through them due to internal seal deterioration.

KC has a ton of drop in TP38 based units now. Finally a modern turbine wheel fits our stuff, which is great. T4 swap is nice, do not get me wrong, but it is not an inexpensive proposition.

 

I just watched a YT vid where the guy claimed that with all the stock stuff he was able to sell by going to a T4 setup, the difference in cost was only about $200. He went with the smaller S364.5SX-E, which is what I'm really eyeing for my truck when the time comes. He hasd spreadsheets and receipts and everything, claiming that it would have cost him about $1400 to go with a KC turbos drop in type solution and that he spent about $1600 on the T$ kit once all was said and done. I know for a fact where I can get a complete T4 setup that uses the stock oil feed and returns through the pedestal for around $2k, so I'm inclined to believe him that you could get into that realm for about $1600 after you sell some stock parts. Both are decent options, and it really just depends on what you want to do with the truck. The benefit of the T4 setup is the scalability if you change you r mind later and want to go to something else.

Hope you don't think I'm trying to be argumentative (or trying to derail the thread), just talkin' turbos....

 

All good info.

 

Link to the video where he talks about it. Cost discussion starts at 1:11.


Apologies to the OP for the derailment of the thread.

 

isn't that comparison for a SD and not an OBS?

 

That’s good to hear. It’s been hard not to expect the worst with it but I think you guy’s are getting me close to having it all figured out. I’ve never seen any unburned oil in the down pipe. I had a bit in the intake boots but I only just recently re-routed the ccv so it’s been hard to tell how much of it was from that yet. Anytime I’ve inspected the fuel filter it hasn’t been noticeably black but the oil hasn’t been turning black either so that’s also hard to tell. I’ll keep an eye on everything going forward.
I’m definitely ready to give them a call and I’ll be doing e fuel and an HPOP at the same time. Maybe revisit the turbo.

 

I did install the new turbine wheel from KC and it feels like it’s gonna be a pretty strong setup. Think I might still have some boost leaks and probably don’t have much of an injector to spool it right now but it is a noticeable improvement with the Riffraff wheel.

No need for apologies. I’m still on the fence about the t4 setup so it’s nice to have an up to date discussion about it right here instead of spending hours searching for info.

On a a side note do you guy’s think my Riffraff bellowed up pipes will reach far enough if I go with the taller 99.5-03 pedestal?

 

Yes it is. It is an imperfect comparison, but I think it is close to being accurate cost comparison for an OBS as well. I've not been able to find much on anyone running a S364.5SX-E setup in an OBS. I know someone who has, but I've not witnessed it.

 

might need SD uppies and driver manifold for it

Sounds like freakify mod? https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...akify-mod.html

 

In case any of you guys were wondering, the guy who made the video on the T4 364.5sxe swap is actually on the FTE forums under the username Sous in the 1999-2003 7.3 Power stroke Diesel section. This is a link to his thread he made on his decision and experiences of going to a T4 turbo set up.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...been-made.html

 

He is a standup guy. Hooked up me up with a case of Redline recently.



Hands down, the T4 based system is better in the end with far more turbocharger options. No question about it.

I am lazy, not wanting to reinvent the wheel. That is why I am going to stick with TP38 based stuff, even if it is imperfect. Plus I like different than the norm setups.