Glad you have taken that step. We are not there so it's kinda vague what people have or have not done.
I run 15w-50 oil in mine to help with hot summers dropping the oil pressure off. Maybe a straight 40 weight would be the next step before I have to pull it out.
So does this van engine has the turbo in the center valley with the oil drain/return there? (As opposed to a custom remote mount turbo I know at least one member
@turbovanman did.) If so did you block the oil flow to the turbo when you were watching the high return with the drill? Just wondering if you are watching the turbo oil drain back. WAG: Perhaps the turbo gasket is leaking pressure to the return? From the pictures I can find of the van turbo it looks plausible to blow the oil supply gasket directly into the return without a external oil leak. Also have you considered the turbo itself?
The problem with heavier weight oil is it creates more heat. I noticed more problems from the increased heat than with the lighter weight oil. While on our last trip I could not find any xw-50 or higher. I did sub a few quarts of 60 weight motorcycle oil and a couple cans of STP oil treatment. Didn't seem to make a huge difference one way or another but I feel it is down a few lbs when it is hot. Speaking of which, heat is a big deal on oil viscosity. To keep at least 4 lbs at idle I have to keep the oil temp under 140-160. You know how hard that is? lol
This van has an entirely custom turbo mount location fabbed by me in times past. Not sure I would do it the same again. However, confession time. I broke a few rules. You know how they say you can't weld to cast iron? Well you can. I cut the passenger side exhaust manifold off at/before the bend. Took some cheap (galvanized) 90? exhaust pipe from the local parts house and shaped it to fit the manifold but pointing up at a slight angle toward center and welded it on with a bazillion passes of the mig welder. lol That thing was before I knew any secrets of welding cast, you know like PREHEATING it. lol That thing popped and broke the weld loose the first 2 or 3 passes around before it heated up enough to start holding. Almost 15 years later it is still holding and at time it supports the weight of the turbo. Like when the bracket broke off that holds the huge friggin turbo that Peninsular diesel provided with their kit back in the day. I still would love to know what that turbo is as far as specs go.
The exhaust from the drivers side goes down and crosses under the torque converter. and then goes up to meet the collector for the turbo. The turbo sits above the passenger rear corner of the engine at an angle. The oil drain is literally less than 3.5 inches to the top of the valve cover where I welded a nipple for it. Hindsight it probably isn't big enough in diameter but it's been working. I chopped the intake manifold cover and crudely pop riveted pieces of aluminum tubing together and took it to a local shop and had them weld it up. I would just do it myself today. Didn't have a tig welder then. The turbo intake is still a problem because I can't get it to fresh air. I plan on finding the flattest intake filter box and hooking it to the hood with a louver on the hood for fresh air. For now the cone filter behind the radiator will have to do. Has been doing for many many years I should say. Not ideal at all. Seen post turbo air temps near 300 degrees before. I would have done a remote turbo at the time if I had a source for sump pumps.
Confession time. I don't recall blocking the turbo oil feed. It would be a logical thing to do. But that was last july before our august trip. I can't recall all the details. I'm getting old I guess.
The turbo is a bit of concern for me. Mostly because I have no idea what it is. It is whatever Peninsular sent out with their marine build kits some 15? years ago. At this point today all I know is that it is a name brand unit. I know it is not a holset and think it might be a sweitzer? Something like that. It's huge, I seen turbos on semi's that were physically smaller on the turbine side.
Supposedly Holset turbos, not sure about the CK versions, do not require and oil line restrictor. No clue if this turbo is supposed to have one or not. It doesn't use much oil but the intake is oily. The feed line is a standard size and not very big considering its length so I don't think there should be huge losses there even if it is supposed to have a restrictor.
I called Peninsular up and asked them for specs on the turbo. They hemmed and hawed around and basically gave me nothing. Like they thought it was some kind of big trade secret. Jokes on them because I can take it apart and measure all the components and I know you guys can take that info and tell me exactly what it is equivalent to. I can rebuild a turbo easy enough but I am no expert on sizing one or how the maps and stuff work.
I have a crappy camera and the fact that this is no show rig has kept me from making videos on it. My grandfather wasn't to hot with his rewiring and I haven't fixed it or improved that part much either. Kinda embarrassing actually.
. we aren't that far away, we are in Surrey. and I have the BCAA RV package who will tow it up to 300 kms. Ed
