No Cat, White Smoke

GSXDNA · 05-11-2008, 08:00 PM

I just recently added a 3" turbo-back exhaust to my otherwise stock GSX. Since I've added the exhaust (which has no cat), I notice that white smoke now comes out of the muffler. Is this expected behavior if the cat is removed, or is there something else that could be wrong?

Thanks.

TSI95FWD · 05-11-2008, 08:09 PM

CrazyM · 05-11-2008, 08:14 PM

Could possibly be 2 things.

1) The little bit of material burning off of the new exhaust.
2) Your turbo is blown.

casperfast · 05-11-2008, 08:22 PM

could be coolant

CrazyM · 05-11-2008, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by casperfast

could be coolant

Riight...I forgot that also produces white smoke.

1992awdlaser · 05-12-2008, 06:36 AM

Its not because of the cat being off the car. It could be coolant from the turbo getting into the exhaust or coolant from the head gasket possibly getting into the cylinders.

tsi95fwd- Why do I keep seeing threads that aren't yours (not that it would matter) that you are bumping after like for instance nine minutes likethis one? Bumping is not allowed wether the thread is yours or not. If you are not here to help then don't post. Seems to me like you are trying to get you post count up so you can post in the classifieds.

GSXDNA · 05-12-2008, 09:22 AM

[quote=1992awdlaser;151499005]Its not because of the cat being off the car. It could be coolant from the turbo getting into the exhaust or coolant from the head gasket possibly getting into the cylinders.

QUOTE]

What is the easiest way to test for these two scenarios? Also, if the turbo was bad, would it still be producing maximum boost pressure?

GSXDNA · 05-12-2008, 09:33 AM

I should also add that when idling, it smells pretty bad. Smells like ive had the car running in the garage for a while with no ventilation, even if I'm just stopped at a stop light for a few seconds. Also, the smoke/smell only appears to be present at idle or upon initial acceleration from a stand-still. Again, this smell/smoke was not there before the exhaust was installed.

1992awdlaser · 05-12-2008, 10:56 AM

Some turbos will still produce boost. My stock turbo did even though it was leaking a lot of oil into the exhaust.

Do a compression test. That MIGHT show a head gasket leaking. Check to see if coolant is in the oil.

GSXDNA · 05-12-2008, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1992awdlaser

Some turbos will still produce boost. My stock turbo did even though it was leaking a lot of oil into the exhaust.

Do a compression test. That MIGHT show a head gasket leaking. Check to see if coolant is in the oil.

I have noticed that there seemed to be an oil coating on the inside of my air intake piping, going from the filter to the turbo. Could this be a sign of the turbo being bad?

1992awdlaser · 05-12-2008, 02:35 PM

Could be but not likely. Most likely that oil is coming from the valve cover vent hose.

GSXDNA · 05-12-2008, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1992awdlaser

Could be but not likely. Most likely that oil is coming from the valve cover vent hose.

Is this hose necessary? I've seen some people take this hose off.

Also, what is the easiest way to check to see if my turbo is bad? What should I look for?

Many thanks.

playitlouddsm · 05-12-2008, 02:51 PM

Does the car smoke apon cold start up and also after its fully warmed up? Also is it a thick white smoke, or more like condensation?

GSXDNA · 05-12-2008, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by playitlouddsm

Does the car smoke apon cold start up and also after its fully warmed up? Also is it a thick white smoke, or more like condensation?

Cold start or warmed up...seems to make no difference. It appears to only happen when:

1) I'm at a stop light and i try to go up a hill from a stand still, my initial acceleration in 1st gear could produce a brief cloud of thick white smoke (feels like the AFR is crazy rich when this happens as well).

2) The car is idling and I'm getting on and off the throttle repeatedly (ie. making a three-point turn to get out of my parking garage in the morning). This produces a very thin white smoke, barely visible unless I was looking for it...but it does smell noticably bad.

When I am just crusing or even under WOT pulls, the car runs fine and no trace of smoke can be seen (maybe thats just because I'm not standing still and therefore cannot see the smoke).

Thanks again for all your input guys. This is extremely helpful.

dsm's can fly · 05-12-2008, 04:58 PM

1. it could be coolant due to the color and nature of the cloud. you can sort of tell if it is by the smell coolant will have a sort of sweet smell when it gets burned. as well the cloud will seem to stay around and not disappear like exhaust will it will all most float. if you are running water mostly then it will still float just no smell. keep an eye on your coolant level.

2. it could be fuel but i would say lean not rich would explain why it seems better at throttle your ecu richens up as boost increases.

3. oil dsm's and oil seem to hate each other when in doubt it always seems to be a oil leak i dont have any good ways to tell were the oil would be coming from you can try a catch can to remove the blow by variable leaving just basically the turbo.

hope this helps my guess would be fuel tune with a little oil considering your compression numbers, try a wide band to monitor the afr's

GSXDNA · 05-12-2008, 05:35 PM

I'm leaning towards it possibly being my turbo for two reasons:

1) I think I'm burning oil. I probably loose 25-30% of my oil every 1,500 miles or so. And I can't find any oil spots in my driveway, so it's definitely being burned somehow.

2) On startup, my turbo is pretty loud, and doesn't really spool like it should. I've owned a 2g gst in the past, and I never remember the turbo being this loud at startup. After the engine gets up to operating temp, the sound goes away and the turbo performs as expected.

This could be a good excuse to upgrade to a 16g MHI

GSXDNA · 05-12-2008, 07:22 PM

Just took a look at my coolant...very low.