White smoke. Blown turbo? PLEASE HELP!!

[BlueTurboSpyder]

I was racing an STI for the third time in about 5 minutes tonite and half way through fourth gear I heard a loud pop followed by smoke. At that moment, I thought I had blew a coupler off one of my intercooler pipes. So, I coasted to the next exit, opened my hood, and found that a coupler at my throttle body elbow did come off. At the same time I noticed that my turbo was glowing red hot! Keep in mind that my turbo is strictly oil cooled not water cooled. Ok, so I fixed the coupler, started the car, and clouds of white smoke came out of my exhaust. I parked my car and pulled all of the plugs. None of them were wet. I proceded to do a compression test and all cylinders were between 160-170 psi, the same number I got when I did a compression test last weak. At idle, the car runs fine and vacumm is right where it should be. I also removed the LICP and found no oil. I checked my oil for coolant and vice versa and everything checked out. So, the only other thing I could think of is that oil must be getting into my turbine housing through my center section. Im thinking maybe the turbo overheated since its not water cooled and formed a crack in the center section. Then I did a search on here and found that some people have experienced different kinds of oil that burn a greyish white instead of blue. So here are my questions.

1) Does oil only burn blue when it gets burned in the combustion chamber?
2) Is there another way to figure out if its a head gasket or turbo before taking anything apart?

I ask the first question since I previously had a leaking oil return line. When the oil leaked on the downpipe it burned white also. So, I didnt know if it was the extreme heat of the combustion chamber that gave oil a blue color. I'm very curious. Thanx.

 

[BlueTurboSpyder]

I forgot to add that I have dsmlink. I have it set so It throws a check engine light when I start to knock and it didnt come on at all tonite. So, I think that can rule out engine damage caused by detonation. I'll shut up now.

 

[BlueTurboSpyder]

The problem was the turbo. The center section cracked from severe overheating. Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that white smoke is coolant getting into the combustion chamber while answering another thread in the future, please consider this as a possiblity. I must have read 20 threads last night and 90% of people on this forum just jump to the conclusion that it's a head gasket or cracked head. It appears to me that oil burning in the combustion chamber gives exhaust smoke a blue tint whereas oil leaking directly into the turbine housing burns white with NO blue tint. I hope this helps someone that does a search in the future while trying to diagnose a problem.

 

[MrBoxx]

It's been found that some synthetic oils burn white, even in the engine.

It's been my experience that oil, even dino oil, can burn white or whitish-gray when the turbo seals fail. Whether it's burning in the O2 sensor housing or the engine is harder to tell.

 

[dalatinromeo]

It's been found that some synthetic oils burn white, even in the engine.

It's been my experience that oil, even dino oil, can burn white or whitish-gray when the turbo seals fail. Whether it's burning in the O2 sensor housing or the engine is harder to tell.

Yup found this out reading a thread last week.

 

[BlueTurboSpyder]

It was pretty easy to tell that it was burning in the exhaust. Once the turbo was cool enough, I checked the compressor wheel and saw that it was rubbing against the compressor housing. Knowing the turbo was ruined, I went across that street to Lowe's (only luck I've had in a while) and bought fittings to plug my oil line. I then started the car and found that no more smoke was rolling out the exhaust (only at that point I knew it wasn't a head gasket with 100% certainty, thank god). Already knowing that there was no oil in my intercooler cooler piping, I came to the conclusion that oil was getting pumped directly into the exhaust through the center section. To back me up, there was a lot of oil residue on the outside of the center section on the turbine side. That's why I think its cracked. The good news is the turbo I ordered last week came today which is perfect timing.

 

[dalatinromeo]

Glad to see you found your problem.