Noticed a few things, please help!

[Oldbeaterturbo]

I took off the air can(spray painted it) and cleaned my filter and cut the snorkle off. Then i checked the inside of the intake hose , the one that connect the turbo and the air can and there was a bunch of oil in there. I looked closer and there was no oil by the compressor wheel of the turbo but there was a bunch stuck to the inside of the intake hose! Is this really bad, how can oil get in there anyways? I also noticed a small exhaust leak near the muffler and there is water dripping down from the crack. what does an exhaust leak do to the way the car runs anyways?? I gave the car a tune up today, changed the plugs to ngk iridium ones, pennzoil engine flush, castrol syntec 10w 30 oil change and a napa oil filter and ran into another small probelm. While the engine was running with the pennzoil engine flush already poured inside, i had to move it inside my garage cuz it was running outside (didnt want to inhale the fumes). Now all i have to do is drive straight about 20 feet into my garage and the car just died. Now it was running fine until i pressed on the clutch and shifted into 1'st, then it just slowly choked and died. I had to push it into the garage but it started up fine after the tune-up. What could have been the problem? I just got my talon and it has 180,000 km on it if that helps any! thanks

 

[FourG63 97GST]

awesome

 

[xcz504d]

glad to hear you got the old oil out and new oil in...

 

[xcz504d]

Turbos can leak oil, but thats usually on the exhaust side. There is a PCV valve which vents oil into your intake to have it burned off... Maybe someone used oil to slide the rubber hoses on...

 

[SkyLineGtR-R34]

i think on the engine flush fluid it clearly says DO NOT MOVE THE CAR and i don't think you saw that

the good thing is that you could start it up again
it is kind of weird how did oil get into the intake, i don't think it's that water that was dripping from exhaust leak (but try to fix the leak anyways)
probably your oil came from the crankcase vent - put a breather filter or oil catch can there

 

[Oldbeaterturbo]

I am getting the exhaust fixed tomorrow and i did notice the do not move car warning on the engine flush but i figured that 20 feet wouldn'y make a difference but maybe it did, at least i hope it's related to the warning and not something worse! The car also kinda smokes a bit from the exhaust but i found a bit of oil or something stuck on the inside of the muffler tips. Could be oil or could be dirt but i smells like oil. This my first turbo car so it's kinda hard to pin point everything and plus the car looks like it has been mistreated a bit as well so thats why its hard to tell what is wrong with it when something seems out of place! thanks regardless everyone

 

[GSXTuner]

oil gets into your intake hose because your crankcase vents back into there.. oil gets by sometimes .. lots of people make a pcv oil catch can with a little breather filter on it then plug the nipple on the intake..

 

[xcz504d]

If it only stalled once, it's a fluke, when it gets more persistant... worry

Welcome to the world of turbo DSM's... Everything can and will break, but not all at once, you fix an oil leak and your transfer case goes out, you fix your transfer case and your ECU caps leak and eat your ECU, you replace your ECU and a tire falls off... Thats the love hate relationship you're in. Accept it now, expect to get your hands dirty, and pick up a Haynes manual. Familiarize with the "Parts Catalog" on this site so you can dream about making your car faster, but spend more time in the "classifieds" finding used parts to make your car go again.

Keep up with the general maintenance, thats a good start, you seem to be on the right track with the exception of not following directions. Directions aren't misleading, spray paint cans say "Spray 6-12 inches away in light even strokes to avoid runs and sags" and what do people do? They spray 5-6 inches away in slow heavy strokes trying "not to miss a spot" and get runs and sags... I don't know where I was going with that... Just follow directions

www.vfaq.com is an awesome site to help you get the most performance possible by using duct tape, take a walk around home depot, youll find more car parts then you probably expect

Exhaust leaks wont hurt anything, they just let exhaust fumes escape in the wrong direction, usually into the cabin of your automobile leaving you with a healthy breath of carbon monoxide... Ohh and they create turbulance... Exhaust gasses moving at the speed of sound through restrictive stock exhaust (or aftermarket), create a little turbulance by making a second exit thats not smooth in its route, and its like hitting a brick wall for your exhaust gasses... Smooth flowing is what you want to keep that turbo spooling fast.

Post with any questions, were here to learn and help!

 

[SkyLineGtR-R34]

agree with xcz504d
except for the part with exhast leaks...if it leakse around the manifold area it's not gonna be able to spool the turbo as fast as it could, it takes longer time
if it's after the turbo then it's not a big deal...

the stuff that you said about DSMs are totaly true...the most unreliable POS, but you gotta love 'em hayness-manual is your bible + craftsman mechanic tool set + hydraulic jack
i used to have a 97 gsx, and something always breaks. you fix one thing anotherone goes bad...nothing too serious like engine or turbo just smaller things in my case, but i still loved that car

FOLLOW THIS ADVICE:

"Familiarize with the "Parts Catalog" on this site so you can dream about making your car faster, but spend more time in the "classifieds" finding used parts to make your car go again"

 

[xcz504d]

Ahh... Skyline is correct, if it's leaking before the turbo on the exhaust manifold it could have a negative effect on the spool

DSM's are a love hate relationship

My lack of maintenance on it contributes to most of my problems, my transfer case for instance... Should've checked the fluid level in it everyonce in a while, but then again, if it hadn't time bombed I wouldn't have it parked in the garage, stripped of every interior piece, and the block exposed awaiting new parts and fresh carpet

 

[Oldbeaterturbo]

thanks guys, i really appreciate all the advice! I am in the midst of getting the manual and yeah i knew that i would be in a deep pile of shit when buying the Talon cuz i am still relatively new to automobile mechanics, but you gotta learn someday.

 

[SkyLineGtR-R34]

thanks guys, i really appreciate all the advice! I am in the midst of getting the manual and yeah i knew that i would be in a deep pile of shit when buying the Talon cuz i am still relatively new to automobile mechanics, but you gotta learn someday.

everyone is new at one point...
but if you are interested into it you'll learn

 

[Oldbeaterturbo]

Okay here is an update on my situation. I got the exhaust leak fixed today, got a new cat and for now all exhaust problems are resolved. I mentioned in a previous post that my car just stalled out while i was doing a tune up. Well it's becoming a continuous thing now. It stalled twice on me today and almost stalled at least a dozen times after that while driving to repair my exhaust. When i start the car everything is fine while it's idling in neutral. When i shift into 1st or go into reverse and give it a lil gas to go the revs drop right away to about 100 to 200 rpm and unless i keep giving it gas it dies. It's strange cuz a few times i didnt give it gas and it died and all of a sudden the revs shot up and it started itself up again. Could it be my clutch? It doesnt do it when i get moving, it only does it when the car is at a stop or if it's moving very slowly cuz when i get her into 2nd or 3rd it drives fine. Another problem is my car is still smoking like a bastard, it's a white greyish coloured smoke. On the inside of my exhaust it's pitch black. I lifted my hood to check a few lines and what not and noticed that my rad has developed a crack on the very top right next to the upper rad hose and it started shooting and fizzing coolant onto my front bumper, that was awesome!
Oh yeah one more thing...i noticed a wire with some sort or sensor or something hooked up to my filter when i was doing an oil change and it was just hanging there and i don't know where it should be hooked up to. Its the one attached to the oil filter!
This sucks cuz my repair manual wont be here until another week or 2 so thats why i am asking for some help guys! thanks

 

[xcz504d]

The wire is probably the oil pressure wire... Does your oil gauge just stay pegged out? If so... Im positive thats what it is... Most DSM's have that wire cut... Dunno why... They just do... They are always pre-cut for me, so I don't know what the deal is with that..

As for the dying and smoke... How does your car sound... When you rev it... Does it sound very low pitched (caused by running rich) mild, normal exhaust tone (I know you just got the car but you have to try to imagine what a 4 cylinder should sound like) tells you nothing, and a higher tone like a RC motor means your running lean... Generally speaking... This is a starting point not a diagnosis...

With the white smoke as you describe it, and the power lack at low RPM's... I would check the cylinder compression... Possibly blown or worn piston rings, or worse, head gasket... But again, you wont know until you check, theres a plethera of other things it very well could be... Bad coolant sensor fuel injectors sticking open (fuel injector can clean that) yadda yadda yadda... But first things first... A compression test is where I always start with a new car... especially abused DSM's... It's always nice to catch a worn piston ring early, that way you can choose to monitor it or just flat out replace it...

 

[Oldbeaterturbo]

So can i cut the wire or should i put it where it belongs? My car does sound very low pitched and seriously lacks power even in first gear but would did cause the car to just bog down and die when trying to take off in first? But your right about the compression test, i have been meaning to do that it's just that i have never done one before. I will find out how to do one and i will come back with some results! thanks

 

[xcz504d]

Im a fan of connecting things to where they belong. If you can, figure it out and connect, maybe even take a picture of it and see if someone here can help you figure it out if your stumped. Let me know how the compression turns out, the bogging down is still a mystery without some more info.

 

[Oldbeaterturbo]

OKay here is what i have done since my last post.....

Well i havent had the time for a compression check yet but it will be done as soon as i find the time cuz thats something i am very curious about. Now i replaced my radiator with a brand new one cuz like i mentioned before my old one literally burst. I installed it with no problems other then a few broken and striped bolts(f'in 15 year old bolts). Added fresh coolant and everything worked great. Now i kinda poured a little too much coolant into my resevoir bottle and it started coming out of the little hose that connects to it but just sits there all alone and doesnt plug into anything. Now when my rad fans are suppose to come on after i let the engine run for a while, only one was coming on. What would happen is the left one would work and then as it was shutting down the one on the right would start to turn for a tiny bit and then stop. Now this doesnt sound normal to me. Now the fans were fine before and i double cheked everything and it's all hooked up, what gives?

Now for the good part, well i bought some pennzoil fuel system cleaner and poured it into my tank(half full) and it started idling different within a few minutes. Now with the new rad and the fuel system cleaner i took the car for a spin. I couldn't believe it, it drove quite good, still underpowered but my idle problem was gone. The car was no longer stalling or bogging when starting from first or even when idling at a stop light in first gear. Perhaps my injectors were clogged or there was something in my fuel tank. Another thing is that the car is running off of regular 87 octane gas and according to the previous owner it has never had anything higher in it. Now if i change to say like 91 or 94 octane, will the car run even better??

compression test to come soon..... & i will post some pics soon of the wire by the filter and other stuff as well!

 

[Oldbeaterturbo]

crap i just double checked ## post xcz504d and yeah my oil gauge is pegged at L(low) and it doesnt move.

 

[crankbender]

Fix the wire.

With premium in the car you will notice a significant bonus in power under high boost.

The fans are working normally. The fan will cycle to regulate the temperature. Turn on the ac and the other fan should come on constantly.

 

[toutsuu]

I'll just be the first to say that your previous owner was cheap not to buy 91 for his turbo car and that this could cause numerous problems for you now.

 

[Oldbeaterturbo]

Fix the wire.

With premium in the car you will notice a significant bonus in power under high boost.

The fans are working normally. The fan will cycle to regulate the temperature. Turn on the ac and the other fan should come on constantly.

I will fix the wire and the rest of ## post is great news cuz i thought i was gonna have to replace the fan. Btw when someone else mentioned on here that you fix one thing and then something else breaks, how true it is! Now something is making a squeaking sound, like a belt, could be my timing belt, alternator, could be anything with a belt on it, i have to examine it further but yeah dsm's are frigen attention whores!

 

[Oldbeaterturbo]

I'll just be the first to say that your previous owner was cheap not to buy 91 for his turbo car and that this could cause numerous problems for you now.

I agree 100%. I mean why buy a turbo talon and feed it regular 87 gas. I believe the guy and i don't doubt that the woman who owned it before him fed it the same thing! Why would this cause problems thought? I thought the ecu adjusts according to the octane of gas being used?

 

[xcz504d]

87 octane will just reduce your power output IF everything is working properly.

87 Octane combust easier than 91 octane (I don't use less than 93 octane personally)
Under high compression gas can combust without even being ignited! This is called pre-detonation, or Knock, familiarize yoruself with knock. When you get pre-detonation, or Knock, the engine retards the timeing (pulls timing back instead of advancing it) usually you would want the ECU to advance timing around 15 to 20 degrees while your turbo is producing boost. Even with 93 octance I somtimes see my timing get pulled back to 5!!! now 5 to 15 might not seem like alot, but in my case that results in about 25 horses to the wheels, on a stock engine, probably a good 15 horses to wheels is taken away.... Im sure with 87 octane it will probably drop timing to 0, and Im not sure if it retards timing past that.

Pre-detonation can cause extended wear on your pistons, valves, connecting rods, yadda yadda... When the piston is traveling up, the spark plug ignites at the appropriate time forcing the piston back down, if pre-detonation happens, it forces the piston down before it reaches its maximum hieght, kinda like hitting a wall instead of going int its projected motion...

Im glad the fuel injector cleaner helped, it will help even more by the time you hit the end of the tank.

Hows the smoke? White still?

Sqweaking isnt your timing belt... If it is you have a serious problem... But there are teeth on the timing belt to ensure it doesnt slip... By the way... I would suggest replacing the timing belt if you already havent... if it breaks, it can cause SEVERE DAMAGE...

 

[Oldbeaterturbo]

thanks for the heads up on knock and pre-detonation xcz504d!!!! So exactly how can u avoid knock or pre-detonation? Yeah today was a good/bad day for my car. I went to get an emissions test and to my surprise, it passed no problem. The guy said that it's running very clean and if it were not for a bit of hesitation/ dip in power around 4000rpm it would of been even cleaner. Now my car was still spitting out white smoke while being tested so i thought i was screwed, but i was wrong! Now right after the emissions test the car just died while the guy was backing it out of the rollers. It did the same thing i was complaining about earlier, the idle problem! This time it was worse, everything just died, the car had no power whatsoever. Popped the hood and the battery connection was very loose, we tightened it just enough so that i could make it around the corner and thru the bay door and into the back of the shop. They called the auto parts store and i got a new piece(the little piece that sits on top of the + and - hookups) and even thought the car ran a bit better then before, it continued to have problems with the idle. It was like it was trying to catch it's breath. Almost dying, then bouncing back and idling normal and then repeat itself once i put it into 1st gear and so on!

I forgot to mention that when i cleaned the old battery, it was all corroded, especially by the - and + hookups and on the bottom of the battery tray too! I should replace the shitty ass battery, shouldn't i?

Btw i have a new timing belt and new wires sitting in my car so i just have to get the right tools to put the belt on! thanks for all your replies everyone!

 

[xcz504d]

To avoid knock use the highest octane available, 91 or 93 depending on where you live. For a stock turbo that should be enough, on hot summer days you will still get some knock, but your car will handle that just fine. If you decide to upgrade the turbo on the car, make sure you get an intercooler that can support the kind of power you want to make in the car, the stock side mount intercooler can handle about 300 horses to the wheels before it starts to get maxed out. Alot of people setup wter/alcohol injection which can cool intake temperatures by quite a bit.

Here is what the haynes manual says about lack of power.
incorrect tming
excessive play in distributer shaft
worn rotor, distributer cap or wires
faulty or incorrectly gapped spark plugs
fuel injection system out of adjustment or excessively worn
faulty coil
brakes binding
fuel filter clogged
clutch slipping
automatic transaxle fluid level incorrect
emmisions control system malfuntioning
low or un-even cylinder compression
obstructed exhaust system
vacuum leaks

looking at your post you said that there was a dip in power after 4000 rpms? I know the voltage on my fuel pump drops in high rpms, so a thicker gauge wire to my fuel pump for power, im not saying that is your problem, because im not sure without actually being there, but the fuel injector cleaner helped a bit for a while... Im wondering about your fuel system.