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Smoke While Warm Idle

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Bymp

10+ Year Contributor
38
0
Oct 22, 2010
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Hello all,

I was hoping someone might point me in the direction of what I can check on my engine.

My car has noticeable smoke while in a warm idle. But here is my issue...

I performed a warm compression test (at WOT 'Wide open throttle' and 8 second counts) this evening and my results are 195 psi on all cylinders except cylinder 3.

Cylinder 3 is 185 psi.

I'm happy with the results, a little wear, not bad for a car with 213K miles. Does these results alarm anyone else?

I just did a turbo upgrade last week from my T25 to a 14B, I had the smoking problem before the turbo upgrade and I have it still. The turbo I purchased was spose to be 'oil burning free', so I hoped the oil seals were good.

I will perform a boost leak test on the turbo inlet this weekend to check for leaks, but is there anything else I can check?

On my T25, when i performed a boost leak test, I had air coming from my valve cover, I could hear the oil bubbling through the oil pan so I assumed the oil seals were bad. It was a good enough excuse for me to upgrade, no regrets.

If the oil seals are good on the turbo.... where else can I check?

To check the oil seals, my plans are to: Perform a boost leak test on the inlet side of the turbo, if I notice air coming from the oil pan and valve cover again, I will perform a boost leak test at the Throttle body to see if my results change. I'm pretty sure it's not coming from my PCV valve, but I will watch out for possible leaks at this point.

Am I on the right track? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe

Added information:

If it matters.....

I have a new full exhaust system that I'm getting use to, the CAT converter was removed and replaced with a test pipe.

Can the added smoke in idle be due to the test pipe? I'm still getting use to the upgrades made within the last 2 months.
 
Last edited:
Its normal for air to leak pass the oil seals under a static test. With out oil flowing around the seals they will leak air. I had the same problem and it was valve stem seals. When the engine warmed up the oil was thin enough to get sucked passed the valve stem seals do to vacuum and would smoke at idle.
 
Just from the way you described it and with them miles the car has, I would also agree its the valve stem seals. How's the shaft play on the turbo?
 
Just remember bad valve stem seals usually make smoke the worst at cold start, because the oil pools then gets burned off quickly.
 
Just remember bad valve stem seals usually make smoke the worst at cold start, because the oil pools then gets burned off quickly.

In some cases yes. Mine never smoked until it warmed up and would only smoke after it idled for a few minutes. So after I sat at a stop light and hit the gas I would get a big puff of blue smoke.I never once got smoke on cold start up. The seals have to be leaking pretty bad to puddle oil on top of the pistons while sitting.
 
It could be your valve stem seals. Mine are leaking and causes smoke, mostly on start ups after it sits for a minute. Check to see if your exhaust manifold looks damp in some places which is a good sign of them leaking. Post pictures if you can.
 
Is there any oil in your exhaust manifold ports? You might be able to see wet spots at the bottom of the manifold without actually removing it.

Oh nevermind, Rikolas beat me to it.
 
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