Rebuilt Motor Smoke

[StrokerMax]

I just finished putting in my new motor. Seems to run and idle just fine but I'm getting some whitish/blue smoke. Its not like pouring out but when its hot it starts to smoke. and smokes more on acceleration. I only ran the car about 15 minutes. I let it warm up and then took it down the street to get in a couple of light pulls in on the motor. Haven't gone over 4500 RPMs.

My oil pressure is great. Wideband says AFR are 10.5 - 11 at idle. I pulled the spark plugs and everything looks good.

When my motor blew before it was blowing oil out of the exhaust side bad. Is it possible that I'm just burning off some of the old oil in the exhaust?

Should I be worried? Anything I should check before running it more?

Thanks

 

[StrokerMax]

I think I have a boost leak somewhere too... Trying to track it down. On acceleration I could tell the turbo ran like an intake hose isn't 100% tight

 

[rebelboost]

I would do a compression test just to make sure. Also, what kinda injectors you running?

 

[TurboLaserRS]

Is the turbo on it new or is it the turbo that was on there when the old motor failed? What exactly failed? The turbo could be on its way out, the turbine seals could be leaking. Also correct me if I'm wrong but 10-11:1 afr seems really rich for idle. If it smokes while idling for an extended period of time that can also be valve stem seals. Your idle afr should be between 13 and 14 once warmed up.

 

[StrokerMax]

I have the same turbo that was on it before. My compressor has really no play and it's a gt35r that seems not too old. I bought the car with a blown motor. But the headgasket was leaking. Valves were bad, rings were shot, and the pistons had signs of detonation. There were bearings in the oil pan we think from a prior blown turbo. I'll try doing a compression test and report back. If it's good then might get a rebuild kit for the turbo.

 

[thearkatek]

Couldn't it just be the piston rings not seated fully yet?

 

[StrokerMax]

That's what I was hoping to hear Thearkatek. But not sure. I took it down the street again. It seemed to smoke less but once I hit full operating temp it smoked again. It's smoking light at idle but more when I start hitting boost. I'll check the compression soon when I get home

 

[Puff0725]

I'm gonna go with rings not being seated as the main reason. I've rebuilt a few motors and it's been pretty common.

 

[thearkatek]

Do some research on how to break in a new engine. There is absolutely no consensus among theories, but see what makes sense to YOU. Most will say that it takes quite a bit of mileage before the rings are totally seated.

You could also pop off the O2 housing and see if the turbine wheel is wet looking. Could still be a bad seal in the turbo.

 

[StrokerMax]

Thanks for your help guys. I've never broke in a new motor and didn't know what to expect. I got kind of worried when I saw smoke. I read all about the motoman break in method. Basically I've been trying to get in a few pulls in 1st, 2nd, 3rd gear but not redlining the car too hard yet. I just don't want it to idle too much other than warming up. I've only put about 6 miles on the car so far. I run it down the street, get in some pulls and come back to the garage to check for issues. Good news is that the last time I went around the block, it was smoking a lot less. Still there a bit in 3rd gear but not as bad.

The machine shop told me to change the oil filter at 20 minutes of running and then wait until 450 miles to change the oil.

I've found some coolant leaks I'm going to fix tomorrow and will continue the break in.

 

[TurboLaserRS]

6 Miles? I would have to agree that your rings are nowhere near seated yet. Take care of the coolant leaks and take it for a cruise.

 

[ThunderChild]

follow the motoman break in method to the T. you havent seated your rings yet, youll have to get several pulls on it before they get set. had the same problem on a mazda i just did, took about 25 miles of pretty hard pulls to get it to stop smoking the tiny bit it was.

as long as your fuel is good you wont wash down the cylinders so keep an eye on that.

 

[StrokerMax]

I hope I'm not running it too rich. My widebands been showing about 11 at idle and 12.8 on moderate acceleration. I've got 2150cc FIC injectors. I just went into Link and ran the calculator for my injectors size. Came out with a -79.3 Global Fuel and 450 deadtime. It seems to idle well.

I've got about 11 miles on it now but had a scare today. I purchased the car out of state with a blown motor. Well I think the prior owner had somehow melted a spot on the oil cooler line and I didn't notice. It probably touched the the tubular manifold. Today I ran a couple miles and didn't see any leaks so I got back in and started to get into the pedal with another nice pull. Then BAM... My car started blowing smoke like crazy. I shut down the motor right away and rolled to a stop. A good pencil size hole blew in the oil line. I lost about a quart to 1 1/2 of oil and it all shot straight on my hot manifold. Don"t think it caused any motor damage but it could have been bad.

This car is killing me. I just want to get out and put some miles on her. I keep having problems pop up. I should have replaced every line, hose, and vacuum line off the bat.

 

[StrokerMax]

At least I hope the couple seconds that it ran with the oil leak didn't do damage. Guess I'll know tomorrow when I get my line rebuilt and go out for another run.

 

[boost97gst]

Naw, you shut her down fast enough it sounds like. It still had pressure where it counts as well.
Would not worry about that. What i would do, if you havent already, is GET AN EXTINGUISHER! . Seriously, any dsm thats highly modded or you've done fuel line work on, def carry a minny kiddie in the back seat or behind the passenger seat on the floor. Somewhere you can get to it quick. I cant believe you blew oil on a hot manifold and it didnt flame up. Dude, you really really lucked out. Ive seen oil blow through a dipstick and catch fire on a shitty old ford my girlfriend had. Covered the exhaust and that was it, flames fast.

Glad your motor is ok, and the rest of the car. Keep us posted with those comp results after you've flogged her a bit

 

[StrokerMax]

Boost97gst... You know your stuff. It was starting to flame up but I had a water bottle and poured it all over the manifold right away. I think getting an extinguisher is a VERY wise idea. I thought I blew my new motor for a second. Then to start seeing flames.

I'll keep you guys posted on how the compression turns out.

 

[ThunderChild]

scary stuff man. definitely seems like you shut it down plenty fast. water bottle on the mani, not necessarily great but you worked with what you had.

hopefully your compression is good. id be watching my fuel like a hawk with those injectors for sure. u seem like you have a handle on it tho.