1G oil in intercooler pipes

[awdtsi_90]

I went and started the car yesterday and it started blowing out white smoke. It was a lot of white smoke which was creating a fog screen behind me. You could smell oil burning the entire way home. Once I got home I popped the hood and had oil in the center of the valve cover and it looked like its coming from the oil cap. Once it cooled off I checked the oil which was almost empty but black and makes since on why the smoke stopped by time I got home. I checked the coolant and it's still green with no milk. There was oil dripping out of the intercooler piping fitting tho. I took off the intake pipe and checked for play on the turbo and it didn't seem like any.

The car fires up instantly with no hesitation. Is this a bad pcv valve, a clogged return line on the turbo or is it the seals are blowing by in the turbo. The oil leaking past the oil cap and the dipstick tube almost pushed out makes me think a clogged line or pcv valve. The car dose have a catch can so maybe that needs to be drained? I am learning all this as I go so any advice & help will be greatly appreciated

 

[evil_eagletalon]

Pcv is very unlikely its a simple ball and spring.

Kinked return line if aftermarket turbo.

Bad turbo

 

[awdtsi_90]

could that broke line off the wastegate cause this?

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[jdxnc]

Oil in the intercooler can only come from one of two places, the turbo or the valve cover vent line if still going to the turbo intake pipe. You have a knock off turbo which are prone to failure. If there is no noticeable shaft play, check the turbo drain, lots of people use RTV on the drain flanges which is an absolute no, it does nothing but cause blockages which cause the turbo to blow oil out. The other reason could be excessive crankcase pressure which also causes the turbo to not drain correctly.

That broken line is not the cause but it's not helping. Your boost control is not working and you have a huge boost leak. You're just running wastegate spring pressure currently.

 

[pauleyman]

Oil in the intercooler can only come from one of two places, the turbo or the valve cover vent line if still going to the turbo intake pipe. You have a knock off turbo which are prone to failure. If there is no noticeable shaft play, check the turbo drain, lots of people use RTV on the drain flanges which is an absolute no, it does nothing but cause blockages which cause the turbo to blow oil out. The other reason could be excessive crankcase pressure which also causes the turbo to not drain correctly.

That broken line is not the cause but it's not helping. Your boost control is not working and you have a huge boost leak. You're just running wastegate spring pressure currently.

spring pressure nothing....he's running infinite boost. No control at all.
OP fix that immediately.

 

[Dericsh]

Time to shop for a quality turbo.

 

[jdxnc]

spring pressure nothing....he's running infinite boost. No control at all.
OP fix that immediately.

those ebay actuators tend to blow open around 17-20 psi. But yes, needs to be fixed now.

 

[awdtsi_90]

I did put the hose back on, put oil in it and took it out for a drive wich it didn't really seem to smoke to much but it is also 10° outside. I need to check the oil and coolant again after putting more oil in it and driving it untill it was up to fully operating temp.

If I have to get a turbo it will be a cheap ebay one 16g for $160. I have a good turbo on the talon but that car won't get parts robbed off it .

 

[jesse12345]

Do you have a proper restrictor for the oil feed to the turbo? If you ride that thing hard especially in the cold I've seen those ebay turbos blow pretty easy.

 

[awdtsi_90]

I don't know how what you mean by restrictor. No I haven't been pushing this car hard at all but it has had turbo flutter sometimes ever since I bought it. The manual boost controller dosnt click anymore so it may not work also. The line on the Internal wastegate was broken off so i fixed that today and I noticed a bolt is missing on the o2 housing. I can't do anything really with the car because for thr next few days the high temp is only 3° Would it cause any damage to the motor from me driving it like this keeping oil in it and out of boost obviously untill I csn get it resolved or a new turbo? or would that cause engine failure?

 

[We're on Boost]

No control at all.

Yeah, that broken off hose could be the cause of the whole incident. Because boost pressure coming through that hose is what is supposed to open the wastegate once boost goes high enough to overcome the spring, which is pushing in the opposite direction.
So when the hose broke, you "overboosted" or at least the boost went higher than it probably ever has.
That popped the dipstick out and probably blew oil out past the oil cap gasket, so then there was oil all over the place on hot stuff like the valve cover, making smoke.
Hopefully that's all it is!
But oil dripping out of the intercooler piping fitting would be turbo related like suggested above. Hopefully just an oil drain problem.
Your smoke that was coming out the back of the car, might have been hard to tell if it was mostly coming out the exhaust pipe or if was mostly out from under the car (coming from the engine bay)?

Would it cause any damage to the motor from me driving it like this keeping oil in it and out of boost obviously untill I csn get it resolved or a new turbo? or would that cause engine failure?

If the turbo shaft doesn't wiggle around and if it doesn't make any janky noises when you spin it by hand, you could drive it and see if there is still oil coming out into the intercooler piping, or smoke out the exhaust.
When you check for turbo shaft wiggle, check for wiggle in and out (axial), as well as wiggle side to side (radial).

When things are ok and you are using boost again, you have to be able to keep the dipstick in it. And you might need a new oil cap with a good gasket in it.

I don't remember now if you have a boost gauge on it. Would be good if you did so you could know how high the boost is going, and to know if your manual boost controller is working, etc.

Sometimes people rig up a way to keep the dipstick held down, with a spring or something. I built a fancy bracket to hold mine down. A brand new OEM dipstick would help if we could still buy them but I don't know of a source. Mitsubishi doesn't sell them anymore for the 1990. That rubber part at the top doesn't hold onto the tube so well anymore when it's 30 years old. I might see if Amayama has them.

 

[awdtsi_90]

ok awsome, yes stm has the dipstick still available and I am going to drive it to work on Monday and hopefully it's good to go. Could oil in the pipes be from the line being broke off which allowed oil to blow past the seals? If that is what happend then yh3 seals would be shot correct?

 

[We're on Boost]

Well, I'm really not the best person to tell you how to tell if the seals are shot. So hopefully somebody can give you a better answer. But I know that even if the seals are ok, oil can get past them if the drain of oil from the turbo back to the pan is slowed down by either a clog or by excessive crankcase pressure, and maybe some other things. With a non-stock turbo using a stock oil drain it could be that the stock oil drain is not adequate for the turbo under all conditions. It could even be that the guy who installed the turbo and drain might have put RTV on the drain fitting flange and it squeezed out, partially blocking the oil outlet. Journal bearing turbos use a lot of oil so they can fill up pretty fast if the drain is having a problem.

You definitely had an episode of high crankcase pressure because that's how the dipstick gets pushed up and it's how oil blows past the fill cap.
That would have been a temporary thing, the high crankcase pressure due to a temporary overboost which happened because of the hose that was off. So I think we don't know yet whether it's a temporary thing that just happened during the overboost, or if it's going to be a continual issue even when your boost is controlled to say 11 or 12 psi.
That's why I think it's ok to drive it for a little while, keeping an eye on oil consumption, smoke from the exhaust (after this slug of oil burns off), and looking for more oil going into the intercooler. I know you already checked some for shaft wiggle but be sure to check it for axial wiggle too, in addition to radial wiggle.
My stock intercooler was always a little oily inside with the stock 14b turbo that had ~130,000 miles on it. I mean there weren't puddles of oil in it but the inside surfaces were noticeably oily all the time.
But I had an overboost to 25psi at one time with that 14b and it didn't result in anything like what you experienced. I just noticed in my log later that there was a heck of a lot of knock right there where the boost was too high. BTW my overboost was caused by a blown-off boost control hose like yours.

I usually hate to recommend videos for something like this because even a pretty good video usually has 1 or 2 things in it that are a little off or even just plain wrong. But there are some recent videos explaining turbo seals pretty well that would give you a good idea of what's going on in there and the importance of the drain. Here's a couple that are pretty good for journal bearing turbos:
Why is my turbo leaking oil?
Bad turbo seals, what does it look like?

Up in post #1 you said you had to add a lot of oil to it after this happened. How much oil did you add to get it to the full mark?

 

[awdtsi_90]

A full quart maybe a little more. It was down to the bottom of the dipstick before i topped it off. The car was driven to work this morning. I didn't see any smoke and I didn't hear any weird noises. I am checking the oil before I leave and am hoping the issue is resolved. I did not boost really any at all( tried not to build boost ) but I did hear it blow off a little. I think it drives better already but it could be a mental thing haha. The cautionary side I am definitely taking as this is my daily & its cold outside

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[steve]

PCV is very unlikely its a simple ball and spring.

He should check it anyway, may not be the cause in this case of the oil in the intercooler but they can cause the engine to smoke and eat oil. Bad PCV valves are common now on DSMs since no other car that uses that valve needs them to block boost and most don't new.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

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You were 2.1* warmer than me.
I HATE this cold shit.

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[awdtsi_90]

So I went and checked the oil. The oil is still black but at the very top of the dipstick their was a light foam at the very top of the dipstick. I wipped it off and put it back in. when pulled back out the foam did not come back and the oil was still just black. I checked the coolant and still no milk just green coolant.

Moisture in oil? Maybe I overfilled it this morning and caused the oil to foam a little? The pcv valve goes to a catch can so if its moisture that could be a sign the pcv is going bad or could just be from burning off the initial oil. I am assuming the line breaking off and burning oil with smoking is running its course and is resolved. I have had 2 trips with no smoke now, no check engine light, car runs good. I will keep everyone posted

 

[We're on Boost]

there was a light foam at the very top of the dipstick.

I don't know what to make of that. I've never seen that. Probably some folks in here would have an idea what it is. I suppose to be safe(er) you could change the oil pretty soon, then see how long it takes for the oil to turn black, and if it leaves any foam on the stick. On my cars it takes a long time for the oil to look black on the dip stick. Several thousand miles. It will look black in the drain pan when I drain it out after a few thousand miles, but on the dip stick I can hardly tell it's dirty.

I have had 2 trips with no smoke now, no check engine light, car runs good. I will keep everyone posted

Sounds favorable so far. Keep track of oil level and condition on the dipstick closely for a while.
One quart in a short period is a lot. It must have been something that happened over some period of several days or a few weeks I would think, not just that one smoky drive. Maybe that boost hose was off for a while. Maybe the turbo is a little leaky, as in seal rings worn but not totally shot.
The sources I've looked at so far say that axial play (in-out) of the turbo shaft should be basically 0 (none). But Radial play (side to side) there will be a very small amount, a thou or 2, just whatever the clearance is in the turbo journal bearings.

Anyway, keep track of oil consumption. And at some point along the way, take the spark plugs out for a look to see if they are super oily or cruddy with like crust from burned oil. Not so much worried about the plugs. Thinking more of the piston rings and valves, which won't like to take that long term. Take a look at the oil return line that goes from the turbo to the engine oil pan, to make sure it isn't kinked or pinched somewhere.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I bet the over boost deal shot the dipstick up after the oil fill cap seal gave up. All do to crankcase pressure.
Possible that the "blow by" could have blown the return oil for the turbo BACK up and not allowing it to drain. Did it hurt the turbo, meh, no more than a hard boost pull. Run it and keep a close eye on oil level and COLOR.
I "think" your ok, but keep a close eye out!
When it gets a bit warmer, boost and see if you blow a stream of smoke. Well, ease into boost and watch. Crossing fingers for you!
PS - if the dipstick blows up and the oil blows down, you WILL HAVE A FIRE on the manifold. Get an extinguisher in the car and add a throttle return spring to the dipstick tube, held on with a small hose clamp down low and the other end put onto the dipstick head.
I had that happen and almost had to PEE on the dam motor to keep it from catching fire. Lucky for me, there was snow on the ground.
Just FYI.

 

[awdtsi_90]

I had a oil leak before this so that will contribute to the oil consumption but i check the oil everyday just out of habbit. I think the oil leak is coming from the oil pan but i havnt been able to put it on stands and take a look yet to verify. When it gets warmer I will and do a oil change and get some stuff cleaned up & dump the intercooler. I bet i have about half a quart to full quart in the intercooler.

When the car was smoking it was like a full blown smoke screen behind me. You couldn't see through it & a cop would of pulled me over. It was pretty bad.

I am going to get a new dipstick and oil cap because on the dipstick i can see the seal ripped and its hard to get in or out. Could be where the moisture is coming from.

Also on my way home once I got close to the house i did a small pull and the car seems fine and too be running so much better and alot more responsive then it has ever been

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Just for S's&G's sake, one night I toasted a LS Trans AM and then broke the turbo shaft from running way to lean and the hot side was like a dam blow torch on the turbo shaft. Snapped that puppy as soon as I let off. I was on Speed Density and limped home thru every back street I could find to get out of town. On the LAST STREET, there were 2 sheriff's at the local store but they were inside and you could follow my smoke stream for MILES. They didn't see what KIND or COLOR of car. I lost about 2 qt's getting home and now keep a block off fitting for the turbo feed in those cars....I mean, just in case. I'm hard on the 2 Holset cars. The cars behind me all had to pull over for lack of vision....I tried to get lost.....
Ok, now say "What a dumbass" and continue on!

 

[steve]

You were 2.1* warmer than me.
I HATE this cold shit.

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, It was -18F yesterday morning and -16 this morning. Warmed up to -4F tonight...
(That's -28C for our non-US friends)

 

[We're on Boost]

stm has the dipstick still available

This is cool, I didn't know you could use the 2g dipstick on a 1g.
MD312865
And it uses standard o-rings at the top so you'd be able to replace those forever if you live that long.
I guess why not, according to the song I've been listening to today, about being 20 forever. Want plenty of that, yeah.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

This is cool, I didn't know you could use the 2g dipstick on a 1g.
MD312865
And it uses standard o-rings at the top so you'd be able to replace those forever if you live that long.
I guess why not, according to the song I've been listening to today, about being 20 forever. Want plenty of that, yeah.

The "purist" would notice the difference in the head of the dipstick, but they both work the same. All of our 30 year old cars have the same issues. Glad they are still available, I need to order one also. I broke the head off of an old dipstick as I was cleaning it up to repaint it over the weekend.

, It was -18F yesterday morning and -16 this morning. Warmed up to -4F tonight...
(That's -28C for our non-US friends)

I guess I shouldn't complain! But I might MOVE..... BRRRRRR...........

 

[awdtsi_90]

Where would u move to? down south where it stays warmer?