Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Hmmm, not sure what to make of this.

Fitted a 2nd hand turbo to my car, ever since it has smoked on the odd occasion.

Now, I assume on fitting the turbo some oil will get into upipes, onto turbo blades etc so a bit of smoke for a bit isn't a problem. But its been over a week now. The thing is I can't pinpoint whether I've got a dud turbo, because as far as I can see (as in driving with one eye on the rear view mirror) its not happening all the time.

The car pulls well, no hesitation etc but every now and then I get a big puff of blue smoke, usually in traffic as I pull away, or do a slow gear change driving off boost. When putting my foot down and making progress there doesn't seem to be any smoke, so I'm not sure if it is turbo related.

A few other things happened with the turbo change - replacement IC and full decat - exhaust components brand new.

Obviously I had an oil change. I checked to see if it was overfilled but it wasn't, but it was filled to the max. I drained a bit out so that it was half way between L and F yesterday just to see if that was the problem, but alas it still smoked on the way home.

What is bizarre is that in trying to recreate the occasional plume of smoke, I seem to get it to happen more frequently if I've just cornered a bit sharpish. Also it tends to happen more if I let the car idle for a bit then move off.

Any doctors in the house?

Andy.F

What type of turbo is it ? Very unusual for the TD04 or 05 to just start leaking oil, if a turbo fails it normally starts to make a noise and perform poorly.
Have you checked your engine breathers ? Has the engine ever been overheated, perhaps due to a damaged radiator or burst hose? This can cause the valve stem seals to harden and/or piston ring softening.

Andy

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Its a TD04 on a 94 wrx wagon. I replaced a VF10 that was on it - that was put on by the previous owner when the original turbo siezed.

TBH I only bought it a few months ago. And I'd like to believe I'm not a numptie when it comes to buying imprezas On the test drive I booted it and checked the rear view mirror for smoke - none. Let it idle for minutes then gave it loads of revs - no smoke. Has always run really well since I've had it. But maybe its always been smoking and I've only noticed it now that I've been checking the TD04

Water was weeping from the header tank when I bought it, that was replaced straight away but the water was topped up always.

Just to add I've just put Castrol RS 10/60 in, previously it was running 10/40 semi synth.

Also no visible smoke on the 6 mile grind into work today, but if its slightly smoking then I wouldn't notice it anyway.....

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

OK

I get it after using engine braking, then as I apply the throttle a puff of smoke, and thanks to my mate following, the smoke is white not blue as I thought.

So does this mean stem seals? Or since its water head gasket or what?

It goes really well, no power loss as yet..

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Coming back from Brighton yesterday, driving hard for 20 mins - when coming to a stop, a puff of white smoke from under the bonnet!!, smelt like antifreeze so definately water. Then it went away for the rest of the off boost journey.

Its using up a tiny amount of water at the mo.

Turbo or head gasket? The smoke from under the bonnet seemed to come from the near side

iain atkins

Could it be the water supply pipe touching the gearbox. Someimes this can happen and results in a tiny hole being worn in the supply pipe, thus a small water leak and some 'steamy' moments.

As far as the oil smoke issue is concerned i had exactly the same with my old turbo (TD04), but since the replacement TD05 there has been no trace of oil smoke whatsoever.



Iain

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Hmm

Using the rather limited search archives it all points towards head gasket.

White smoke from exhaust
Pressurised header tank problems.

Can the head gasket fail in such a way that water seeps into the bore, but not mix with oil?

Should I be seeing evidence of contamination in the header tank?

As mentioned before, I only get a puff of white smoke when engine braking - as in pulls a high vac - 25 Hg or more. And I'm thinking that after the blast yesterday the coolant got pressurised so that it weeped out of a pipe join somewhere (although I thought that was what the header cap was for)

HELP!!

jjones

yes and will be evident by white smoke from exhaust, pressurised water system and the "using" of water.

the head gasket has gone between the fire ring and a waterway. do a compression test on all cyclinders. results should be within 10%. this should show if it is indeed knackered.

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Many thanks



<wonders how much this'll set him back>

Edit

So the compression test will tell which bank its on, so no need to do both sides (or is that false economy)

Andy.F

A slightly blowing gasket will not show up in a compression test as it needs boost to lift the head slightly.

Take it to any large-ish garage and ask them to check your coolant for hydrocarbons (combustion traces) If it tests +ve then it is your head gasket.

Andy

fujack103

Hi there after getting a missfire on my 94 STI and finding one plug had busted up.... AND changing my oil filter cos i hit a speed ramp destorting it resulting in losing most my oil i now find i have the same problem on idle i get loads of blue smoke also when i pull away. I have given the car some stick and expect to see more but it seems to be ok.Today i stripped the pipes off to have a closer look at the turbo and cant seem to see much wrong with it but then again it could be exhaust side, The i/c look fairly clear of oil also.

im thinking of some how pressurrising or pulling a vacum on the oil feeds to the turbo and seeing if theres any loss. My friend does air conditioning and uses vac pumps all i have to do is make up the fittings.

If anyone has any ideas on this please post ur comments?

StickyMicky

blue smoke = oil
black smoke = fuel
white smoke = coolant
red smoke = red arrows

tweenierob

ROTFL!!!!!!!!!

Rob