car started smoking like crazy

90awd4g63 · Jun 7, 2009

Straight and to the point.
CAR: 90 Talon TSi
PROBLEM: LOTS and LOTS of white smoke from exhaust and turbo
EQUIPMENT IN QUESTION: Turbonetics ball-bearing 60-trim
SYMPTOMS: The car started smoking like crazy. Figuring it was the coolant line on the turbo, I removed the coolant lines and started the car. Still smoking. Needless to say, I didn't have issues with mosquitos while the car was running. As it poured out of the exhaust, I went to the front of the car and noticed smoke from under the hood. I'm getting fluid leakage where the "hot" side bolts up to the downpipe. I did a compression test, and it's 150 across the board. I started to remove the turbo to slap on a 70-trim, because I thought the turbo was gone. As I removed everything I could to get the turbo off, I noticed there is no oil/coolant in ANY of the piping. No blown gaskets. No shaft play in the turbo, BUT my oil return line was kinked. It was bent where the flow of oil wouldn't stop but be hindered some. Could that cause the problem???

NOTE: Some of the "wet" areas in the pic are not the leak. It's WD-40, where I was trying to remove bolts. The circled area is where the leak comes from.

habitatguy187 · Jun 7, 2009

I don't think a turbo can leak coolant there unless there's a massive crack in it somewhere. Did you check your oil for coolant? I know that the compression test was ok but just to double check :hmm:

[Best guess.]

Black95awd · Jun 7, 2009

Is the smoke blue or white? A lot of people get them mixed up.

90awd4g63 · Jun 7, 2009

I checked the oil; no milky mixture. As for the smoke, there is no blue tint to it. I should be able tell by the amount of smoke that comes out!!! Remember the old game "Spy Hunter"? Well, just imagine the smoke screen that car put out and relay it in a real life situation.

Here's another thing I thought about as I cleaned up for the night. I had a small oil leak coming from the oil return line a few weeks ago. I fixed the hose, as the old one had finally went. I then started the car, drove it down the street, came back home and put it in the garage. It didn't smoke or leak. The following morning I got up, started it so it could warm up, and came out 10-minutes later to a garge full of smoke. (The car was pulled out of the garage and the smoke was so much it flowed right in). Every since then, the car smokes.

Here's something else. A few days later and numerous "smoke screen" mornings, I noticed after driving it for a couple minutes it would stop. By the time i got home from work or work to home, (approximately 6-miles), it wouldn't be smoking. But as soon as I start it the following morning, the same thing.

I noticed the kink in the line today.

mindset · Jun 8, 2009

90awd4g63 said:
Straight and to the point.
CAR: 90 Talon TSi
PROBLEM: LOTS and LOTS of white smoke from exhaust and turbo
EQUIPMENT IN QUESTION: Turbonetics ball-bearing 60-trim
SYMPTOMS: The car started smoking like crazy. Figuring it was the coolant line on the turbo, I removed the coolant lines and started the car. Still smoking. Needless to say, I didn't have issues with mosquitos while the car was running. As it poured out of the exhaust, I went to the front of the car and noticed smoke from under the hood. I'm getting fluid leakage where the "hot" side bolts up to the downpipe. I did a compression test, and it's 150 across the board. I started to remove the turbo to slap on a 70-trim, because I thought the turbo was gone. As I removed everything I could to get the turbo off, I noticed there is no oil/coolant in ANY of the piping. No blown gaskets. No shaft play in the turbo, BUT my oil return line was kinked. It was bent where the flow of oil wouldn't stop but be hindered some. Could that cause the problem???

NOTE: Some of the "wet" areas in the pic are not the leak. It's WD-40, where I was trying to remove bolts. The circled area is where the leak comes from.

What? Look around the turbo and see if some gaskets are leaking. The only possibly way it could be leaking like that is if it was majorly cracked. Why not just take the O2 Housing off instead of doing all of the random tests? There's no oil in the lines because it all drains to the pan. There's no coolant because to take them off you just drain it unless if you plan on having it leak everywhere? Something tells me your hot side is cracked severely. Is it oil or coolant that's coming out? Why would you start the car up with no coolant? If you could describe the process you did to take these lines off without any coolant then I'd like to hear, because it would be everywhere if you didn't drain it.

rush2252 · Jun 8, 2009

Sounds to me as if the return line was blocking flow and possibly the seals took a shit. Just a hunch but you said it started after you replaced the return line and you said yourself it was kinked pretty badly. :confused:

OneLove · Jun 8, 2009

Sounds like it is an oil seal in your turbo. If the problem has been developing over a period of time it could be your valve stem seals.

90awd4g63 · Jun 9, 2009

mindset said:
What? Look around the turbo and see if some gaskets are leaking. The only possibly way it could be leaking like that is if it was majorly cracked. Why not just take the O2 Housing off instead of doing all of the random tests? There's no oil in the lines because it all drains to the pan. There's no coolant because to take them off you just drain it unless if you plan on having it leak everywhere? Something tells me your hot side is cracked severely. Is it oil or coolant that's coming out? Why would you start the car up with no coolant? If you could describe the process you did to take these lines off without any coolant then I'd like to hear, because it would be everywhere if you didn't drain it.

The car has coolant. I disconnected the turbo's coolant inlet and outlet lines. I then started the car, let it idle for about 5-minutes, when I noticed no change in smoke and the leak still persisted. So, I'm assuming its oil leaking. When I started removing the manifold and turbo, there is no evidence of any fluid. This is when I noticed no signs of fluid in the IC piping.
I have had no coolant loss. No big loss of oil. It's been almost 2 months since I drove the car and now have some time to work on it. So, I'm pretty lost at this point. Any suggestions.

1gAWD92 · Apr 27, 2012

90awd4g63 said:
I checked the oil; no milky mixture. As for the smoke, there is no blue tint to it. I should be able tell by the amount of smoke that comes out!!! Remember the old game "Spy Hunter"? Well, just imagine the smoke screen that car put out and relay it in a real life situation.

Here's another thing I thought about as I cleaned up for the night. I had a small oil leak coming from the oil return line a few weeks ago. I fixed the hose, as the old one had finally went. I then started the car, drove it down the street, came back home and put it in the garage. It didn't smoke or leak. The following morning I got up, started it so it could warm up, and came out 10-minutes later to a garge full of smoke. (The car was pulled out of the garage and the smoke was so much it flowed right in). Every since then, the car smokes.

Here's something else. A few days later and numerous "smoke screen" mornings, I noticed after driving it for a couple minutes it would stop. By the time i got home from work or work to home, (approximately 6-miles), it wouldn't be smoking. But as soon as I start it the following morning, the same thing.

I noticed the kink in the line today.

im having the same problem with my 92 laser. just resenty in the morning time, go to warm up the car, and after about 2min. there is white smoke puffing out. i then raised the RPMs and even more smoke. the smoke would cover the whole road im on, and then some. but once it is warmed up(proper apperating temp) ill go around the bock a couple times and it seems to just die down utill there is no smoke what so ever. like it never happened. :hmm:

. and then im good for the rest of the day. untill the next morning. :mad:

ive bin thinking of causes, it could be bad piston rings(once it is warmed up they make a better seal), vavle steam seals, or the oil return line is kinked like yours is. i did notice that mine is kinked....i did find oil in the IC pipes. but the shaft play is perfict. :confused:

but still dont have a right answer yet. but will keep you updated on what i come up with.

wiscoDSMer · Apr 27, 2012

How do your spark plugs look? u can learn alot from the small things. also take a look down into the cylinder and look for any coolant. the fact that it goes away when at operating temp suggests a seal thats going or is gone. I would get the temps of the tops off cylinders with a flashpoint to try and pin point if this is happening in a specific cylinder.

chadillac2820 · Apr 27, 2012

It sounds like bad valve stem seals to me.

1gAWD92 · Apr 28, 2012

i have sunday off so ill check the plugs and the cylinders then.........i dont have any loss of power...

bryanwheat · Apr 28, 2012

That does sounds like stem seals if it goes away after it warms up.

johnovision27 · Apr 28, 2012

Did this just start or is this your first experience with this car? (new owner?)
It's possible there is contamination the turbine housing, but how did it get in there and what is it? Was the smoke puffing out of that connection or coming from that general area?

Oil in the intake pipe is from the crank case vent, hence the use of an oil catch can.

1gAWD92 · Apr 28, 2012

johnovision27 said:
Did this just start or is this your first experience with this car? (new owner?)
It's possible there is contamination the turbine housing, but how did it get in there and what is it? Was the smoke puffing out of that connection or coming from that general area?

Oil in the intake pipe is from the crank case vent, hence the use of an oil catch can.

yes it is my first experiance with this car....and im the new ower. the old ower said that the head was rebuilt, but i think i got the short end of the stick with this buy. im runing a 14b with no shaft play. the old owner had a blown T3 setup.(i learned that the hard way when it realy gave out). hence me swaping to the 14b. it was running great untill just resently. the smoke under the hood looks to be coming from under the ex-mani, and the DP. the other owner also clamed to have put 2g pistons in.....i do have a oil leak coming from the oil feed line to the turbo. im thinking that (in some way) its leaking into the turbo coupler.i also checked the IC pipes for oil and i do have a bit in there.

but from what ya'll are telling me it seems like it the valve seals..... it just sucks because this is the only car i have to drive.

but i have put alot of blood, sweat and tears into this car to get it to where its at now and im not going to dive up on her.

johnovision27 · Apr 28, 2012

Try to seal up that leak in the feed line. If it's dripping aroudn the turbine housing then yes, it will smoke up, but from what you've described, I'm picturing some sort fo a gremlin under ther smoking a hookah. hahaha. Regardless, fix everything you can see that is wrong and then try to trouble shoot. No use trying to determine the causing factor if there are other issues clouding your judgement.

One way to check whether or not it's the turbo or the valve seals (which would suck if he just had the head done) is to take off the exhaust mani, start it and see if it's blowing smoke out of the exhaust ports. MIND YOU if you are going to do this, be @#$@(^ careful because damn that is hot and don't do it for long. Wouldn't want to melt anything... Just a thought.

As long as oil isn't pooling it should be ok. Before I put a catch can on I had light streaks because of the airflow through the piping. Either way, that wouldn't smoke, just be in your intake air and/or chop up your compressor if in large quantities.

ghostd'GST4life · May 4, 2012

any oil into the intake on the turbo isnt good, you can make a catch can out of anything to hold the oil. That would be the reason for your car smoking (oil into the turbo intake)

97gsxIA · May 4, 2012

johnovision27 said:
One way to check whether or not it's the turbo or the valve seals (which would suck if he just had the head done) is to take off the exhaust mani, start it and see if it's blowing smoke out of the exhaust ports. MIND YOU if you are going to do this, be @#$@(^ careful because damn that is hot and don't do it for long. Wouldn't want to melt anything... Just a thought.

You should be able to just take off your exhaust mani and look for traces of oil if its the valve stem seals. Should be real easy to spot if you have a brand new head.

If there is none, I'd open that turbo up or try a different one to eliminate it as a contributing factor.

1gAWD92 · May 4, 2012

thanks guys big help

1gAWD92 · May 12, 2012

i dont know if anybody is following this thread anymore but, It turns out that the valve seals were NOT the problem. i pulled the valve cover off and there were brand new valve seals in there. the smoke problem was due to a kinked oil return line. witch caused way to much oil presure in the turbo, and blew a oil seal. i put a new oil return line on there and the problem was fixed!

but now have just the slitest of shaft play, (barley any) still runs good and boost properly :thumb:

i hope this thread will help any other people that are having this problem.

Happy Tuning!
Bryce

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car started smoking like crazy

90awd4g63

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