Change oil, now smokes.?

[JMiller]

I changed my oil from a 20w 50 royal purple with LUCAS synthetic stabilizer to a 10w 30 Castrol edge only with the same mitsu oem filter. now when my car idles for about 8 min white smoke will start coming out the exhaust. Once i start moving it goes away. I switched to a lighter oil 1.) cause the 20w 50 was getting old and 2.) i live in NC now and starting my car with 20w50 in 30* weather is a B***H(i have an FIAV complete block off plate). Is this thinner oil seaping through seals or what. Also i pressure tested my coolant system and it passed. Any help would be great thanks.

 

[flying_eagle]

i would say it is the turbo seals, my oil was old and it was doing the same thing then i changed it and now it doesnt do it, and i know for wure my turbo seals are going out, I have a rebuild kit one the way

 

[JMiller]

I put new oil in. The turbo seals is a high possibility cause it a stock t25 with unknown amount of miles on turbo.

 

[907gs-t]

I put new oil in. The turbo seals is a high possibility cause it a stock t25 with unknown amount of miles on turbo.

More than likely i know that's what's wrong with mine turbo shaft seals are blown leaking oil.

 

[JMiller]

so is white smoke after idling for awhile a symptom of bad turbo seals?

 

[fastmitsu18]

yup. I changed mine from regular to synthetic and it did the same. About a week later, my turbo gave out. When I pulled it, there was alot of in and out shaftplay.

The smoke will probably get worse. So it's important to watch for it and see when it smokes. If it's only smoking at idle, it could be your turbo most likely. But it could also be your valve guides seals. As it gets worse, try to notice if you get more smoke during WOT. That is a sign it could the guide seals. If it smokes during shifts, then it's most likely the turbo. Or you could just pull the intake pipe off and see if you have any shaft play.

David.

 

[outcastgsx]

I had the same issue way back in the day when I had a sr20det sentra. After a long drive when I would idile the car it would blow white smoke. Usualy this means coolant but it did not smell sweet more like oil. I removed my turbo and found my oil/coolant seals blew. I would have to say its your turbo.

 

[JMiller]

With the 20w50 in the car it would smoke at WOT but only at 18psi or higher. And the last time i checked for shaft play i had a minimal amount of side to side and zero in/out play, but that was months ago. I'll check shaft play tomorrow if its not raining.

I want a new turbo but don't have the money to replace at the moment, so how long do you think a turbo with seals going out will last.

 

[outcastgsx]

If you are running 18+ pounds of boost on a little t-25 is that high for a t-25?
I run 15-50 all the time and I never had any smokeing issues. But I have never turned the boost up past 15 on my stock with 160k 14b. If I was in your shoes I would do the usual check compression, leak down test and of course like your going to do the turbo. Oh what about the oil pressure riseing when you use that thick of oil. Do you have a oil pressure gauge. I only say this due to some articles I have read about the holset turbos and there oiling turbos. If they dont have the right oil pressure they smoke nasty.

 

[JMiller]

yeah 18psi is high for the t25, but i rarely take it that high. When it had 20w50 the pressure was low at idle and good while driving. Now with the 10w30 its about the same. I did a comp. test not to long ago and got between 165 and 170 for all 4 cylinders.

 

[Oldsid]

Can you confirm if the smoke is "white" or "blueish"? From the information you have given, and if the smoke is "blueish", than it is definetly burning oil. Since you had that smoke at high boost and now with a low viscosity oil like the 10W30, turbo seals are most likely as it has been pointed out.
If the smoke is really white, than it is probably burning coolant, not oil. Check your coolant level to see if it has changed; the problem may be something else.

 

[JMiller]

The smoke after idling for awhile is defiantly white, and the WOT smoke looked more grey/black. My coolant level has never changed, and i pressurized the coolant system to 14psi and it held perfectly.

The color of the smoke is blue now, and it will start after 5min of idle and a good rev or start on its own after 8-10min of idle with no revs. Idles at 1000-1100 when warm(where i set it with biss) and get 17-19 in. of vac(it rises as car warms up)

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

The smoke after idling for awhile is defiantly white, and the WOT smoke looked more grey/black. My coolant level has never changed, and i pressurized the coolant system to 14psi and it held perfectly.

The color of the smoke is blue now, and it will start after 5min of idle and a good rev or start on its own after 8-10min of idle with no revs. Idles at 1000-1100 when warm(where i set it with biss) and get 17-19 in. of vac(it rises as car warms up)

Old vaves stem seals? Extremely common anytime after 120k miles.

Does it boost fine? If it always boosts fine, then it's the valve stem seals probably.

Put it this way; your valve stems for sure, and in addition maybe the turbo.
When my turbo was going out, there was an extremely DIRECT correlation between how hard I drove and how much oil I had to add. I mean I could burn through 1/4 quart of oil within a 30 minute drive if I was on it hard. It still boosted fine at that point. THen later the turbo would gradually not boost as much. So from 10 to 9, then gradully to 8, 7, 6, 5 and when it finally would only boost 3 lbs., I finally swapped it.

So even if it boosts good, it could still be the turbo, but it would give you further signs as more miles happen.

After I replaced the turbo, It still smoked at idle because of valve stem seals. Pretty much as you described above.

 

[banshee88]

I had a similar problem with my 95right before i rebuilt it..it was blowing smoke.i started in on taking it apart intercooler had some oil in it..my intake manifold also contained oil..these cars start blowing alot of oil when they get up in mileage..My friend tore my turbo down and stole sum gasket to replace on his and it blew a lil white smoke as well..spooling 4ever my turbo spooled amazing while it was leaking and i also have noticed at about 120k the valve seals start going along with pistion rings and my motor had 126k on it.. and get rid of that t25 and 10w 30 oil is deff the way to go

 

[JMiller]

It doesn't seem to be as bad anymore, the smoke is white/gray again and it smokes right before for my car warms all the way up then goes away once im at operating temp. My turbo spools/boost 18psi fine, I'm thinking that lighter oil had to get settled in. I'm thinking about running ENEOS 5w50 or 0w50 when i swap my turbo out. So that on very cold starts the oil is still distributed correctly and when it warms up it thickens. (The only reason i changed is because that RP 20w50 made cold starts a little rough)

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

I had a similar problem with my 95right before i rebuilt it..it was blowing smoke.i started in on taking it apart intercooler had some oil in it..my intake manifold also contained oil..these cars start blowing alot of oil when they get up in mileage..My friend tore my turbo down and stole sum gasket to replace on his and it blew a lil white smoke as well..spooling 4ever my turbo spooled amazing while it was leaking and i also have noticed at about 120k the valve seals start going along with pistion rings and my motor had 126k on it.. and get rid of that t25 and 10w 30 oil is deff the way to go

Yeah my turbo was a 14b, I suppose they act differently.

I agree; no need for super thick oils, or oils with such a WIDE viscosity, as they tend to have more additives and less lubricant.

10W30 is the way to go unless in a hot climate, or really super cold like up north in Canada/Alaska.

I wouldn't want to depend on super thick oil to flow as well as the manufacturer spec: 10w30.

0w at startup actually sounds bad to me, not enough film strength for me.

 

[JMiller]

It gets hot in the summer were im from so i need something i little thicker, so when spring rolls around i put in 20w50 and in the fall i put in 5w30 or 10w30. I don't drive my car alot at all maybe 800 miles a year so 2 oil/filter changes a year is enough.

 

[2drStunner]

Yea but dont forgot they tell you 3000 miles or 3 months.

Just because your not putting the mileage on the car the oil is still old!

 

[JMiller]

oh, i forgot about the month time line. I think the oil i buy can last a few extra months. I normally only use Royal Purple but recently i used Castrol EDGE.

-UPDATE-
OK, its been exactly 2 weeks since i put in the Castrol EDGE 10w30. I checked my oil a few sec. ago and it was perfect(exactly were i filled it to 2 weeks ago) So i guess its not oil burning. In that 2 weeks i drove around 3.2 miles a day.