Changed my turbo on my saab the weekend as the old one went pop. Car drives better but now got white smoke pouring out the back. Assuming its Oil in the intercooler and pipes as there was some when removing the old turbo.
How long does it take to go?, or does it need a good blast?.

Embarassing driving round town at the moment

 

My mates Merc 320 Diesel "turbo" went got a loads of oil into the exhaust system took a good few days of smoking then cleared up all fine now

 

lovely, well good and bad news then. good news is then it should clear up. Bad news being that i am creating my own smokescreen as i drive

 

Not a good idea to drive a diesel with oil in the intake pipes - you are risking an engine runaway which is quite often terminal.

 

this is after a new turbo, there was some oil in the pipes but not loads. will it not just blow out after a good run?

 

Yeah it will blow out eventually but there is a risk of it running away in the meantime. Sounds like there is a lot of oil if you are leaving clouds of smoke.

 

not sure about driving it home now .

 

My advice would be to ask a mechanic indeed the person who did the job rather than solict random suggestions from Nsr

 

fvck me I had this in my Audi -- my gawd did it freak me out

on another note, I have just (yesterday) replaced a turbo (TD04) on a Pajero I have been given -- started fine and no smoke (white or black)

 

its freaking me out, me and my brother in law changed the turbo over. i know the turbo is ok as its new and has been tested prior to purchase.

we didnt take all the intercooler pipes off etc but there was definetley a trace of oil in the pipes. not a lot but some.

No engine management light has come on.

 

my engine runaway was due to the engine oil being massively overfilled

 

You wont get a engine light because the engine doesnt know that there is oil in the intake. I didnt mean to cause any panic, just making you aware of the risks. If the car is leaving a cloud of smoke then there must be some left over oil in the intercooler etc. Is the new turbo known to be ok ??

 

The new turbo was brand new and been tested prior to fitting so assume its ok. doesnt smoke straight away its after about a minute maybe less of running. on idle its fine until you pull away, it just seems to be when the engine is under load.

 

once smoking though its smoking until you turn it off.

 

Traditionally white smoke = steam = water, black smoke = oil. Sure its not a badly plumbed coolant hose to the turbo? Is the 'smoke' coming from the exhaust or in the engine bay?

 

Turbo is only oil cooled as its an older engine. Far as I can see smoke is from the exhaust. Was slightly better tonight. Did 3.5 miles before smoke poured out. Have seen the oil is slightly to high which probably doesn't help.

 

I would actually argue the following:

White = Steam
Blue = Oil
Black = Fuel

 

I would hope that the turbo oil seal is ok, even if it is a new one! Strange that it is white smoke though.

Les

 

morning all, well good news is that it seems to have gone (fingers crossed). Just took it steady on the 6 mile trip home and a longer run on a dual carriage way to circuit training. Seems to be better.

Thanks for the advice guys, will keep you posted.

 

I got opposite problem very smoky and very ruff idle for about 30 seconds first thing, after that it's fine apparently

 

strange, sounds like lots of people have issues or have had them. fingers crossed mine is on mend.
is always rough compared to some diesels though but then its not the most refined engine .

 

Looks like you were lucky. But I have stress a couple of points of how easily you may have not been;

One: why did the old turbo fail? For example, if the oil supply or return is blocked, the new turbo may reach the same fate.

Two: ALWAYS clean out inlet, intercooler and inlet pipework, the consequences of NOT doing that can cost you the entire engine.

Two reasons, one is a runaway as mentioned above (easily remedied if you are quick thinking), but the other more severe problem is where oil that has collected and puddled in the intercooler and low sections of pipework, which can be blown into the engine in one big gulp when the driver gives it full beans. When this happens it will hydrolock.

Recently had two vehicles who have done this, one was a BMW X5 which locked up whilst driving, the other was a VW LT5 which locked up after being revved from idle. Both required full engine rebuilds.

With the BMW, after the lower intercooler pipework was emptied of oil (a whole litre of it) and bores emptied (injectors removed and engine turned over), the engine ran, but ran out of balance and didn't sound too healthy. Turns out a couple of valve lifters were broken, big end bearings were damaged, and few conrods were slightly bent. He was lucky the engine was repairable as a bent rod could have easily snapped and punctured through the engine block making it unrepairable.

Oil in the exhaust can take quite some time to remove via driving. We usually remove the entire exhaust system, spray some degreaser in both ends and stand it up against a wall to drain (downpipe on closest to the ground) for a few days, even then not everything drains out (depends on the baffle arrangement inside the silencers).

 

Hope it keeps going anyway.

Les

 

Does sound like i was lucky. will keep an eye on it but hopefully be ok now. no smoke after a few good runs so hopefully blown whatever it was out.
just taking it easy as the turbo is new.

think the old turbo went as it was never allowed to cool down properly by the last owner who just did short runs round town and switched it straight off, its an oil only turbo so guessing that that the oil carbonised.
. Rest of the car is mint and had all the necessary parts other than the turbo changed.

 

Sounds more like a glow plug issue, getting colder in the mornings now