So 17k on a reman long block, initial 1000 miles were broke in with synthetic oil (against manufacture requirements) as soon as I learned I flushed and refilled with DINO oil. That being said, I'm now at 17k and loosing about a quart every 200 miles. I REALLY believe it is my turbo (original to the truck, currently 451k miles. Not blowing smoke but the tailpipe is sooty... no oil "leaks" under the truck.

If the turbo was leaking oil, how would it be indicated?

at $600 to get a reman from Thoroughbred Diesel and I just better replacing the turbo than paying a shop $300 just to find the oil leak?

Is there a better/cheaper place to get a reman turbo?

WHAT is the possibility that 1000 miles on synthetic could have caused issues with the OIL ring on any or all of the pistons during break in?

Thanks guys.

1 minute ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Some how you need to see the valve stems to see if oil is weeping past the valve seals.

350k on Beast

1 minute ago, Mopar1973Man said:

If valve guides are bad the valves will rock and eat the seals off the valve. This will allow oil in during idling and low boost conditions.

That is beyond my ability to diagnose and ultimately if it is drinking oil by anything internal to the engine, it is a warranty... I'm just trying to rule out external issues, while HOPING that it is something stupid simple that I can fix... I mean they will cover a LOT if it is a warranty but I really don't even want to go there if I can avoid it....

Sadly if it's not leaking on the ground it leaking internally and being burnt as fuel.

Vacuum pump would leak on the ground

Front / rear crank seal would leak on theme ground

Tappet cover would leak on the ground.

Valve cover would leak on the ground.

Valve seals yup it would be burnt as fuel and only be seen after the engine sat all night and Valve stems would be wet with engine oil.

Piston rings yup could burn the oil as fuel too but blow by would be noticed typically. There is one case here from @jlwelding that had a cracked piston that past blow by test. Only proper way to test is a compression test. Lower compression would point that out.

after sitting on it and obsessing. I am going to go on and pull the Holset completely off and see if I have carbon at the exit of the exhaust manifold to the mate of the turbo.. I mean I'm literally at two bolts and and oil drain... I don't know how hot it has to be to turn liquid oil into the carbon covering the exhaust side of the turbo.... so MAYBE it could still be the turbo slowly leaking oil versus dumping oil out the exhaust. if the truck side of the exhaust manifold is sooty... then it has to be coming from inside the engine...at which point I document my oil loss and submit the claim... I just don't see how it would be doing that without blowby showing up or oil being on the ground or coating the entire length of the truck.

Oil will burn off during running. This is why I mention looking after it sat for a night it will leave a wet trace on the valves stem as you look in each port. Intake is bit tricky but if you had a wifi bore scope you could look at each port see if the valve stems are wet with oil.

Edited July 25Jul 25 by Mopar1973Man

SOOOOO I am now 98% sure that it IS the turbo... I can rub a finger inside of the exhaust housing and VERY little carbon rubs off... but rub a finger in the tail housing and a noxious substance covers my finger and is hard to get off. Problem now is I have to put my old turbo back onto the truck, the A-Premium turbo can't be clocked far enough left because they have a rigid bracket NOT on the turbo housing holding it.. that bracket can not be moved. Last thing, while I have the whole turbo out, what do I need to order for the drain, it looks like just a piece of rubber hose... but it is oily so I'm replacing it. Suggestions on where to get a good reman turbo? right now I'm looking at Thoroughbred Diesel, they have a ROTOMASTER reman for $545 with a core, only problem is a 5 day lead time to get it.

Heater hose will work for the drain to block connection.

I just uploaded the service manual for the HX35/40 Holset turbo... I used it for likely trouble shooting my turbo... though ultimately I couldn't get my turbo apart to look at the one item that I questioned... didn't want to damage mine which is going back as a CORE... I hate it... otherwise it is still quite tight for a 450k mile turbo... I think my failure was Piston Ring Seal, Turbine (number 13 on the schematic). Guessing that the soot from the break in period is what got me... Replacing my turbo with this one from Thoroughbred diesel. Was the best price/quality I could find. https://www.thoroughbreddiesel.com/h8350108r/

On 7/25/2025 at 6:58 PM, Mopar1973Man said:

Heater hose will work for the drain to block connection.

Some additional information, it definitely was heater hose 7/8" OR 22 mm I.D. I actually ordered a foot from amazon because I wanted to replace the oily section... not sure why it was oily but I took it ALL out cleaned it up and painting it all flat black.

Edited July 27Jul 27 by Tim Waldo

The oem hose was blue silicone lined hose. Heater hose will get soft and gummy over time.

1 minute ago, Mopar1973Man said:

The oem hose was blue silicone lined hose. Heater hose will get soft and gummy over time.

:) I actually ordered blue silicone... 22mm I.D. as well as painted several metal components blue. After I got the hose off, it appeared to be silicone jacketed with something rubber, orange interior.... Reman RotoMaster HX35w should be delivered on Friday. Should be back up and running by end of day Saturday.... then the testing starts all over with hopefully NO oil consumption.

SO... new turbo installed, apparently (only a 100 miles in) I no longer am losing oil. A few things to note... NO ONE knows what the "w" is for on the HX35w, I"m calling it "W" for WING... because the HX35 has a bracket for the waste gate which won't work on our trucks... the true "W" does. After I ordered my Rotomaster Reman Stock Turbo 99-02 I did find some actual "W" turbos for less... but considering I had to send mine back for a core $560 was not bad...just knowing it was all American... $250 and not sending my core in would have been nice, I could have rebuilt it myself and had a backup for when the Chinesium turbo failed.... I did paint some items to match. Here are the photos. One of which was the OLD oil drain into the crank case... I THOUGHT the wastegate tubing was going to come in blue... so I'll replace it later. IT BLEW BLACK smoke the first 10 miles, I am pretty sure that was just getting rid of the soot that had built up in the tail pipe.. because after it ran clean.

18 minutes ago, Tim Waldo said:

NO ONE knows what the "w" is for on the HX35w

I always thought that the "W" is for internal waste gate - no "W", no internal waste gate. Am I wrong?

Sounds like your project went well - let us know how the truck is doing in another 500 miles or so. I just crossed the 400,000 mile mark on my OEM HX35W, so I am interested to see if your engine oil consumption was for sure from the old turbo.

The photo with the oily return hose - after removing that hose, could you tell if it was causing any restriction to flow?

Thanks for posting your fix.

• John

Edited Monday at 02:40 PM2 days by Tractorman

SO... both the HX35 and HX35W have internal wastegates.... I mean in the way I WOULD describe an internal wastegate shown in the photo.... but the HX35W has a "wing" on the outlet housing.... also in photo... and yes I will keep everyone updated on the oil consumption or lack there of.

Edited Monday at 02:46 PM2 days by Tim Waldo

Are you going to rebuild your HX35 turbo or core it out?

57 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Are you going to rebuild your HX35 turbo or core it out?

I would have LOVED to have done my own rebuild, I would have learned SO MUCH... but Rotomaster required it back as a core... OR their REMAN turbo would have cost an additional $200... Which is why I would if doing it again would have gone with the Chinesium Turbo with the "wing' for the waste gate actuator.... I am on the lookout for a cheap HX35w on FB Marketplace to I can do a rebuild.

4 hours ago, Tim Waldo said:

SO... both the HX35 and HX35W have internal wastegates.... I mean in the way I WOULD describe an internal wastegate shown in the photo.... but the HX35W has a "wing" on the outlet housing.... also in photo...

Thanks for the clarification.

Still curious as to if you noted any restriction when you inspected the removed oily drain hose from the old turbo.

• John

other than the oil drain at the crankcase being "oily" I did not find any restrictions.... the top side was clean as could be.. even no residual oil from having drained.... I replaced and painted the metal at the bottom side JUST so I could see if there was ever build up again.

I did remove the outlet casing JUST to see if I could see anything odd... and of course... nothing... I TRIED to remove the exhaust side and it was quite tight... to the point I didn't want to risk my core exchange by breaking something by beating on it too hard....I mean I KNOW I shouldn't have been able to break it... though you never really know.