Blue Smoke [Merged 7-9]

[joemathews]

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

 

[chico904]

Just wanted to post, that I realized that i am completely empty in my overflow coolant reservoir, and it took about 2 weeks from when I filled it. I'm now thinking that it could be a headgasket due to no leaks under the car. How would I go about testing if this is the problem?

 

[Alex Bland]

Only when i start my car it will smoke blue and if i drive it cold. When it warms up it drives fine.. any help 91 eagle talon

 

[Cappa]

Blue smoke out the exhaust is no good. As far as i know, that means a blown turbo. might wanna check that. How much shaft play is on your turbo? but that is kind of weird once it gets warm its fine.

 

[BoredDSM]

Blue smoke out the exhaust is no good. As far as i know, that means a blown turbo. might wanna check that. How much shaft play is on your turbo? but that is kind of weird once it gets warm its fine.

Blue smoke means burning oil not necessarily blown turbo. If it only happens when it's cold it is most likely your rings.

 

[Jeff99GS]

Blue smoke means burning oil not necessarily blown turbo. If it only happens when it's cold it is most likely your rings.

+1 I would suspect the rings. Do a compression ,or a Leakdown test.

 

[SBR Joe]

+1 I would suspect the rings. Do a compression ,or a Leakdown test.

Not so much. More than likely its your valve seals. If compression is 140+ across the board your rings are fine. Simple head job will fix you up.


Joe
SBR

 

[slohatch]

if it smokes on initial start up it is the oil that runs down the valve stem from bad seals

 

[99Dodge1500]

My Truck does the same thing when I first start it up it has been doing this for about 2 years and have no problem with it, but it is different then a car, so I would do a compression test to see if your rings are good.

 

[BoredDSM]

it could be the seals or piston rings. They both expand when the motor is warmed up so it fills up the gaps. So you would have to do a leak down test to find out.

 

[jram53]

alright you guys i usually post in the trans section but now i have no need for it since my car moves perfectly and shifts like a champ problem is that it doesn't look like one its smoking the engine is freshly rebuilt the turbo is brand new no boost leaks and perfect compression. the car does not smoke at all when its still cold but once it gets to operating temperature it starts to smoke and its a deep blue smoke (i already know its oil) and since i have a nasty idle problem and my car auto revs itself i notice that when its coasting down to a lower rpm the smoke is gone and comes back once the rpm rises back to normal. i have noticed 2 things 1 my coolant hose to the turbo is a bit kinked by the wastegate and my oil return line is a bit kinked as well i have heard that the kinked oil return line would cause this to happen is this true? i'll attach a (real poopy quality) video of it and i would like some input

thanks rick

<embed width="440" height="420" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://v4.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=6sq5g5&s=4"><br><font size="1"><a href="http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=6sq5g5&s=4">Original Video</a> - More videos at <a href="http://tinypic.com">TinyPic</a></font>

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Of course a kink in the oil return will cause smoke . Having the coolant line kinked will probably end up causing someting too .

One of my real pet peeves is the way people abuse their DSMs. I hope you at least tightened the bolts that hold the engine to the trans.

Ps. Have fun washing all the oil out of your intercooler and intake tract.

 

[SBR Joe]

A kinked water line to the turbo wont cause anything, thats irrelevant because youre not burning coolant anyways. If the oil return line is kinked bad enough that would most definately cause it. Also let me ask, how many miles are on the fresh rebuild? Does the fresh rebuild include a new head job with valve seals, etc? How did you break the engine in? Did you have the new turbo on when you did?


Joe
SBR

 

[Colt4G63 also]

A kinked water line to the turbo wont cause anything, thats irrelevant

I'm sure you know what you're talking about, but I read somewhere that those cooling lines help prevent coking by keeping the turbo center section cool. I cant believe I wasted all that time putting the cooling lines on my brand new ported EvoIII big 16g. I had to fabricate some of those lines!!! And to think, I could have just capped them off. DUH

 

[SBR Joe]

I'm sure you know what you're talking about, but I read somewhere that those cooling lines help prevent coking by keeping the turbo center section cool. I cant believe I wasted all that time putting the cooling lines on my brand new ported EvoIII big 16g. I had to fabricate some of those lines!!! And to think, I could have just capped them off. DUH

haha, well you are correct, they do just that, BUT i never run coolant lines on any turbos unless they are ball bearing. Every mitsu turbo i have ran never had coolant lines going to them (mainly because i switched setups so many times it was easier to do when i had no coolant lines to deal with haha.) Though it may prolong the life of the turbo a bit more, i have been running without coolant lines on MHI turbos for years with no problems. When i said that it wouldnt cause anything, it was in regards to his current situation..not to say having no coolant lines wouldnt have any adverse effects, i just never run them nor have experienced any negative results in doing so. Hence why most large journal bearing turbos are dry center sections and only use oil. If i was to assume, that would be just something the factory does because most of the population that bought these cars from the dealer werent aware of the whole "turbo timing" thing (even though its on tha visor of all 1g's to do so, .)

Joe
SBR

 

[JusMX141]

my oil return line is a bit kinked as well i have heard that the kinked oil return line would cause this to happen is this true?

Address this IMMEDIATELY.

There should be no kinks in the oil drain...this will cause oil to dam up in the center housing and exit through the turbine and compressor seals. Excessive oil in the center housing will also ruin the journal bearing's ability to "float", causing the bearings to contact the housing.

A kinked oil drain is a way to ruin a perfectly good turbo in about 200 miles.

 

[jram53]

it has less than 10miles on everything and yes the rebuilt was all new only thing that is old is the valve cover itself and the oil pan...haven't even broken the engine in since i just got my transmission finished yesterday and yes the turbo is new as well because the other one that was on the car blew along side the engine

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Exactly what jusmx141 said. You need to fix the oil return. Yes the coolant line isn't critical, but the oil return is.

 

[sethkirk_2005]

When I bought my car the idiot before me had regular rubber hose from the turbo to the oil pan. It was a weird angle and it was barely letting any oil through... For some reason it never smoked but when I took the intercooler piping off it had a little oil in there. Crimped oil lines are NEVER good!

 

[KentonB]

Address this IMMEDIATELY.

There should be no kinks in the oil drain...this will cause oil to dam up in the center housing and exit through the turbine and compressor seals. Excessive oil in the center housing will also ruin the journal bearing's ability to "float", causing the bearings to contact the housing.

A kinked oil drain is a way to ruin a perfectly good turbo in about 200 miles.

x10 perfect answer

 

[jram53]

alright thanks you guys i knew it would end up being something small...i'll go ahead and fix the line and ill get back to you guys

 

[cbr600teardrop]

Fix oil and water line buy new if you have to did you replace valve stem seals?

 

[SBR Joe]

it has less than 10miles on everything and yes the rebuilt was all new only thing that is old is the valve cover itself and the oil pan...haven't even broken the engine in since i just got my transmission finished yesterday and yes the turbo is new as well because the other one that was on the car blew along side the engine

Ok well you may be looking at a combination of things. The rings probably arent fully seated, that could be causing some blow by adding to the problem. Take care of the oil return line first as this sound like your main problem. Keep in mind though, you should not be breaking the engine in with a brand new turbo (unless you are using an inline filter) because the debris that contaminates the engine oil during a break in can get trapped in the journal bearing and just kind of eat away at it causing premature turbo failure. Also, you arent using synthetic oil right?


Joe
SBR

 

[Colt4G63 also]

If your IC pipes are full of oil, then it's your oil return causing the problem. I your pipes are clean, then it must not be that kinked, and you have some other issue.

So are they oily?

 

[92awddsm]

Also, did the old turbo fail? Is the ic and exhaust/cat full of oil?

 

[jram53]

problem solved 100% oil line... not even a puff of smoke....as for the whole breaking in the engine with a new turbo i know but when i first started having problems i thought it was prob just the turbo but my engine was shot to so i had a new turbo and the old one was no good...come to think of it i should have picked up a used turbo ...well my dsm is back in business and im happy <-thats me