Blown turbo?

[mitsuGstx]

Been blowing smoke post boost for a little while now. Just upgraded crankcase vent system and put adjustable cam gears. Start her up and nothing but white smoke out the exhaust. Smells like oil. I also noticed oil seeping between turbine/o2 housing. Worn turbo seal? Just looking for a second opinion.

 

[PlanZero]

White smoke is coolant; blue/grey is oil.
Either way if you're seeping oil from said location, that's pretty bad. Check for shaft play as well.

 

[joejoe]

Sounds like you're in track for a head gasket job.... we would need more details to give a better opinion. Such as turbo shaft play? Coolant loss? Any coolant and oil mixing? Usually a bad turbo will burn oil blue- ish smoke.... though I have cracked a center section and water managed to get into the hotside causing white smoke.... I found this issue by doing a coolant pressure test. Saved me from pulling the head off.

 

[joejoe]

Also just noticed the picture.... that's a bit oil.... looks like it's time to ship that fp turbo in for a rebuild... unless it is a major head gasket failure and your pushing coolant and a ton of oil... let us know some more details and keep us posted.
also just throwing this out there check to see that none of the exhaust manifold studs are leaking oil. Some of those studs have oil passages behind them.

 

[PlanZero]

It only takes a few minutes to unbolt the 02 housing so may as well see how much oil is in there. Judging from that pic it's quite a bit. Are you sure you're blowing white smoke and not blue/gray tint?
Either way, you should not be running the car with a shot turbo.
Nice worm clamp on the dipstick, BTW If your crankcase is venting properly at this point your dipstick should no longer be popping out. If it is, that leak could possibly be a symptom.

 

[Dsmkauai]

Check turbo for shaft play. It's weird when they blow they do kinda blow white/grey smoke. My old 14b did it, wasn't leaking any coolant either was all oil.

 

[mitsuGstx]

Thanks for the responses guys!

Head gasket was done about 1000 miles ago. Not losing any coolant at all and it's still clear green. I took two pictures after I started the car this morning. First one is a minute after I started it. The second is about 3 minutes after. I'm assuming it starts to smoke when the downpipe gets hot and the leaking oil burns in there.

I knew someone would call me out on the clamp, haha. Haven't gotten to drive the car yet since I did the vent job.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Still check for the shaft play. It only takes a couple minutes to pull the intake and check. That can save you a lot of time and headaches. Have you checked your oil to see if it is an obviously wrong color (i.e. blown head gasket)?

 

[joejoe]

You sure that it's not just tons of condensation? ?? That muffler could have lots of water in it. It looks likes it spit out a bit of water in just those few minutes. Sometimes the muffler will have a tiny drain hole that plugs up. It will puff smoke like a steam engine. Smoke looks too white to me for it to be oil, could just be the picture. But yeah non the less that oil on the hotside is not good.

 

[JusMX141]

I took two pictures after I started the car this morning. First one is a minute after I started it. The second is about 3 minutes after. I'm assuming it starts to smoke when the downpipe gets hot and the leaking oil burns in there.

Assuming it's draining properly, turbo smoke does not "get worse" the longer a car idles....when there's no load on the turbo at all and oil pressure entering the cartridge is at it's lowest. You likely have a valve seal issue.

If you recently had the head off and didn't change the valve seals, you should've....they're typically hard as bricks on any 20-year-old cylinder head. If you did change them, something went south during the installation or one or more.

Although I've gotta know...FP manifold, FP turbo, tubular o2 housing and external gate- stock muffler? That's eventually going to wipe the turbine sealing ring right out of that turbo from the excessive backpressure.

 

[Dsmkauai]

Nothing wrong with the clamp for the dip stick . I had one but slid it down and had a spring attached to the dip stick and clamp. Worked perfect for my needs

 

[joejoe]

Keeping it classy Dsmkauai

 

[mitsuGstx]

Still check for the shaft play. It only takes a couple minutes to pull the intake and check. That can save you a lot of time and headaches. Have you checked your oil to see if it is an obviously wrong color (i.e. blown head gasket)?

Ill check for play tomorrow when I have a chance. I've looked at the oil a few times already and it's still the black/green brad penn color.

 

[mitsuGstx]

Assuming it's draining properly, turbo smoke does not "get worse" the longer a car idles....when there's no load on the turbo at all and oil pressure entering the cartridge is at it's lowest. You likely have a valve seal issue.

If you recently had the head off and didn't change the valve seals, you should've....they're typically hard as bricks on any 20-year-old cylinder head. If you did change them, something went south during the installation or one or more.

Although I've gotta know...FP manifold, FP turbo, tubular o2 housing and external gate- stock muffler? That's eventually going to wipe the turbine sealing ring right out of that turbo from the excessive backpressure.

I had the head off for a rebuild by SIM and put it on about 1000 miles ago along with a new OEM MLS gasket. Block was still straight and flat all around. Torqued to spec with ARP head studs. I have a 3'' electric cutout Y'd off before muffler for higher boost.

I was under the impression oil leaking into combustion chamber would burn and be a different color. I feel like the oil leaking from the turbine seal isn't burning at first because the downpipe isn't hot enough to cook it off. Also i've used the DSMlink "stutterbox" to build boost and it smokes like a locomotive after I let off.

I had a high oil pressure problem so I put a .07 restrictor before installing the turbo. I started to see smoke after boost so I assumed it was still getting to much pressure. I ported the housing and put a weaker spring in and my oil pressure is in check now. Still smoking though

 

[mitsuGstx]

You can see it bubbling from the seams while it idles. It's leaking from every part of that gasket. And wg. Wtf

 

[joejoe]

http://turbolabofamerica.com/causes-turbo-blow-leak-burn-oil-find/

 

[mitsuGstx]

Pulled intake. Mad in/out shaft play. I Pulled turbo off after. There is a significant amount of oil at comp wheel and wastegate dump. Exhaust manifold is dry except 3rd runner with a light oil film. Sending it out for rebuild. No more restrictor. I'd rather it smoke from over oiling/drain problem than a restriction. Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[joejoe]

Hta76 no issues yet. No restrictor true 10an drain
hx40 no issues yet. No restrictor true 12 an drain.
Neither have balance shafts. Fed from oil filter housing.... I was running filters too because it's what fp says and other people talk about no more then 80 psi. I had premature failure with filter non without... make sure you build up oil pressure into the turbo before starting the engine for the first time.

 

[TurboTesh]

I have no idea if this is related, but check your PCV valve... its likely the cause of your dipstick blowing out. I put a check valve in line with my PCV and eliminated it from pushing oil out my seals.

Just throwing it out there

 

[ErikTande]

Although I've gotta know...FP manifold, FP turbo, tubular o2 housing and external gate- stock muffler? That's eventually going to wipe the turbine sealing ring right out of that turbo from the excessive backpressure.

Good to know, I think that's likely what I recently did to my 20g. I have a full 3" exhaust but a cheap ceramic "high flow" cat that is 3 years old. I believe that was giving me a lot of backpressure. I just passed emissions here in CO though, so I'm good to go for 2 years so I think a test pipe is in order.

 

[JusMX141]

Mad in/out shaft play. I Pulled turbo off after. There is a significant amount of oil at comp wheel and wastegate dump.

Having the correct pressure/volume entering the cartridge through use of a restrictor isn't going to result in a thrust failure....excessive backpressure from too much exhaust restriction which is loading the shaft toward the compressor side by forcing the turbo to "work" to expel exhaust pressure, or using the incorrect oil type definitely will, however- make sure you're using a racing oil or a zinc additive in a conventional oil or you'll continue to wipe out journal bearing turbos in a similar manner.

https://www.forcedperformance.net/merchant2/graphics/subaru_oil/Forced Performance Recommendations for Motor Oil.pdf