Blue Smoke [Merged 7-9]

[WhiteCloud]

After driving from Charlottesville, VA to Gainesville, FL to visit my best friend for his birthday, I got back into stop and go traffic in the city and noticed I was puffing some blue smoke when taking off from a stop. I'd never noticed this before the trip, so I'm inclined to think something during the trip caused it.

Symptoms:
1) Puffs a cloud of blue smoke shortly after revving engine in neutral.
2) Puffs a cloud of blue smoke while taking off in first gear, but not always noticeable.
3) Doesn't trail smoke like it would if it were a head gasket.
4) Turbo doesn't seem to have excessive shaft play, and boosts fine.
5) I'm burning some oil, but not a tremendous amount (I burned maybe 1/4-1/3 of a quart on the 700+ mile trip back to VA from FL.

I'm wondering what you guys think the problem is, judging from these symptoms.

I've been told to check the PCV valve, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for (in terms of oil, residue, etc. on or in the valve!?), or if I should just be replacing that to see if it fixes the smoke.

What would your next step be if your car were puffing this blue smoke? Is there a way to tell if it is valve seals?

Thanks for the help,

Joe

 

[Alex Bland]

When i first got my car it was doing that then i relized it only really did it when i let off the gas. And i even pulled off the sides to turbo and no black or anything then i got a kick to just rebuild it and the little O ring inside was fried like bad just crumbled away so you might want to think of it the rebuild is really easy and kit is cheap might as well do it anyways huh?

 

[Taylor3180]

If that were the case shouldn't I have some movement on the turbine anything?

 

[VergeTSi]

From what I learned in trade school, blue smoke is piston rings. Try that liquid stuff that you put with a new oil change, its kind of like liquid metal that fills in the cracks of the pistons rings. I did that for the heck of it and my compression went back up to stock compressions, nice and strong.

 

[Calan]

From what I learned in trade school, blue smoke is piston rings. Try that liquid stuff that you put with a new oil change, its kind of like liquid metal that fills in the cracks of the pistons rings. I did that for the heck of it and my compression went back up to stock compressions, nice and strong.

First of all, blue smoke is usually from burning oil, but it doesn't have to be because of bad piston rings. It could be from the turbo, leaky valve seals, oil in the intake, etc.

Second, don't just go pouring crap in your engine. Figure out what the problem is, and then fix it.


You need to do a leak down test. It will help you isolate what is actually going on.

 

[1997_GSX]

So I turned the boost up to 16-17 psi on my 54 trim and have been running it like that since I ran at the track 2 weeks ago.

My friends where following my last week and said it stunk and was smoking. Well I though it may have been the rain off my tires cause that was all I could see in the mirror and my car runs a little rich so I thought that is why it smells bad.

Well today I changed the rear diff fluid and decided to go for a spirited drive. Well I start going and I was going up a mild angled mountain WOT enjoying my self and in between shifts I saw a huff of white smoke. So I let off and then it barreled out. As soon as I gave it gas it went a way then I let off again a ton of smoke...

So I took her home where I called my dad, he didn't want to help me so I called my DSM buddy and he was in town said he would be right over. Well after talking we decided to go to Advance Auto where I was gonna buy a Compression tester. Well I ripped on it to let him see again no smoke under wot but when I would let off it comes out.

I had my brother follow me and he said it is mostly white with a little blue smell kinda like a weed wacker / pepper spray also...

So I take it home and do the compression test like the instructions said. But the throttle plate was closed and it rendered 170 in all the cylinders. The engine block and head / Head gasket and studs are all stock with 97200 miles on them 7 bolt.

The plugs where not wet with anything at all nor did the O2 Dump have any oil residue.

The turbo " Dual BB " is basically new with the water lines connected. Inline Oil filter and Oil restrictor. I bought every thing to do it right the first time so I hope its not the turbo it only has 2000 ish miles on it.

The turbo has little to no shaft play in or out and side to side. There is no oil in my IC pipes or in the compressor cover. The turbo spools fine with no weird noises.

So I took it back out and drove it normally while they followed and no smoke at all except when I went up the hill and a little came out, I lowered the boost to 13 psi and then romped on it and no smoke... The car still has a lot of power.

The car smokes at little barely noticeable at idle

We can't figure out what is wrong with my car any input is greatly appreciated I tried to go over all the possibilities except for taking the head off and a leak down test because nobody around here has the tester nor could I have bought one around here.

My mods are in my profile if you click my car link

 

[94MightyMax]

Sounds like valve seal/seat issues. Normally a car will puff some smoke when shifting if the valve seat is bad. But if you have good compression it might not be that. You have checked your oil level right? And coolant?

 

[JusMX141]

Two suggestions here:

- Move your oil supply to the head. Ball bearing turbos require such little oil that the filter housing is most likely going to over-oil the turbo at wide-open throttle regardless of the restrictor. Journal bearing turbos need some oil pressure to keep the bearings floating, which is why the head may give too little pressure at idle and while cruising for some brands of turbos. In a ball bearing turbo, the shaft is fully supported by the bearings at all times, and the bearings only require literally a mist of oil to keep them lubricated.

Think of this....the crankshaft bearings in a two-stroke motocross bike are also ball bearings. The only lubrication they get is from the oil mixed with the gas, and unless something else goes wrong with the engine or someone runs the bike without oil in the gas, the crank bearings normally last the entire time the bike's alive.


- Check your oil drain line for kinks. Obviously a higher pressure source (filter housing) will require a bigger drain, while a low-pressure source (the head) will be just fine with any of the aftermarket oil drains available for our cars.....but neither will function if the hose portion of the line is kinked. Be sure there are no kinks, and ball bearing turbos like drains that have two 45* degree bends in them instead of one 90* bend at the bottom.

 

[1997_GSX]

Sounds like valve seal/seat issues. Normally a car will puff some smoke when shifting if the valve seat is bad. But if you have good compression it might not be that. You have checked your oil level right? And coolant?

Yeah and both are fine

 

[1997_GSX]

Two suggestions here:

- Move your oil supply to the head. Ball bearing turbos require such little oil that the filter housing is most likely going to over-oil the turbo at wide-open throttle regardless of the restrictor. Journal bearing turbos need some oil pressure to keep the bearings floating, which is why the head may give too little pressure at idle and while cruising for some brands of turbos. In a ball bearing turbo, the shaft is fully supported by the bearings at all times, and the bearings only require literally a mist of oil to keep them lubricated.

Think of this....the crankshaft bearings in a two-stroke motocross bike are also ball bearings. The only lubrication they get is from the oil mixed with the gas, and unless something else goes wrong with the engine or someone runs the bike without oil in the gas, the crank bearings normally last the entire time the bike's alive.


- Check your oil drain line for kinks. Obviously a higher pressure source (filter housing) will require a bigger drain, while a low-pressure source (the head) will be just fine with any of the aftermarket oil drains available for our cars.....but neither will function if the hose portion of the line is kinked. Be sure there are no kinks, and ball bearing turbos like drains that have two 45* degree bends in them instead of one 90* bend at the bottom.

So if I feed it off the head do I still leave the restrictor in it? Also what size bolt blocks off the oil filter housing?

 

[1997_GSX]

I dunno but it has stopped, I turned the boost back up and still no more maybe it was from my muffler being painted with vht flame proof.

 

[Quirk]

Went from a 14b with tons of in/out shaft play to a brand new evo iii 16g turbo. At first I was getting white smoke, but now after a week or so I am blowing blue smoke. I get it at times while in idle, reversing, and I don't notice it much while driving because that would be hard to determine while driving.

I did a search and found to clean the intercooler, I havn't had time to do that. Whats the problem here? Bad turbo already?

Bought it from a known place too (JNZ TUNING) so it's not that crappy ebay sh*t

Thanks!

 

[grimdsm]

Do you have any tuning? gm maf w/ translator? bigger injectors? or did you just bolt on a bigger turbo?

 

[whe3ls]

i would check the oil feed and return lines

 

[My1GLaser]

How old is your PCV valve? They suck brand new, but a worn out one can cause oil burning. I would look into adding one of these (Check Valves - US Plastic Corporation) in line with it, since you can even blow thru a brand new stock one with your mouth. WTF

 

[Quirk]

Do you have any tuning? gm maf w/ translator? bigger injectors? or did you just bolt on a bigger turbo?

Straight bolt on.

 

[mitsuman3000]

You really need to get some supporting mods to tune air/fuel with.

Are you getting any oil or coolant in the exhaust?

 

[Quirk]

You really need to get some supporting mods to tune air/fuel with.

Are you getting any oil or coolant in the exhaust?

Yes I poured oil and coolant in my exhaust I thought it added hp! Just kidding, no oil or coolant in the exhaust. I just bought the damn thing, I really hope it's not on its way to being blown already...

 

[nick]

I have same problem with my car. Something to do with to much oil presure.

 

[Quirk]

I have same problem with my car. Something to do with to much oil presure.

Hmm so whats the fix if too much oil pressure is the case, which I highly doubt it is that because my blown 14b wasn't having blue smoke. Just had hell of a lot shaft play in/out.

 

[mitsuman3000]

Krank Vents System - Mitsubishi 3000GT / Dodge Stealth

if you think it is a pressure problem try to find these for a dsm

I have looked but can't find them for a dsm, if you find them let me know.
I run them on my GT with no probs.

 

[whiteflash]

Valve stem seals?

 

[Badgst96]

I have this same problem with my 16g.. My t25 was blown and never smoked but once I installed the 16g (brand new) it smokes just when I begin to take off or when I turn it on (example: stoplight). I let it break in and never stressed the turbo, always let it cool down properly, and I rarely get on my car to go vroooom. No shaft play. I did some research (other site) and found out that this is caused by having to much oil going in the turbo inlet line and not having a big enough return line to get it out fast enough (oil). So the oil will have to find a way out and it just walks out the shaft seals. They said the fix was just to tap off the oil pressure port on the cylinder head instead of the oil pressure unit because the oil pressure is lower at the head, or modify your return line to a bigger size.. Hope this helps man..

 

[Tim Melton]

Its a new turbo every one I have had and my friends smokes for a bit then goes away after its broken in.Plus we forgot you need to clean your innercooler that is probably the cause I would think.

 

[JusMX141]

All of you 2G guys with oil burning issues....where are you sourcing your oil supply from?

Sounds like too much incoming pressure to me.

 

[rush2252]

Mine was smoking a little bit at idle before. Check the PVC system, that is if your still running the oil feed from the head like Justin said...