Blue smoke only with boost and after boost

[FastLaser]

I searched the forums for a problem like mine but couldn't find the exact conditions. If I missed it please point me to it.

The problem is I get heavy blue smoke (like a blue fog) from the exhaust pipe when the turbo is running approx 7lbs of boost. It continues to generate this heavy blue smoke after letting off the gas for a minute or two. Continuing to drive the car with 0 boost produces no smoke. At idle there is no smoke and reving the engine to 3500-4000rpm with the car parked doesn't produce it either. If the car is driven without letting the boost come up, there is no smoke during acceleration or when letting off the gas. This started after the car overheated. Apparently, the cooling system wasn't filled completely after the engine change. The engine didn't seize due to the overheating and started and runs strong but smokes a lot. Prior to the overheating there was no blue smoke.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem? If so, what did you find?

This just happened and no checks have been done on the engine. I would say the rings were damaged by the overheating but I would think that drivng the car keeping the boost at or near "0" would also cause the blue smoke. The first thing I can think to check is the compression. What else and (in what order) should I check? If the rings are bad, can they be replaced without reboring the engine?

The engine is a used JDM engine that was just swapped into the car. It has a new 16g turbo, BOV vented to the atmosphere, FMIC and a 3' exhaust system Turbo back with the CAT removed. Other than that it is stock. The car has been driven less than 50 miles since the engine swap.

Any help or quidance would be greatly appreciate!

 

[98eclipseRS]

well let's address the small issues first, recirculate the bov!!!!now!!!!

sounds to me like your turbo seals are going bad, they could be on the way out oly causing oil to seep past them into the exhaust only during boost. That would be my guess.

 

[yoshimitsuspeed]

Is it a brand new 16g or new to you?
If it is used that would be my first thought as well.

 

[Blue92]

Yeah, sounds like the turbo bearings. The turbo still spins even when you are not in boost, that is why it can leak even when you are not in boost.

 

[FastLaser]

Thank you for responding I can really use some guidance.

This is a time I WOULD LOVE FOR IT TO BE a bad TURBO.... $600 versus ???! The turbo is new out of the box (not a rebuild or used) and has approx 5-6 hours on it (and most of that at idle). It and the motor were installed by a shop that specializes in performance imports and I know that great care was taken with the turbo oil lines and getting it filled it with oil when it was installed. However, I know that anything can fail new or not. To check the turbo would I expect to see oil on the compressor output or on the side the exhaust passes through? Is there any other check I can make on the turbo?

As to the BOV. My understanding is a BOV vented to the atmosphere causes rough idle and problems when shifting. Is there anthing about this type of BOV that could cause or contribute to my "blue smoke" problem? Right now, I want to concentrate on finding the source of the oil that is causing the blue smoke.

 

[98eclipseRS]

^^one way to possibly see if your turbo is bad is to take off the intake pipe and check for shaft play. If its really bad then you have a problem, even if it isn't there could still be some issues. Next take off your dp and use a flashlight to see if there are marks from burned oil inside the o2 housing.

 

[FASTSPOOLINGST]

I am having the exact same problem dude. My car doesn't smoke at idle, cruises fine, but when I let off the gas, a big puff of smoke comes passing my car up.

I have a brand new turbo on my car. I also have a jdm swap I put in about 3 months ago. I did a compression check yesterday and got 165 in all four cylinders. I also checked my dip stick for milky oil to see if it was water getting in, there was nothing but pretty oil in it. I don't know what the fudge it is. Only other thing i can think of is that it is my valve seals, or I got a bad turbo already.

 

[FastLaser]

FASTSPOOLINGST,

I plan on doing a compession test and the other suggested checks this weekend. I should have a better idea after those checks.

Something you might try. Another DSM'er I was talking to suggested after driving the car and shutting off the engine pull the dipstick and carefully smell the oil. If the rings are leaking you will smell gasoline. I didn't smell gas.

 

[FASTSPOOLINGST]

well, i pulled the dipstick again today. I found out I had zero oil on the bi***.
I was reading good oil pressure on my gauge though, so i don't think i was low enough for starvation to occur. I added oil to her, so that is fixed. I found another thing that might have been a problem. My oil return tube (home made for my 50 trim) was kind of kinked. The oil may have been getting backed up and getting burned off. I changed the lower fitting and adjusted the hose to the proper length.

Hopefully one of these was my problem. I'll post an update as soon as i find out.

 

[FASTSPOOLINGST]

Problem solved. I don't know which one it was that fixed it, but I don't have any more smoke problems.

I installed my SAFC II. I took the car out to tune it out, it turned out I only had to adjust 3% from 4k to 6.5K. I guess I had it tuned pretty good with my translator. I do love the pretty blue lights though.

 

[FastLaser]

Sounds like your turbo oil return was blocked causing high oil pressure inside the turbo focing oil through the seals and into the exhaust or intake causing the smoke. Anyway congratuations on eliminating the problem.......now if I can just do the same for mine.

 

[Twizzle]

hey fast laser, mine doesnt let out blue smoke, but when im in neutral and rev to 6k and let off, smoke does come out. im guessing mine is because of no cat and no muffler, however i have noticed it has began to stop. i put in a brand new b16g and for the first 500miles or so, it would smoke a little, and now it doesnt do it at all. however, when my car overheated, on my old big16g, it was the cause of my turbo going bad. i had a shitty radiator and when my car overheated, the big16g just smoked all the time. I replaced the radiator with a fluidyne and bought another big16g and havent had problems since. perhaps if the car overheated with your new turbo, you MAY have actually blown the seals, which would suck, but is a possibility. I just so happen to live in jefferson, a town over from you, and im always at the dunkin donuts in your town on 23. feel free to stop by sometime, anyday usually after 7 or so. were out till like 11-12. oh, and please dont bring any town vs town bullshit, we dont want any fights.

 

[67goatpimp]

hey fast laser, mine doesnt let out blue smoke, but when im in neutral and rev to 6k and let off, smoke does come out. im guessing mine is because of no cat and no muffler, however i have noticed it has began to stop. i put in a brand new b16g and for the first 500miles or so, it would smoke a little, and now it doesnt do it at all. however, when my car overheated, on my old big16g, it was the cause of my turbo going bad. i had a shitty radiator and when my car overheated, the big16g just smoked all the time. I replaced the radiator with a fluidyne and bought another big16g and havent had problems since. perhaps if the car overheated with your new turbo, you MAY have actually blown the seals, which would suck, but is a possibility. I just so happen to live in jefferson, a town over from you, and im always at the dunkin donuts in your town on 23. feel free to stop by sometime, anyday usually after 7 or so. were out till like 11-12. oh, and please dont bring any town vs town bullshit, we dont want any fights.

Is your BOV recirculated? If not, I bet that's your problem, especially if it's black smoke (unburnt fuel).

 

[FastLaser]

Since you have had an experience with over heating, I have a question. Did your heat gage indicate just how hot the car was? When my car over heated the heat gage only moved about 1/4 inch or so from its normal position toward hot and yet when I checked the coolant was boiling over. I would have shut it down sooner if I had had an indication of just how hot it really was. I'll check tomorrow to see where the heat sensor is located maybe that would explain why it did not respond quickly enough to warm me.

What color is the smoke you see when you rev it? If it's black, 97goatpimp may have the reason. If that's the only time you see smoke, it wouldn't seem to be to serious.

Interesting that both of our 16g turbos went after the engine overheated. I wonder if the engine overheating causes the oil in the turbo charger to become so thin that it somehow takes out the seals. Anyone else out there have a similar experience?

 

[FastLaser]

Today, I did some checks on the engine and found:

1. The compression was 150 across the cylinders
2. There is oil in the inlet of the compressor side of the turbo

From this I believe the rings are ok....and the turbo seals are gone. Tomorrow, I'm going to pull the turbo's oil return line to see if could be blocked. That's the only thing I can think of to check before replacing the turbo. Anyone out there have any thing else to check?