finally boosted but.......
 

hi today i finally finished my B16A turbo today, and i gotta say it is fast as ----!

Had it for approx 25 mins driving time before the disastor happened, a massive cloud of WHITE smoke!

I turned the engine off and rolled home! luckily it was near my house!

My setup is:

450cc blue tops
Apexi VAFC
volvo T3 turbo
inline resistors
3an oil lines
Running 8psi

What the hell happended? im thinking head gasket???

also there is oil in the exhaust!

Any help appreciated

Thanks Matt B

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

white smoke? hopefully the headgasket, but could be a sleeve...

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

gay question but what is a sleeve! :-[

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

WOW....and you were boosted? :o

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

lol. the sleeve is the cylinder wall. hope u didnt crack one.

how many psi were u running?

also make sure your afc is setup right.
that shouldnt have hapened.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

was at 8psi,my afc settings were

low throttle
1k -40
2k - 9k -33

wide throttle
1k to 9k -33

other 2 settings that i cant remember is low high = 10% and 50% and the other one is changed was 46% and 46%.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

tak off the head and inspect it. It woulr probably be your sleeves.
You weren't boosting a lot.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

Doubt you blew a headgasket that fast?? is the car still smoking right now? greyish smoke can also be oil as well. pop of the downpipe and inspect the exhaust housing before you do anything drastic like take a head off ???

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

the car is a 1992 reg and has done 121,000 miles and has never had a head gasket so i am hoping that it is the gasket rather than the sleeves,

im only running a 10 inch downpipe and oil is in it i can see it in the end and it wet to touch!

what could this be to put oil into the downpipe?

Also i did not have the o2 sensor connected up! could this of also contributed?

Also the car is still smoking, but it is white rather than grey.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

What does the white smoke smell like? if its doing it at idle I'm sure its blown, is the car "missing" at all?

I was just hoping the exhaust seal on the turbo was leaking, by pulling off the DP you can look at the exhaust wheel and see if its wet.

Sounds like your kinda hosed either way ;)

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

pop your turbo off and see if there's any oil in the exhaust manifold. That should tell you if it's either the motor or the turbo.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

good idea mate, i shall be doing that tommorrow,

the smell of the smoke is kinda sweet smelling like oil! but i thought oil smoke was blue?

the car is not missing on idle, starts up first time as well.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

i'd say 99% of the time when u have white smoke coming out of your car the first time u boosted, it is your turbo. it's a volvo t3, so its old and the seals are probably gone. either get the turbo rebuilt, or find another turbo!!! goodluck!!!

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

ive just been in the garage and took off the manifold and downpipe,

the manifold is dry inside it(could of dried out by now tho i suppose!), and the downpipe and the exhaust wheel in the turbo is drenched with oil! so this means the turbo is fucked?????? there has been oil dropping out of the downpipe onto the garage floor!

What you guys reckon?

is there any way i can see if the headgasket has gone without taking the engine apart?

Thanks for the other replies

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

X-Ray glasses?

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

i seemed to have misplaced my x-ray glasses so i will need another solution please!

if i put the standard manifold back on tommorrow and see if it smokes through that then? and if it does the headgasket or sleeves have gone and if it doesnt then the turbo is fucked??

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

how about doing a compression test?

Neil

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

Ah, I'm just ------- with you. A compression test would be your best bet. Cheers. - Matt

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

From what you have described that sounds like the exhaust turbine seal is shot hence why the DP is covered in oil and the manifold remains clean! (Strange though as i thought that turbo had not long been rebuilt according to a previous post!)

To be on the safe side now though definatley go with a compression test just to be doubley sure.

Other than that though this sounds like a perfect excuse to upgrade to a T3/04e!! You know it makes sense ;)!!

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

Definatly slap the stock manifold back on and see if it stops smoking, but a comp test wouldnt hurt ;)

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

true true
Now that you described it. It sounds like it's the turbo.
But a compression test can't hurt.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

BOOYAH, I'm not even boosted... just remove your turbo and start up the car, if oil pour out of your turbo and there is no smoke coming from the exhaust then you've got the answer.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

sounds like the turbo seals are going out. all that oil from the turbo must be a bad exhaust seal or something...

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

what would be good compression test numbers? its a B16A2

i'm now hoping that it is the turbo, but how come it wasnt smoking for the first 25 mins? can it go all of a sudden like that?

thanks guys you really do help lots.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

A healthy B16 should be putting out around (220psi) or (15.5 bar) across all four cylinders.

Maximum difference between any 2 cylinders is around 30psi or (2.0 bar) but this sort of a difference would be a worry on a boosted B16.

let us know the results when you get them in :).

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

Are you sure you're not smelling antifreeze?

Also, what's your oil/feed setup look like, im hoping that the feed is at the top and the return is on the bottom.

How'd the car run/idle when you saw the puff of smoke?

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

After you put the turbo on, did you make sure to charge it with oil? This might be the culprit, or could be a bad rebuild. :-\

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

i have a b16a2 and it smokes all the time, but my smoke is blue, i took apart my turbo and the seals are almost gone, i dont feel like rebuilding it so now a cloud of smoke comes out after every shift...good stuff. ;)

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

bad seals in turbo-same ---- happened to me from same turbo from junk

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

the oil feed is at the top, the return is at the bottom.

the car ran and idoled perfectly for 25 minutes, even though there is lots of white smoke still coming out of the car, it still idols and revs perfect.

i changed the oil and filter before being boosted.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

detailed description of oil feed and return please.. pics are a bonus..

could be 1 of 3 things...

1. Seals took a crap
2. Oil pressure/volume is too much from large feed line
3. Oil drain is bottlenecking it all

or.. all or any combination of the above are possible.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

3an braided steel oil feed, with a 10mm rubber return to the sump 6" long.

no idea of the pressures.

The turbo was rebuilt in 2001, could it of "gone" this fast?

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

yes, it can, especially if the oil feed and return isnt done right.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

just put a bleed valve on your feed, this is cheap,easy, and if it doesn't work, and you're positive that your return is good, then yes, the turbo prolly needs new seals.

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

ok, heres the good news!

compression test results

195 200 200 195 :)

so i know its not the head gasket,

i also started up the car from cold and no smoke!, im guessing that when the oil warms up then it thins out and goes passed the seals?

i pulled the return hose off from the turbo and oil came out from the sump! so i'm guessing that the return is no good??? (not falling freely into the sump!)The return is welded as high as it can on the sump so what can be done? an extra smaller tank perhaps?

also gonna get a oil pressure gauge and test the pressure in the oil feed line.

How do i find out the correct oil pressure that is needed for my turbo?

And! is my turbo now any good or shall i just get a reconditioned one? have i ruined the seals by pushing the oil through them?

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

Is there a nice downware slope or angle on the return line?

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

YES

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is that 10mm return 10mm OD or ID?

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

Internal Diameter

Re:finally boosted but.......
 

dunno what to tell ya... -10an is reccomended for return. I dunno what ID that is in mm. If its close, then i would venture to guess its the seals in teh turbo.