White smoke at idle

[DaveDSM]

recently purchased this 1990 talon tsi awd. it has an eprom ecu in it, full 2.5" buschur exhaust with high flow cat, ported stock turbo, head, flapper, 02 housing, 2g manifold, and a dejon tool upgraded sidemount with piping, with a 190lph fp. stock injectors.

car idles fine, other than belt squealing. idles around 1100, i gotta adjust the BISS...but the white smoke pours out the exhaust and smells badly of gas. the car drives fine, no problems to report there, and a compression test was done on the car before i bought it..everythign was within spec with the 3rd cylinder being 20psi lower than the rest. the motor has 90-100k on it, as it was rebuilt. where should i start looking? I'm afraid it may not pass emissions in its current state.

Thanks

 

[DaveDSM]

cars set at 15 psi right now, drives very strong, no other problems during acceleration, decel, or anything to report. holds boost too.

 

[teg21]

It could be your head gasket possibly, with the 3rd cylinder being so low. White smoke usually means you are burning coolant. It could also possibly be the ring on the 3rd cyliner. I would do a leak down test and see if you can find out anymore.

 

[DaveDSM]

sorry i didnt include all the info.

car stays at normal operating temps during driving, no overheating. coolant level is fine, oil is clean, no tracs of coolant in the oil. tmperatures were in the high 50's to mid 60's outside. the car idles smooth, just a little high, and the white smoke seems to go away when i give the car any gas. under boost there is no problems, or smoke. plugs are brand new, gapped at .28, water pump and seal is new, new tb, oil return line is new but leaks a tiny bit. no CEL

if the HG was blown, wouldn't the car be overheating and coolant be in the oil?

the car will be idling for over 10 minutes and still will smoke, fyi.

from all the searches i've been reading, it's either a dying turbo, an HG, or valve seals? i'm goign to run another CR test, and pull th eplug to verify its not the HG, but also I'd like to somehow check the turbo.

 

[twenty5psi]

to check the turbo take off the intake pipe and check the wheel for oil traces..also while you are at it check it for play..could also be seals..but i doubt its a HG without any of the symptons..that white smoke is more than likely oil..was the head rebuilt when the engine was?..sounds like it might be a valve seal..

 

[DaveDSM]

Originally posted by twenty5psi
to check the turbo take off the intake pipe and check the wheel for oil traces..also while you are at it check it for play..could also be seals..but i doubt its a HG without any of the symptons..that white smoke is more than likely oil..was the head rebuilt when the engine was?..sounds like it might be a valve seal..

yeah, the head was rebuilt, and given a 3 angle valve job, p/p work, etc.

 

[twenty5psi]

id check the turbo next..just keep narrowing it down..

 

[teg21]

yeah probably not the head gasket if there is no coolant disappearing and so forth.

I agree check the turbo for signs of oil and play.

 

[teg21]

also is it still the stock turbo? how many miles are on it?

 

[DaveDSM]

stock 14b..supposedly the turbo was rebuilt or replaced when the motor was rebuilt, which would give the turbo 90k-100k on it. if not..then it has 160k on it and would definitely need replacing, i'd think..

 

[intlowner]

Originally posted by teg21
yeah probably not the head gasket if there is no coolant disappearing and so forth.

I agree check the turbo for signs of oil and play.

Run the car for ~10min at idle. Shut it off and wait for ~5min. Take a lot of shop towels, wrap it around your radiator cap and S L O W L Y open it. Take a good look at the coolant and make sure it's looking green (or red if you use red coolant). Look under the cap and make sure you don't see any silver residue. Finally, without the radiator cap on, go start your car. If everything starts fine, then shut it off and put the cap back on. However, if coolant explodes out, then you've got a head problem.

Good luck, just my .02

 

[DaveDSM]

Originally posted by intlowner


Run the car for ~10min at idle. Shut it off and wait for ~5min. Take a lot of shop towels, wrap it around your radiator cap and S L O W L Y open it. Take a good look at the coolant and make sure it's looking green (or red if you use red coolant). Look under the cap and make sure you don't see any silver residue. Finally, without the radiator cap on, go start your car. If everything starts fine, then shut it off and put the cap back on. However, if coolant explodes out, then you've got a head problem.

Good luck, just my .02

ok

thanks everyone for your help..when i come home from college, i'll try this and let you knwo what i find.

 

[DaveDSM]

Ok, checked a couple things and here's all i found:

http://www.wsbf.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=47709#47709


what do you guys think?

 

[intlowner]

Originally posted by DaveDSM
Ok, checked a couple things and here's all i found:

http://www.wsbf.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=47709#47709


what do you guys think?

You're running rich... interesting. Try your O2 sensor, that could cause it to run ultra-rich if it's going bad (or is bad). In fact, I bet you that's what it is.

 

[intlowner]

Originally posted by DaveDSM
Ok, checked a couple things and here's all i found:

http://www.wsbf.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=47709#47709


what do you guys think?

You're running rich... interesting. Try your O2 sensor, that could cause it to run ultra-rich if it's going bad (or is bad). In fact, I bet you that's what it is.

EDIT: Definitely your o2 sensor btw. It's a cheap fix too.

 

[90AWDTalon]

Originally posted by intlowner


You're running rich... interesting. Try your O2 sensor, that could cause it to run ultra-rich if it's going bad (or is bad). In fact, I bet you that's what it is.

EDIT: Definitely your o2 sensor btw. It's a cheap fix too.

Mine does the exact same thing. I remember reading somewhere about an o2 sensor recall, anyone know if we can get this fixed for free from the recall?