Did i blow my turbo...or worse?

[etay89]

So here's my story. On April 4th , I upgraded my turbo from a 14b to a 16g. The turbo was remanufactured and I also reused ALL oil and water lines as well as gaskets.

About 3 days after I put the turbo on, I started blowing white smoke and my engine started making a loud sound. I later found out that there was NO oil in my car. I got some lucas oil treatment and 4 qts of castrol syntec. The sound disappeared and the engine was running better. I still continued to blow white smoke (wasn't alot and the smoke was oily, a person told it was oily and my whole back bumber was covered in oil) if i would have about 30%+ throttle.

Then on Saturday, I was driving up a hill pushin about 5-10 psi, and then it made this pop sound, and then i lost all power. It just cruised at 20mph and managed to coast it about a 1/2 mile home.

The following day, I tried to turn the car on it kept making this clanking sound (it would do it before I even started the car).

So...yeah, I don't know what to think or make out of it. I plan on getting an install kit and re-installing my 14b next Thursday, but is it possible I did more damage?

Mods:
3" catback exhaust
mbc
cai
stock 450cc injectors
255lph walbro (no afpr, i know i know)
gauges: boost and aem wideband
safc2 at stock settings
ngk bpr7es spark plugs and ngk wires
auto tranny

and also a possible vac leak near my throttle body?

 

[brian9397gsx]

i would be worried about that clank sound. deffinantly sound like your turbo is blown pouring oil in your exhaust. sounds like you may have more problems

 

[SpawnedX]

This doesn't sound like a turbo problem my friend. White smoke, oil in the exhaust as well. Blown HG probably, probably completely blew out when you heard that pop.

This could be much more serious, drop the oil pan and take a look around in the block.

 

[etay89]

This doesn't sound like a turbo problem my friend. White smoke, oil in the exhaust as well. Blown HG probably, probably completely blew out when you heard that pop.

This could be much more serious, drop the oil pan and take a look around in the block.

I thought it would be a blown head gasket. i fear a cracked head too..perfect time to switch to a 6bolt

*edit* Also, about a week before the swap, I cleaned my engine bay. Not the best job in the world but never the less, still did it. Sunday, I popped the hood and the engine was covered in oil or anything. Looks like a bit of leakage from the oil cap. My radiator fan (the one in front of the o2 housing) was melted and the fans didn't cut on automatically. And random parts were below the exhaust manifold was sprayed by oil and coolant. I looked underneath the car and alot of it was covered in oil.

 

[brian9397gsx]

yeah from your last post its probably a head gasket. good luck head gasket is an easy job.

i threw the turbo out there from my experience when my turbo popped had healthy amount of oil in the exhaust and bumper.

good luck

 

[etay89]

how much would it cost just to place it?

*edit* also whenever the pop sound occured, my boost when from 5-10 psi straight to 0 and it NEVER got above 0. and i maintained a steady speed of 20-30mph. like i said, i drove the car the rest of the way home...so is it a head gasket or just a bad turbo? the oil and coolant wasn't ALL over the engine bay..it was pretty much all underneath the car...also i did leak oil and it appeared to be leaking from directly from the turbo (it was a slow leak so i have no clue)

 

[JusMX141]

Have you verified shaft play on the turbo? If it's not making any boost at all, there should be a massive amount of play.

 

[anteversion]

Have you verified shaft play on the turbo? If it's not making any boost at all, there should be a massive amount of play.

Yes look for shaft play on the turbo.... since you've ran the engine with no oil in it, turbo bearing damage are obviously present. For the pop sound at under 5-10 psi, it may be a blown piping coupler on your turbo system, It may explain why you lost all your power after that sound. Blowing oil trought the tail pipe is also a sign of bad
turbo hotside seals.

 

[DSM1G90]

Yep, prob spun them turbo bearings bad with no oil ...

 

[kmj 4g63t]

I would do the main checks! Look at your dipstick, slightly off white? then take the rad cap off and check for the same residue, this is basically contaminated oil, if your head gasket's blown or you cracked your head. There's a good chance the coolant got into the oil and that's a tell tale sign!

After you check that, take your intake off and check for shaft play on the turbo. Both ways, axial and radial (in and out and side to side play). If your turbo had a lot of shaft play and had the fins hit the outer wall you would hear a whistling sound almost like a supercharger.

and x2 on what anteversion said.

 

[90moneypit]

My suggestion would be to check for shaft play and loose couplers like everyone else is saying to see what condition the turbo is in. I'd also recommend that you immediately buy the gaskets and crush washers to properly install the turbo as it sounds like it's leaking oil into your engine bay as well. I don't think you cracked a head unless you were running pretty hot when this happened! The headgasket is just that, a gasket that seals two pieces of metal together but also acts like a fuse. I don't think 10psi would lift the head and blow the stock gasket unless it was already weak but it never hurts to check the oil. For curiosities sake, how many miles are on the engine?

 

[olmytsi]

Im pretty sure you killed the engine from running no oil...

 

[tallywacker]

Well the pop sound is usually a intercooler hose somewhere in the system popping off and that is why your car won't boost and runs like crap.

 

[6BoltSleeper]

You said your fans were melted and not coming on, so were you running hot when you coasted home? I'm still thinking a charge pipe coupler blew off, but definitely check your shaft play. Good luck with it.

 

[etay89]

as for the turbo, before i put it on there was NO shaft play at all whatsoever. the wheel spun freely, no in and out or left and right play. however, whenever it boosted, it did make a whistling type sound (which to me, sounded kinda cool but i didn't know it could be bad)

no residue on dipstick or inside the radiator cap so good deal. that was my main concern

i will check all my pipings and couplers. tomorrow and update (someone also told me to check my spark plugs too for oil.. i'll check my plugs too)

the engine has 108k miles. all maintenance was done within the past 5000 miles (timing belt, water pump, alternator. changed the pulleys, left the cam gears and crankshaft pullies alone)

here's the story of the turbo. the night me and a few friends put it on, we started the car and let it ran for a bit. we drove it around the block and i noticed it started to get hot. i got back to the garage and the car was smokin. not alot but smoking (near the intake manifold/fuel rail, i also put on 550cc injectors...big mistake without a regulator and having a 255). i put the stock injectors back on. topped it off with oil and coolant (i forgot to put both in before running the car) and then it ran fine. spooled fast, boosted 18-20lbs...it drove fine. since that point, my engine temp never went past half way.

my radiator fan...i have NO clue when it melted or how it could. my guess is when we put the coolant back in...there were bubbles that caused the fans to stop... i truly dont know. i discovered the fan
melted about 2-4 hrs before blowing the turbo.

i went out and started the car for a bit. it started up fine. i wanted to check the smoke color (i know if it was blueish..it was coolant..which translate into a head gasket) and it didnt blow any until i stepped on the gas.


btw where can get the install kit? i really wud like a 14b/16g install kit but $170+? a bit much for me. i know i can get the gaskets at advanced for about $30, but what about the oil lines? washers? stuff like that. i just would like to replace all the lines and stuff you know?

 

[brian9397gsx]

its leaking coolant are you even sure you can tell were its coming from? check your lines going to the turbo for leaks if necessary clean it off and run it and watch were the coolant is coming from(even better do a coolant pressure test).

check for coolant in the oil, do a compression and leak down test, do a boost leak test , also check your shaft play on your turbo.

till you do this our guess is as good as yours

 

[etay89]

its leaking coolant are you even sure you can tell were its coming from? check your lines going to the turbo for leaks if necessary clean it off and run it and watch were the coolant is coming from(even better do a coolant pressure test).

check for coolant in the oil, do a compression and leak down test, do a boost leak test , also check your shaft play on your turbo.

till you do this our guess is as good as yours

ya i plan on doing all this thursday. and screw that 16g. i'm just gonna rebuild it myself and for the time being, just put my 14b back on

 

[DSM1G90]

i know if it was blueish..it was coolant

I thought when you see blue, that's burning oil, not coolant -which would be more white. If more black, then it's running rich.

... killed the engine from running no oil...

Have to agree with this one..along with the turbo..


True..good luck on this one - DSM

 

[1stGenTSi]

Yeah, blue smoke is oil, white smoke is coolant.

 

[90moneypit]

here's the story of the turbo. the night me and a few friends put it on, we started the car and let it ran for a bit. we drove it around the block and i noticed it started to get hot. i put the stock injectors back on. topped it off with oil and coolant (i forgot to put both in before running the car) and then it ran fine. spooled fast, boosted 18-20lbs...it drove fine. since that point, my engine temp never went past half way.

Okay, you forgot to top off the oil and coolant, but did you remember to prime the turbo before start-up?

 

[etay89]

Okay, you forgot to top off the oil and coolant, but did you remember to prime the turbo before start-up?

another key thing I forgot...

 

[DSM1G90]

Bummer .. sorry on that - what's life's all about: live and learn though the mistakes and errors we make ... and how many times I've about blew up my rides with some of the dumb mistakes that I've done ...

 

[dsm8883]

Yep, prob spun them turbo bearings bad with no oil ...

I hope this was a joke statement!!!! Turbos do not have bearing like an engine you can not (spin) a turbo bearing. But yes if the op ran his car with no oil and coolant it is pretty much a give away that he smoked some rod or main bearings or maybe even both. You can do bearing damage and see no ill effects from it for a little time. If you are not going to do a 6 bolt swap as you have talked about, drop the oil pan and look and the rods and mains and metal in the pan. Good luck I have a 7 bolt in my shop as we speak with a dead engine due to lack of oil.

 

[DSM1G90]

was a joke statement

.., should have put "spun a bearing" in quotes being a simile statement...

 

[etay89]

no oil on the spark plugs. No residue in the coolant or dipstick. I didn't take my intake off to check the bearing or do any sort of tests. I believe it's a blown turbo...but well see come thursday