Oil leaking into throttle body from intercooler

[singlecabsam]

G'day all,

The car has been a bit down on power between 1700-2000rpm in 3rd, 4th and 5th, it labour's and drones a bit. More recently in 3rd but 4th and 5th have been like this for some time? Injectors were replaced at 300k. Potentially SVC related?

So I decided to take a look down the throttle body and to see if the EGR was caked with carbon. When I disconnected the intercooler I've noticed a pool of oil in the throttle body which looks to be coming through the intercooler. Is this amount of oil normal and what could be the cause? Turbo leaking oil and in need of a rebuild?

Link to some images as they probably paint a better picture than I do! [url]https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/vpqp3nica26jd8nziwo8v/h?dl=0&rlkey=cjik7c[url][/url]3j2j45xv142dyp9wa2s[/url]
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/vpqp3nica26jd8nziwo8v/h?dl=0&rlkey=cjik7c3j2j45xv142dyp9wa2s

Has anyone else experienced this?

The car is an early model 2006 with 315k on the clock

[ptrl1600]

Hi Sam, I would say it's fairly normal for a turbocharged engine and is generally caused by high crankcase pressures consistent with turbocharging. It's the main reason why so many people fit catch cans or preferably a Provent that drains the oil back into the sump after the engine is shut down. This doesn't eliminate it, but does reduce it substantially. The oil in question also mixes with EGR gasses to form the thick greasy substance that causes the intake runner issues.

[hiluxxury]

Yep, its pretty normal.

I personally don't believe a catch can is worth it as some oil vapour will still pass and after you do this clean it will be another 315k before you need to clean it again.

There are also 1000's of 1kd operating out there without a catch can.