Here's a link to a picture album with more descriptions under the photos: https://imgur.com/a/SeJ71
long story short, I bought this ST185 from a friend, the motor was rebuilt entirely with a factory new short block a few years back, but was done under duress by the dealership (they had blown the previous engine by not priming it with oil before starting it after an overhaul, and there was a long and drawn-out battle to make them fix it after that) so I wouldn't be surprised if they just did a really shitty job or even deliberately sabotaged it.
The rebuilt motor has only 48k miles on it, and the turbo, a CT27, has a little less than that.
The intake hoses had all started to rot away and so I've been going through trying to replace them, and in so doing found that oil is everywhere under the hood.
Supposedly there was a major power steering pump leak at one point, which soaked everything, but I'm really not satisfied with this explanation given where the oil is appearing, in the charge pipes, turbo, intercooler, plenum etc... in addition to on the turbo housing, and a ton dripping from the bottom of the motor.
I originally expected a turbo leak, but that was before I learned both the turbo and motor were only 50k miles old, not 150k like I initially thought, and there's no discernible play in the impeller shaft, so I'm now rethinking pulling it and sending it to be rebuilt if there's nothing wrong with it. The question is, where could all this oil be coming from? Any ideas?
long story short, I bought this ST185 from a friend, the motor was rebuilt entirely with a factory new short block a few years back, but was done under duress by the dealership (they had blown the previous engine by not priming it with oil before starting it after an overhaul, and there was a long and drawn-out battle to make them fix it after that) so I wouldn't be surprised if they just did a really shitty job or even deliberately sabotaged it.
The rebuilt motor has only 48k miles on it, and the turbo, a CT27, has a little less than that.
The intake hoses had all started to rot away and so I've been going through trying to replace them, and in so doing found that oil is everywhere under the hood.
Supposedly there was a major power steering pump leak at one point, which soaked everything, but I'm really not satisfied with this explanation given where the oil is appearing, in the charge pipes, turbo, intercooler, plenum etc... in addition to on the turbo housing, and a ton dripping from the bottom of the motor.
I originally expected a turbo leak, but that was before I learned both the turbo and motor were only 50k miles old, not 150k like I initially thought, and there's no discernible play in the impeller shaft, so I'm now rethinking pulling it and sending it to be rebuilt if there's nothing wrong with it. The question is, where could all this oil be coming from? Any ideas?