GPoodle

Hey all. I recently turbo'd my car, and actually the day I turbo'd it, it began smoking like CRAZY. Blue smoke out of the exhaust and if I have the hood popped and rev it, a lot of blue smoke comes out from somewhere on the back of the motor.

I couldnt have overboosted because all day I never hit more than 0.52 bar according to my VAFC. I did hit redline once because the tires broke loose in boost.

Another thing .... The flange that connects to the head off the turbo manifold was slightly warped, so there was exhaust leak there, and also I blew out the wastegate AND turbo gaskets so by the time the day was over (after maybe 30 min of driving), my .42/.48 wasn't even entering boost until around 5000-5500rpm!


So, looking at the pic, you can see theres a milky substance in the valve cover and that's noticable on the retainers and rockers in the head. I didnt notice any coolant though when I pulled the oil pan, and I also havent noticed any white smoke although it's been around 10 degrees here so I cant tell whats normal moisture, burning oil, and burning coolant :crook:

I did a compression test and the cylinders were ~ 145-150-150-145 so thats fine. I also noticed a small amount of oil even before the turbo install on the very small section of head gasket that pokes out on the front-left side of the motor if that matters, I dont think its a leaky solenoid or cam seal.


I'm HOPING that this is JUST a fucked up head gasket (since its better than replacing pistons and rings and since I've never gone that far into the bottom end) in which case I'll replace it with an OEM version and ARP head studs. Let me know what you guys think.

THANKS!

projekteg

i think it was just your seals (turbo), did any oil come out of your downpipe or chargepipes? from your comp test results, i think your hg is fine

GPoodle

But oil smoke comes from the back of the motor when I rev it, and how could the turbo burn that much oil and how is the coolent in the head explained?!

projekteg

if the seals are bad in the turbo, the oil can be passing through and getting in your downpipe, and could be smoking and maybe coming out of an exhaust leak :P and yeah, it could definitely burn a lot oil that way, i'm not sure about the coolant in the head, but either way, i don't think it's your hg if your comp results came back good......

88crxSi

oil from back of motor? near the IM? Check your oil fittings.

projekteg

good point, did you use any thread sealer? it's not necesary, but reccomended

GPoodle

Thank you guys for the informative replys!

I am positive I dont have any oil leaks comming directly off the motor. I have just a single like coming up to a set of three T's on the firewall and those are all teflon-taped and dont leak. I had a leaky connection to the opil pan, but fixed that.

I'll take the turbo off one of these night and throw on the old header and see if it smokes, but I'm using gaskets and am pretty sure my 3" downpipe flanges and gaskets are not leaking where they connect to 2.5" exhaust. I'll throw it up on a lift and see if I can find where the smoke is comming from. Thanks.

Oh, so should I for-go the ARP head studs and new OEM headgasket for now? I'd rather not pull the head just to do the studs, I'd rather wait till I actually blow the HG (since apparently I didnt).
Also, a member of H-T informed me that since water is a biproduct of combustion, it is actually possible for moisture to condensate in the valve cover, and if I indeed did have a coolent-to-oil leak, I'd have a ton of coolant in the pan, the car would over heat, and the overflow take would have ---- in it.

THanks!

RENR

sounds like the turbo is burning the oil. make sure your oil drain tube flow very freely and it doesnt have sharp 90degree bends. this will cause the turbo to smoke also.

GPoodle

My oil line comes down at roughly 45 degrees so I I'm pretty sure that isnt a problem. I did notice when I pulled the turbo off that there was some oil in the downpipe that actually dripped out ... . . . not good!

Another user on Honda-Tech brought it to my attention that I could have a clogged PCV valve since when I remove my oil cap, it's literally like a hair-dryer.
Another possibility is that a valve seal could be shot letting oil into the combustion chamber. Is there any method to test for valve seals?

The next step I'm going to take is just to remove the turbo and manifold and throw on the old header and see if it still bellows blue smoke.
Thanks guys.