oil control

[jfaubion]

>Anybody have trouble containing oil in the turbos?  I have a setup with 2 
>brand-new turbos that leak oil badly into the hot section causing great 
>billows of blue smoke.

You don't give much info on the setup or the make and model of the turbos. 
Are you sure it is leaking into the exhaust side? If it is a draw through 
setup you may be pulling the oil into the intake side. Check the plugs to be 
sure.

>Application is SBC with high volume oil pump which delivers about 90 PSI 
>cold.  Oil supply lines are #4AN and drains are #6AN back to top of oil pan 

The line sizes are good but 90 psi?!? I realize that is cold but if your 
running much over 60-70 psi warm you are inviting a whole rash of problems 
from oil foaming and over heating to starvation and poor seal life. Most of 
the automotive turbos run just fine with only 20-30 psi of oil pressure.


>Is the oil seal a mechanical unit or does it have some sort of "packing 
>gland" that can be replaced?  

Depends on the make and model.
 
>Could I have damaged it by excessive pressure, or could I just turn down 
>the pressure and hopefully solve the problem?  I've never read anywhere 
>that too much oil (pressure) is  bad for these things.

It is quite possible that lowering the pressure would be sufficient. Most 
people don't have that much pressure. Just be careful to maintain the flow 
when you reduce the pressure.

John