Turbo glowing and STEAMING violently

[jiggysnitz]

I searched and only found threads about glowing turbos/manifold not any steaming. I got home tonight and the turbo and manifold were glowing red hot and there was smoke shooting out of my heat shield. I'm hoping this is an oil line that poped off or somthing? My dipstick says my oil is overfull and it has been leaking onto the valve cover lately. Anyone have any ideas? Is this related?

 

[silvah_gsx]

If your dipstick says there's too much oil, DRAIN THE OIL! Then re-fill it with 4 1/3 quarts, see if that helps. Probably you overfilled it at the last oil change, and yes, overfilling the oil can wreak all sorts of havoc.

 

[boostx]

Where you driving the the car hard before you got home??

 

[anmGST]

How were you driving at the time normal or were you beating on it. An yes DRAIN the oil you can blow out your valve seals and like silvah_gsx said it can cause all kind of problems..

 

[GODCHSR]

What color was the steam/smoke?

 

[jiggysnitz]

I was driving it easy, 10vac the entire time. I checked it out today when there was sunlight and i could actually see and found that my intercooler piping right after the turbo had somehow pushed into my radiator and thats where all the smoke was coming from. So I'll be looking for a new radiator and then this weekend ill drain the oil (I wont be driving it until this is done). I also noticed that there is oil in the number 2 spark plug well (number 2 from starting at the cam gears). Is there a chance this could go away when i drain and refill with oil? or am I just seriously screwed?

 

[Talesin]

Er, overfilling is less a problem than most above are making it out to be. It only really becomes an issue if the level is high enough to let the crankshaft aerate the oil. That can cause all kinds of havoc. But given that the oil in the oilpan is NOT pressurized, aside from the pressure from the drain passages in the head and the PCV pressure add, it's a little difficult to blame blown seals on an extra half or even full quart added. DRAMATICALLY overfilling the oil (up to an extra two or more quarts CAN be safe on SOME engines... don't know the 'line' on ours) will lead to bad lubrication as the 'frothed' oil carries air bubbles through the engine, with a lack of viscosity as well as a worse thermal delta for carrying away heat.

Jiggy, no. Oil won't drain from your sparkplug well. Get some paper towels and wick it out, or if it's bad enough, a wet/dry vac with an extension. The radiator thing is bad news though. Also, the oil leaking onto your valve cover could be a bad oil cap, dying VC seal set, a mis-tightened valve cover, or a cracked valve cover (usually from over-tightening.. OEM spec is 36 INCH-pounds maximum). Clean it up with some paper towels and Simple Green, figure out where the leak's really coming from. If you have a puddle (that re-forms shortly after being cleaned up and driven, with boost) in the little depression where the spark plug wells sit, that usually will happen with a cracked valve cover, and requires replacement. They aren't TOO expensive from Mitsu direct, and with the VC, it actually pays to just buy a new one rather than trying to find a junkyard part that isn't broken. :b

 

[jiggysnitz]

Ok thanks alot. I guess I will have to add the valve cover to my long list of parts that I cannot afford. Unfortunatly I am going to get out of dsm's now as I cannot afford to keep it with gas prices (3.60 for premium) parts breaking every week and a 18 year old highschoolers income

 

[chico904]

Valve covers really aren't that expensive, however $3.60 a gallon is

 

[Talesin]

Up at $3.85/gal here for 91 craptane. And I'm getting stellar mileage.. 35mpg or more, so long as I set cruise on the freeway and try not to go over 65. Drafting off other vehicles can help as well. GS-Ts have it a little easier.. more room before the ECU goes into open-loop operation at a certain RPM point due to gearing, as well as less weight to haul around.

 

[chico904]

Up at $3.85/gal here for 91 craptane. And I'm getting stellar mileage.. 35mpg or more, so long as I set cruise on the freeway and try not to go over 65. Drafting off other vehicles can help as well. GS-Ts have it a little easier.. more room before the ECU goes into open-loop operation at a certain RPM point due to gearing, as well as less weight to haul around.

35 mpg? Wow, that makes me want to go boost leak test right now just to see if there is any other mpg/ performance robbing leaks I haven't noticed.

 

[Talesin]

I couldn't believe it either, honestly. Checked my logbook and found that after replacing the front O2 sensor (the only one on a 1G), there was a sharp increase in mileage... even when I'm boosting a lot, I usually will get averages of 25mpg or upward. The 35+mpg was when I cruise-controlled four 80 mile highway trips at ~65mph. Couldn't believe my eyes when I filled it up and only had used nine gallons. Could have done another 80-mile trip or even two before I'd be out, at that rate. Jumping to 75mph dropped it to ~25mpg again... there's a big gas savings if you keep the ECU in closed-loop operation, I guess.

Had a 1G GS-T I'd sold to a buddy, and he regularly would see 30mpg boosting, from what he told me. He supposedly drove from Burbank to San Jose and back on one tank, cruising and drafting off the big rigs to lower his drag even further.. but then he had a 16-gallon tank, whereas I've only ever filled up 14 gallons when the gauge was way past empty and the 'get gas, retard!' light was going bright. Kinda want to drive it dry with a five-gallon can in the back, just to see how big the tank actually is. The factory manual says 16 gallons, but the guys at RRE told me that the GSX had a smaller fuel tank to accomodate the rear diff and suspension. Consumer Reports agrees with the factory manual. :b Wonder if anyone actually knows for certain.

 

[anmGST]

Hey glad to hear that you found the issue. The oil in the well is probally just from to much oil and going by the valve cover gasket, I would check to see if the gasket is leaking, and change it. To clean the plug well you can spay in some brake clean(leave the plug in the car) then try wipping it out or us a blow gun, It will make a bit of a mess but atleast it will be clean.. Good luck with the radiator not to hard to replace.

 

[jiggysnitz]

Thanks alot guys

 

[nightspeed87]

My valve cover would collect oil from seeping past the oil cap after being in high rpm for long enough due to way too much oil pressure from balance shaft removal.. *( Relief valve is ported and the oil pressure is back to normal now and it hasnt pushed past the cap since. )

Also I have a keydiver chip that gives extended closed loop operation, and a leaner fuel burn ( for better milage/ more power ) and it definitly did... As long as there isnt anything else wrong with the car that can hurt milage that is.