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Driving along yesterday morning and start to hear a strange whirring / whistling noise from the turbo, everything still running fine, thought to myself ffs only 3 miles from home i'll just limp it home.
There was a little bit of blue smoke at first... then the huge smokescreen like something from a bond movie.. pulled over called the RAC got towed back home.
I think this is definitely the turbo seals given up, there is a puddle of oil inside the back-box, the engine runs fine no knocks bangs, idles ok, no CEL. Oil is in the uppipe and downpipe, intercooler pipes it's everywhere!
Also when you first run the car, there is no smoke at all, smoke only appears once it's warmed up and burns off inside the exhaust, another thing that makes me think the block itself is absolutely fine.
I have two questions;
Is my cat ruined? or can it be salvaged, same for 02 sensors?
I already have a spare turbo, it's been sat on a shelf for over a year.
Can I just chuck the replacement turbo in, prime it let it idle take it easy for a bit to warm it up and hope for the best, or is there anything I ought to do before fitting it.
I'm thinking it's been sat for a long time i don't want to fit another turbo with knackered seals.
I think you must clean all of the oil out of the exhaust for sure as if you fit the replacemet turbo then run the car it might catch fire also maybe you could lightly pressure wash the cats but they could be damaged so who knows until you try and also clean the sensors before you start the car.
Last edited by johned; 27 October 2015 at 12:27 PM.
Reason: error.
I wouldn't pressure wash the cat it will kill it. Once the car is back up and running (after cleaning the lambda sensors too) put some cataclean in the petrol and take it for a nice long drive. Should help. The oil will burn off so I wouldn't be too worried personally.
Take it for a nice long drive (motorway if possible) and don't be suprised if it takes an hour to completely stop smoking. The exhaust has to get very hot to burn the oil off, but it will given enough driving. It will be fine.
Once it's stopped smoking it may be worth droppong both lambda sensors for a quick check and clean, re-fitting and running the cataclean through just in case.
Don't worry about the inside of the exhaust catching fire. It won't. But it will smoke like a bitch!
The heat of the exhaust will burn the oil off, but it may take a while if there's a lot in there, and it's soaked into all the packing material in the silencer(s)
The best thing to do would be take the car on a long run on boost to get some heat through the exhaust.
27 October 2015, 12:17 PM
Dead Turbo :( new cat?
