Blower leaking oil - time for maintenance?

[Batoutahell]

During a 3-day track event this weekend, my blower appears to be leaking oil. From the underside, there is a light coating of oil near the ?seam? where the nose cone meets the body of the blower. There is enough oil leaking there that it has dripped onto my oil filter.

From above, there are small traces of oil on the backside of the manifold. One of the stranger places I noticed oil is in the 2 bolt holes in top of the manifold kind of underneath the fuel rail. The oil is ?pooled? in these recessed bolt holes. I also noticed evidence of a very fine ?spray? of some liquid (oil?) that seems to have originated near the bung where the factory fpr pressure hose attaches to the manifold. Evidence of the ?spray? also appears on the firewall, so it?s more than just a seeping leak - it sprayed out a bit.

I don?t see any evidence that oil is escaping from the engine, I?m pretty sure it?s coming from the blower. I thought the only oil in the jrsc was located in the nose cone. If that?s the case, it?s either leaking from the seams in the casing, or else it?s getting into the body of the blower and then being thrown up into the manifold. I guess this oil leak may explain why I?m only making 6.5psi with the MVM pulley, and 4.5psi with the stock pulley. I have 40k miles on the blower, including 8-9 track weekends. Is it time to remove the blower and send it in for an overhaul? If this is a job that I can?t take care of myself, where should I send the blower for maintenance?

This was not the only problem I had this weekend. My ignition coil crapped out while I was on the turnpike coming back home from the 1st day of the weekend event. I had to have the car towed to a friend?s house. During the event, I also noticed that I was puffing white smoke on a few particular corners, and burning 1 full quart of oil after every 20 minute session on the track. I?m guessing my oil rings are shot. I had a great time on the track, but I?m afraid major repairs are in order.

[Batoutahell]

Anyone?

[gsrteggie]

doesnt seem good. I would call/email magnuson.

[BXSI]

wow this definitly don't sound good, i doubt all the oil you are describing is coming from the blower alone though. I mean you are losing a quart of motor oil every 20 minutes under boost too right. Can you take any pictures? I'm not sure how much oil the nose casing actually holds, but i can't imagine it being too much. Are you the original owner of this blower? i have my theories on leaky blowers and here it is...I have noticed there is a sealant on all of the bearings on the eaton blowers and when the sealant is exposed to high temps for an extended period of time it liquefies and when that seal is gone the oil in the casing passes through and leaks out. If the sealant is cooled it hardens again, but if too much leaks off the blower will leak and thats that. That is why i think some guys have the problem one day and then it never leaks again any other day, because the sealant on the bearings hardened up again and it sealed the leak but jackson racing will just blame it on overfilling some of the blowers. Don't ask how i came up with this theory it's a long story, but hey it's my theory so don't take it for fact but if you ever want to take apart a eaton blower one day i think you will see what i am talking about.

[JRCivic]

There is a relatively small amount of oil in the blower... not nearly enough to describe the mess found under your hood. It sounds to me like you are leaking it from the engine. There are really only two possibilities: A) You are consuming the oil, which would create a white/blue colored smoke out the tailpipe, or B) You are leaking it externally and it is dropping down on something that spins very fast (like the midshaft, axle, etc) which is "slinging" the oily fluid everywhere.
Just a quick test: If you have a breather filter attached to the vent on the valve cover, ignore this... With the car running, remove the vent hose from the intake tube and place your hand in front of the open end (do not plug it, just place your hand a few inches away). Now, rev the engine up rapidly. Do you get oil sprayed on your hand ??? If so, you are losing compression, and it is only a matter of time before the car will be rendered un-driveable.

[Batoutahell]

Here's a quick update, and some other factoids. My compression is 250,250,245,250. I know this doesn't necessarily mean my rings are perfect, but it's a good sign. Talking to other drivers and corner workers, everyone says I puffed smoke at only 1 place on the track. I occurred under heavy braking, preceded by full throttle. This being the case, I'm thinking maybe my valve seals are going.

I do think the oil around the blower is a different problem that is not related to the engine oil consumption. Talking with Keith at JR, he says it's not uncommon to have oil "weeping" on the bottom side of the blower. That describes what I see underneath perfectly. I'm more concerned about the moisture on the firewall and around the back of the manifold. I'm going to remove the blower this weekend and check the oil level. If it's not close to the full 92ml mark, then I'll know if that's the culprit.

Jim, I have a valve cover breather filter, and plugged the hole on my intake. Do you mean for me to unplug the bung on my intake and rev the engine to see if oil sprays out there?