Noticed a small pool of oil under my PSD today, I always park it in the same spot, and nearly always let it warm up before I go anywhere.
Anyhow, I have oil running down the back of the passengers side manifold, and dripping onto the ground. I checked around the valve cover with my fingers, and there doesn't seem to be leaking from there.
Is there anywhere else that could cause oil to be here? It's fairly close to the manifold/uppipe joint. Could it be the turbo? I'm very suspicious of it, freaking thing was stuck solid this morning when I fired the truck up, had to get in there and pry on the impeller with a screwdriver to get it turning...

 

Holy crap batman! You have some serious turbo issues if the screwdiver was needed. May definitely be the source of your problem. Maybe the bearings in the turbo are shot?

 

There's no play in it that I can find, which is weird, considering it was stuck solid. That's the first time it's done it, there's no abnormal noise out of the thing, and it spins freely. Weird... But, I think I'm going to replace it anyway.
As for my oil leak, it looks like it may be the valve cover after all, can't see very well under there at all.

 

Is there any oil down in the engine valley below the turbo?

 

oil leak sounds like its the galley plugs, like normal

but with how thrashed that turbo sounds wouldnt be surprixed if its leaking there too

 

yeah not to sure 'bout this turbo issue, you said it was stuck yet it spins free now with no play now. Has to hit something to get stuck unless you sucked up a big rock.(joke) If the turbo was leaking in the compressor housing wouldnt the oil go through the intake? Sounds more like classic pedestal leak or, as mentioned abobe, galley plugs or something of the sort.

 

Yeah sounds like a classic pedistal leak. But I was also curious if you are letting your turbo cool down before you shut it off, and if the cooler weather in conjunction has caused it to coke up the turbo.

Fire Rooster

 

I coulda swore I replied to this, looks like the board ate it.
No oil in the valley, no evidence of oil in the compressor housing other than what's coming out of the CCV. The leak was my valve cover.

As for the turbo, it's sticking when the truck sits overnight, have to give the impeller a push to get it spinning first start of the day, after that it's fine.
As for the cooler weather bit, I could see it, but, it was colder here a month ago than it is now.
I'll have to check the turbo on my buddy's 01 and see how long it takes to stop spinning if I give it a whirl, there could be a bit of excessive drag on mine, but, I can't say for sure unless I check another.

 

On closer inspection, when it's cold, it's has a huge amount of drag on it, but, once at O/T, it spins freely...

 

I would suspect oil coked up on the turbo bearings causing it to stick. You might consider finding some repair parts soon.

 

yes definitely
glad you got your leak fixed, this might have been a blessing in disquise to clue you in on turbo problems

 

Synthetic oil doesn't coke up. It always turns into a fine ash that easily washes away (if it burns at all)

 

This was copied from the Banks Power web site and addresses the "coking" issue and the "cool down" reqirements:

MYTH #7
You have to let a turbo-diesel idle for two minutes before you shut it off.

FACT
This is a current myth that has a basis of fact stemming from many years ago. It also has a kernel of truth regarding today’s turbocharged gasoline engines that operate at higher peak exhaust temperatures than turbo-diesels. In the early days of turbochargers, the turbo shaft was supported by a babbitt bearing that could seize, or even melt, if the engine was shut off immediately after sustained boost conditions where the turbocharger would “heat soak”. A two minute cool down at idle allowed the turbocharger to dissipate any remaining spinning inertia, and the oil circulation cooled the bearing and prevented oil “coking” in the bearing area. Turbochargers haven’t used babbitt bearings for over 30 years, and today’s oils resist coking. Synthetic oils won’t coke, period. With a turbocharged gas engine, it’s still good insurance to let the engine idle for 30 seconds to a minute to allow the turbo or turbos to dissipate any inertia and to cool the bearing area to prevent oil coking, especially if the engine has been worked hard just prior to shut-down. Of course, using quality synthetic oil eliminates this potential coking problem.

Today’s turbo-diesels are a different story. There is really no reason to “cool down” a turbo-diesel these days, but you won’t hurt anything by doing it either. You can still find people who swear you have to do it, but the myth is fading. Maybe they just like to sit and listen to the radio.

 

*Scratches head* just fired it up, and the turbo is back to working normally, spins nice and free again... I REALLY don't get it..
Ah well, I'll pull the exhaust off of there and check for oil leakage next time I have time to work on it.

 

I had this problem once......gremlins