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loud pop, oil everywhere

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BoostKrazy

10+ Year Contributor
251
1
Apr 3, 2012
PHX, Arizona
Driving to work this morning on the freeway i gave it wot and hear a loud pop, like i blew a tire almost, looked in my mirror to see white smoke, started pulling off the freeway and car jerked twice, pulled into mcdonalds and shut the car off, it did not die by itself, i got out to find a trail of oil, a puddle of oil (looked like 2, maybe 3 quarts), oil splattered on the driver side of my car, two trails of oil coming out of the front of my bumper (out of the driver side hole next to the foglight) and oil dripping from the bottom of the car (front to back, from the wind).. left my car there, wife picked me up and took me to work and i had my uncle tow my car to my work (mechanic) on his flatbed.. havent had time today to put it on the lift.. or really check it out.. any ideas what happened? Damage caused? Etc..
as always,
thanks in advance :hellyeah:
 
Any oil on the dipstick?! Any foamy/bubbly substance on the dipstick? Does your coolant still look green? Or is it mixed in oil....If you can't find an external leaks, its most likely going to be internal....What's it look like/smell like when you open the oil filler cap? It's sounding like head gasket bud
 
Had the exact thing happen to me. Unfortunately you don't have your car to check, but the oil filter was loose. There's a bolt that goes from the filter to the oil filter housing that was loose as well. The wire to the sensors also fell off. Once I tightened everything, I got oil pressure back and it would run, but the car was blowing white smoke. Not sure if it was residual from the accident or not. I have to check the turbo and all. I'm actually taking the car apart and building another, so I am not in a hurry. I will be checking the turbo for play, the head gasket, and possibly the valves (if I'm taking the head, I'll get a good look at everything). I'm not sure what damage I did, but the only affect it'll have is how much I can get for that engine. Unless I keep it as backup. haha.
 
That almost EXACTLY happened to my in my Audi on my way to work once. It turns out the dealer who did the oil change didn't tighten the filter enough and bam... it popped off and poured its contents all over the road. Needless to say Audi fixed the problem they caused. Hopefully its as silly as that and nothing too much worse.

It also happened to me back in college in a beater car, my whole car became engulfed in white smoke, on an off ramp of a highway. I believe that problem was a head gasket, as coolant was spilling everywhere.
 
Well i put in 5 quarts this morning and started it up, and you guys hit the nail on the head.. it was coming out of the oil filter housing.. friend said DSM's do that quite frequently if you dont tighten it almost to the point of stripping the mofo. Thanks guys
 
No, don't tighten it like a mofo. Tighten it too much and you can crush the oil cooler making oil and coolant mix. Here is the torque specs, I check mine every oil change. Or at least I mean to.
 

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So which part exactly leaks on these cars?.. any other parts i need to make sure are tight periodically? I need this car to prove reliable so my wife and boss/friend dont make me sell it.. i want too keep my gsx but ive had so many problems, ive been looking around for an srt4... =(
 
Number 2 (in the picture, wiseguy ;)) is the problem for some people. I suppose it would be due to excess vibration, but that's probably not all. That piece threads into the oil cooler with 31ft-lbs of DRY torque, so if it's loose, take it out and dry all engaging threads before torquing.

Boost leak tests are a big maintenance item and it's also a good time to check for turbo shaft play. If you have a cam gear cover, take it off every once and a while to check the belt's condition and make sure to change it on time. Periodically check how tight the valve cover bolts are, they seem to loosen up sometimes. I would get a lighter clutch whenever you can, the 2900 is way overkill for a S16G, unless you plan on a bigger turbo later. And do you're research on what engine oil to run, Brad Penn is one of the best for protection

Good luck, hope that helps and here is a thread on how to keep it reliable :)
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/442210-how-can-i-make-sure-my-gsx-stays-reliable.html
 
Glad to hear it wasnt worse. Good luck keeping it reliable,it can be done it just takes time and good maintenance habbits.
 
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