RCC turbo 2nd gen leaking oil at turbine housing

[SirReaL303]

Hey guys, little run down here.

My buddy picked up this 2018 Busa in late '22 which was an ex Sema bike. Had 85 miles on it and the RCC street/strip kit was already installed. He brought it back to Denver and ended up blowing it up before he retuned it for elevation. The new motor was built at the end of 2023 with about 250 chassis miles. He's got a bunch of bikes and vehicles so it's essentially just been hanging out since then.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I traded him one of my cars for the bike with like 350 miles on it. I took it for a couple longer rides to shake it down and everything seemed pretty legit until I had it out this weekend. I noticed some smoke passing through my headlight in the dark so the next day I inspected the setup and realized I've got oil coming out of the bottom side of the turbine housing. I then realized the drain line returns into the bottom of the oil pan right next to the drain bolt which can't be good for draining the turbo.

I'll attach some pics/video. I'm curious how u guys are routing your returns and where u tapped into the pan at. I'll probably pick up a new pan to retap in a new location and I'm guessing pull the turbo and make sure the seals and stuff aren't damaged.

But yeah, any information on return routing with the RCC kits and any opinions on what is going on are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[SirReaL303]

It doesn't want to let me add the video I took last night due to the quality being too high and the file size but hopefully somebody has an opinion on it.

 

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

It doesn't want to let me add the video I took last night due to the quality being too high and the file size but hopefully somebody has an opinion on it.

Yes the site does not store video however you can provide a URL to link a video from Youtube or other video sharing service.

 

[shade]

Drain is fine. That's where it's supposed to go.
Check air filter for clogs.
Take off and run the bike again. If it fixes it, too small of an air filter.

 

[SirReaL303]

Drain is fine. That's where it's supposed to go.
Check air filter for clogs.
Take off and run the bike again. If it fixes it, too small of an air filter.

Everything is almost brand new but I will check the filter situation as I typically only run turbo guards and let my intercoolers swallow the debris. Being a gravity feed for the drain it's trying to push vertically up through the oil in the pan + turn that 90 fitting so that's wild to me RCC recommends it. I've had a bunch of turbo setups over the years and anything similar to this type of return not going higher into the pan/block I've had to throw scavenge pumps on to push the oil back into the pan...

Thanks for the info hopefully it's just getting choked out I will try pulling the filter. It's a smaller pancake style filter that fits inside the fairing so I could see some potential restriction. Would u advise chopping the fairing and running a longer length filter if pulling it alleviates my leak from the hot side?

 

[Dennis]

That drain line is really more like an extension of your oil pan. The level in it will basically match whatever the oil level is in your crankcase. Don't think of the oil in the turbo being pushed into the pan. It's really just going to drop into the tube and then the tube and the pan will automatically level themselves.

 

[SirReaL303]

That drain line is really more like an extension of your oil pan. The level in it will basically match whatever the oil level is in your crankcase. Don't think of the oil in the turbo being pushed into the pan. It's really just going to drop into the tube and then the tube and the pan will automatically level themselves.

Never really thought about it that way with the turbo still being up higher than the oil level, makes good sense. I'll clean the hot side housing up real good and degrease everything and see what I get with that filter pulled off.

 

[shade]

Everything is almost brand new but I will check the filter situation as I typically only run turbo guards and let my intercoolers swallow the debris. Being a gravity feed for the drain it's trying to push vertically up through the oil in the pan + turn that 90 fitting so that's wild to me RCC recommends it. I've had a bunch of turbo setups over the years and anything similar to this type of return not going higher into the pan/block I've had to throw scavenge pumps on to push the oil back into the pan...

Thanks for the info hopefully it's just getting choked out I will try pulling the filter. It's a smaller pancake style filter that fits inside the fairing so I could see some potential restriction. Would u advise chopping the fairing and running a longer length filter if pulling it alleviates my leak from the hot side?

View attachment 1697753

If pulling the air filter off fixes it, then yes, a larger filter will be needed.
I had the same issue. Just too much vacuum pulling and oil getting pulled across the seals.
I know 99% of people don't have this issue, but ultimately that's what fixed it for me.

 

[Dennis]

Random thought, not knowing how much shakedown it's had. Do you have a check valve on the oil supply line? If not you will get excess oil in the housing when you shut it off.

 

[SirReaL303]

Random thought, not knowing how much shakedown it's had. Do you have a check valve on the oil supply line? If not you will get excess oil in the housing when you shut it off.

It's got one. It seems to continuously push oil as I ride but doesn't weep at all when the bike is off. I'm just hazing the front side of my block/pan with a light amount of oil and getting that burnt up stuff on the bottom of the turbine housing.

If pulling the air filter off fixes it, then yes, a larger filter will be needed.
I had the same issue. Just too much vacuum pulling and oil getting pulled across the seals.
I know 99% of people don't have this issue, but ultimately that's what fixed it for me.

Filter doesn't seem to be the culprit. Richard from RCC messaged me today (on Easter, great service), gave me a handful of things to run though with my builder/mechanic.