What did i break?
 

ok well heres my problem. my car has decided that today it wants to smoke. i dont really know why, dont know why it has to be now, but today it happened. now the question is, whats wrong with it?

ok 1st off. Turbo B16 stock bottom, unknown milage. 48/60 T3 log mani, 2.5 inch DP to 3" totally unresticted catback (new yesterday, just built it). the car is tuned on crome pro by xenocron, so im confident in the tune. i run a catchcan (it works, so i dont have to explain how i have it run)

im thinking its my turbo seals. i dont run a restrictor, but my line is -3an so i shouldnt need one correct? it smokes at idle and i THINK on decel, but i cant tell. i know that every time i come to a stop, i get a plume of smoke that comes from the exahaust. im gonna pull the filter tomorrow and check out shaft play and to see if i have any oil in my charge pipes (though i shouldnt, causemy turbo doesnt shoot down, it shoots up)

i did a compression test as soon as i saw the smoke and it was 185 190 185 195, so thats fine. i also had a little smoke coming from my valve cover breather (i run a tube to the ground) and a little oil on the end of the tube. anr my ringlands smoked too?

ALSO the car felt like it was down on power today compared to last night. would the turbo blowing out its seals hurt its efficiency? BUT it was 45 degrees last night and CLEAR and today it was 70 and overcast/humid.

i know this was a long thread, but i need someones help here

Re: What did i break?
 

i whould say by by seals, just rebuild that mofo and get a restrictor valve

Re: What did i break?
 

thats what im thinking...... grrrr. anyone know a good place to get a set of seals??

Re: What did i break?
 

anyone else have any suggestions?

Re: What did i break?
 

Wouldn't be ringlands. Look at your compression. It is more of a D-Series compression check though, but I still would say its not ringlands and the fact you run a catch can to help? Nah, I doubt it.

I have NEVER had a problem with needing a restricter. Each car to it's own I guess. We are all assuming it's BLUE smoke, am I correct?


JP

Re: What did i break?
 

that ---- happened to me. Shitty gas and a little boost spike caused my stock z6's hg to take a ----. Smoked at idle and when you let off the gas. Eventually it smoked alot. I thought it was the ringlands or something too. At least thats what i told myself so i could build my engine.

-3 AN you dont need a restrictor.

Re: What did i break?
 

yup, def blue smoke. and i know the compression is a little low, but it still seems within the normal range. im thinking about going out in a few mins to see if there is oil in my charge pipes and check and see how much shaft play the turbo has

Re: What did i break?
 

when i popped 3pistons in my gsr last yr, my compression was still 185 across.

but it was slower and smoked. leaky seasl in your turbo shouldnt account for lack of performance smoke out of the valve cover hose is not an optimistic sign

Re: What did i break?
 

yeah i know. im leaning towards broken motor. but i still dont want to rule out something else

Re: What did i break?
 

I bought that turbo brand new and didnt even have it on my car for 10k. I doubt it would be the turbo with those few miles on it. But check anyway I guess

Re: What did i break?
 

thanks petey, that kinda all i needed to know. josh told me it was a good turbo, but now that ive had the previous owner tell me, im pretty convinced. though it does have some considerable shaft play

Re: What did i break?
 

how much shaft play? Do the fins of the compressor wheel scrape the housing? If it does the turbo is probably blown. Id start with messing with the turbo, if its thats messed up then that could account for a lack of performance. I remember seeing a guy who had a turbo M3 making SICK power but it wasnt feeling right, he was boosting ok but there just wasnt that kick that it had before, eventually it got worse and he was checking into it and even though he was still boosting to his target boost level the turbo had more shaft play than peter north and ground to hell. How much smoke was coming from your valvecover?

Re: What did i break?
 

its not touching the housing, but there is some definate play there. a LITTLE in/out too. so maybe i got lucky and my turbo is fucked?


there wasnt very much smoke coming from it. just a little bit. not like POURING out of the valve cover, just a little. think about the smoke that comes from a match. maybe a little more

Re: What did i break?
 

thats not that much, i bet youre bottom end is fine. ANY in-Out shaft play is NO GOOD at all, sounds like it needs a rebuild, a little side to side is ok but any detectable in-out shaft play is not acceptable.

Re: What did i break?
 

hmm maybe i was wrong. But it came off my car like the day i bought it

Re: What did i break?
 

what about valve guides? that will cause smoke on decel, i don't know about idle tho. :-\

Re: What did i break?
 

the valve guides/seals woudnt just go randomly. they would start to smoke a little bit 1st

heres a little development.

i just went outside and drove the car. got on it a little, cruised a little, engine braked ALOT.

the car smokes all the time when you are ON it. but only on decel/idle/pulling away from a light when you ARENT on it.

heres the big thing. we let it sit and idle for 8-10 mins without doing anything. didnt smoke. then when i revved it up (not driving it, just free-revving) it shot out a HUGE cloud of smoke. this makes me think turbo right? the oil it getting past the seals in the turbo and pooling at idle with no load. then, when you rev it up, it blasts all that pooled oil out in one big blast. am i correct in this? should i order a rebuild kit?? or you guys still think its the motor?

Re: What did i break?
 

(this could be a dumb idea,but) couldn't you run it without charge pipes connected and see?

Re: What did i break?
 

just check your DP and charge piping for oil to confirm your theory

Re: What did i break?
 

i checked the charge pipes, they have a LITTLE tiny bit of oil film in them, but i have the compressor pointing upwards, so that will make the oil stay in the compressor. when i took of the compressor housing, there was oil in the actual housing. now, this would say to most people THE TURBO IS YOUR PROBLEM. but.... i run a slashcut to the intake side of the turbo, so i get some oily air sucked in there. i dont ------- know, i might just go to the junkyard tomorrow and pick up a 42/48 and see if it stops smoking. and if it does, ill sell the 42/48 and buy a rebuild kit for my 48/60

Re: What did i break?
 

any other suggestions?

Re: What did i break?
 

well, im off to the jukyard in the rain, wish me luck

Re: What did i break?
 

maybe it was the turbo? i put a minty fresh 42/48 on it and it runs a little better. maybe i did just have a bum turbo

Re: What did i break?
 

the smoking after idleing for a long time and then revving it is your oil control rings i believe. Does it do that still?s

Re: What did i break?
 

keep in mind that once u swap turbos itll prolly smoke for a couple runs uinstil all the oil burns off from the last turbo. My car used to smoke like a bitch. got it rebuilt and threw on a restictor, no problems now