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I would pull your intercooler tubes and see if a substantial amount of oil is collecting in the intercooler. There will always be some but if its a liter and a half i think you will know.

You could also pull the turbo inlet tubes and see if there is oil pooled in one of the compressor housings.

The 2017 Expi uses the same hardware as the 11-14 F150 btw. So the intercooler and all of those parts are the same.

 

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Ok. So I pulled the intake side pipe from the intercooler and there is a substantial amount of oil in there; like a lot. It’s not discoloured like it would be if it was mostly water; it looks to be almost all oil. I am not well versed in turbos but I assume this means I have leak in one or both turbos?

yeah it seems like it might mean one of the turbo seals are leaking oil into the compressor side. You are not seeing oil in the exhaust because a lot of it is getting caught in the intercooler and not making it to the engine.

I would pull the intake tubes(the ones going from the air filter to the turbo) off the turbo and see if there is a lot of oil pooled in there after the truck sits for a while.

The only other thing I could maybe see being wrong was if the PCV was not fuctioning properly, then boost was getting into the crank case and pushing oil out. this would have been more significant when towing since you were likely in boost 99% of the time. In this case, the oil would still end up in the intercooler because it would be leaving the drivers side cylinder head and going into the drivers side turbo inlet tube(the one coming from the air filter box). So again, maybe pull both turbo inlet tubes and it may clue you in on which side is the culprit. if it was the drivers side then it could have been the PCV.

 

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Plunger was sluggish. Like the valve in there would barely rattle when shook versus a new unit which rattles easily when shook. For 14 bucks I figured why not replace it. Lord knows what a PITA the PCV (or emissions systems in general) has been on virtually all Fords I’ve owned. In the past I had made a habit of changing them at major intervals.

So far I have sucked out 250ml of oil from the intercooler not including what’s landed on the floor. PCV valve was replaced (with OEM) before most recent towing trip and still consumed the 1.5 litres of oil so not sure it could still be the valve. Is there another culprit in PCV system? Maybe a check valve somewhere?

Sorry I thought you replaced the valve and had not seen any consumption. No there is no other valve. The PCV is the passeger side and then there is the open vent on the drivers side head which is valveless.

I would be looking at the turbos then.

 

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why dont you pull the turbo Inlet instead of scoping it. It takes like 5 minutes. Go through the wheel well to get to the turbo side hose clamp.

That way you can check for oil and shaft play on the turbo.

 

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I got around to removing the turbo inlet pipe today and the is oil pooled at the bottom; see image below. It’s tough to measure play because I can’t exactly get in there and grab the shaft but with a pair of pliers I could feel some movement in and out but none sideways. How much (if any) should the shaft be able to move?

View attachment 171234

Little to none side to side, some in and out(axially) is ok. But i think its possible the seals failed without the bearings failing so shaft play may not mean anything.

That looks like a lot. Ive had mine out twice and never had that much.

Removing the wheel well liner takes maybe 5 minutes and makes it a lot easier to get in there.

 

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Are the turbo’s in the Eco different than most? Most of what I can find on tolerances for non-ball bearing types indicated some radial movement is ok but axial movement shouldn’t be able to be felt (tolerances around .007”; which is like 1/128”).

If it goes side to side more than slightly the compressor will touch the housing.

Every turbo I have played with(which admittedly is only 5-6) can slide in/out axially(along the shaft) ever so slightly.

Side to side means the bearings are shot.