White Smoke / Car Is Smoking White [Merged 7-9]

[Apeximprt2nr]

Alright guys, well I just finished my 14B install in my 95 GSX. All is well besides some minor oil leaks on the return line and the SS feed line at the filter housing. There was also a VERY minor coolant leak from the front banjo bolt on the turbo. I tightened it a tad and I think i went away. Now the turbo is spooling really late because I think there may be a leak before the turbo.
Now on to the problems.

1. The turbo does not smoke at all besides at WOT sometimes it blows out whiteish grey smoke. I'm trying to think of where it could be burning coolant. It never did this before the turbo install.

2. There was some white smoke the past 2 days at the manifold. I'm thinking its the shitload of PB Blaster that I sprayed all over the car but I'm not sure.

3. There's a smell coming from my engine that I can smell if I pop my hood and it becomes more noticeable when I'm driving and really get on it. It smells like burning plastic sort of, with a mix of burning rubber. The lower heat shield is not on the car because it's a pain to get on and I haven't put it back on because I haven't had time. Nothing is touching anything hot so I 'm confused...The only possible thing is maybe I pout on a new 4 ply exhaust mani. gasket as well as antiseize on most of the bolts and the turbo-mani. bolts.

Any help? Thanks.

 

[xioca]

2 & 3 sound like the pb blaster buring off. Also the pre-turbo leak is contributing to it, run some seafoam through your car and see where your exhaust leak is.

 

[Apeximprt2nr]

Hey thanks for the quick reply.
The pre-turbo exhaust leak could be contributing to what, the smoke or smell?
I'll try running Seafoam through it.

 

[Apeximprt2nr]

Hey, I put the lower heat shield on and still the smell is there.
I'm thinking it's possibly burning anti-seize.
No more smoke from the manifold or turbo though.
I think I may give it a few days and keep tabs on my fluids.

 

[3dimentia]

Hello everyone. I just got my first DSM last friday. Its a 1991 Eclipse GSX.

I have looked through the forum about this issue for the last couple days digesting the info I came across. Some talked of bad stem seals, though most seemed to be the turbo. When that's what it was, they noticed in and out shaft play. I have none. I did have oil in the pipes though...

If I let the car idle (its worse when its warm) for about 3-8 mins, and then hit the gas i get a good amount of white smoke out the back. If I let it sit for about 15 seconds then hit the gas, i get a small puff. During hard acceleration I don't notice any puffs out the back, if they are there, they are very small, and light.

Here is what I've checked:
Turbo shaft play - none in and out at all, and very little (1mm MAYBE) side to side. No grinding in it.
Checked the lower IC pipe and intake pipe for oil. Both had a bit. The area where the valve cover nipple goes into the intake pipe seemed to be the worst with a good amount of sludge build up.
There is no milky brown oil. No oil in the water, and no water in the oil.
I took out the spark plugs today to check out the wear on em and how they looked. they looked a nice sandy white color, no deposits or anything. I know thats not definitive on anything, but they looked good.
Car runs like a champ aside from a boost leak that I still have yet to pinpoint on the passenger side.

The problem is, I can't decide where this is coming from. My last car was a v8 pushrod engine, so if I saw puffs of smoke comin out, I knew it was oil ring/valve seal related, but a turbo in here changes everything.

Is it the turbo or the valve stem seals or oil rings? I will do a compression test as soon as possible, and report the findings when I do so, but are there any other tests I can do to find out if its something else?

The car is getting a tune up tomorrow. The 02 sensor is bad could that cause this sort of thing?

(the next day)
I went out this afternoon after the car has been sitting all night so it was cool. I started it up and got the normal small white poof out the back when the engine is cold then it went away. No cloud, no large amount of smoke. Sounds like maybe it is in fact the turbo, or maybe its a leak on the gasket on the TB?? The smoke is definately white when its there, not black and not blueish

I now doubt its the valve seals, I would think when it sat all night and morning it would have dripped a good amount more oil onto the piston (and the smoke isn't blue at all)

Hope someone has an idea/experience with this.

Thanks!

 

[Meh987]

Could be a head gasket issue. Do a compression test first, and let us know. You could also pressurize the cooling system, if you have the equipment to do it, and see if you have coolant leaking into any of the cylinders.

 

[3dimentia]

Yah I gotta find someone with a compression tester I did my tune up last night, 02 sensor plugs wires, pcv valve, and it definately ran better after that, still the smoke though. I'm kinda leaning toward it being the turbo, but yes, compression test is the next step before I jump to conclusions. I re checked the oil to see if there was coolant in it, and checked my coolant catch can, and there is definately no oil in there, its nice and green. The intake pipe has more new oil in it

Thanks for the reply.

 

[BoostFrenzy]

Its a coolant problem. White smoke= coolant. But if you are saying that there is new fresh oil in your intake piping, then are you sure it is white smoke? blue smoke is oil. Its not sky blue its a faint tint of blue. So compression test is in order (should have done one before you bought the car). If compression is good across the board, then its time to check the turbo. And that only leads to bad things

 

[MrBoxx]

White smoke is not always coolant. Usually when a turbo blows, the majority of people notice that the smoke produced is grayish/white in color and smells nothing like burning coolant. Some people say that synthetic oil, Mobil1 in particular, is notorious for burning whitish. If the smoke smells like coolant, then it's coolant. If it doesn't, then it's most likely an oil leak.

As mentioned, a compression and leakdown test are going to be very instrumental in tracking down this leak. If there are a lot of miles on the car, it's quite possible the valve stem seals are going out. Also, how do you have your PCV/Valve cover breather hoses hooked up? Vented, stock, catch-can?

 

[diablos991]

White smoke is not always coolant. Usually when a turbo blows, the majority of people notice that the smoke produced is grayish/white in color and smells nothing like burning coolant. Some people say that synthetic oil, Mobil1 in particular, is notorious for burning whitish. If the smoke smells like coolant, then it's coolant. If it doesn't, then it's most likely an oil leak.

As mentioned, a compression and leakdown test are going to be very instrumental in tracking down this leak. If there are a lot of miles on the car, it's quite possible the valve stem seals are going out. Also, how do you have your PCV/Valve cover breather hoses hooked up? Vented, stock, catch-can?

Agreed. To test this yourself, put some oil on your exhaust manifold and watch it burn off gray. In my experience oil burns blueish if it is burned in the combustion chamber and grayish if it is burned in the exhaust system. The smell is close to the same either way since it is burning oil after all.

Additionally, for clarification purposes, a leakdown test will not tell you if your valve stem seals are worn down. One way to tell if your valve stem seals are bad is to take off the exhaust manifold and check the exhaust runners and the valves for oil residue. Usually the residue is quite noticeable.

 

[3dimentia]

More replies yay!

Ok yes the smoke is a whitish grey color, I haven't seen any blue in it at all. I don't use any coolant at all and there is no oil in coolant, or coolant in oil so I doubt its the HG. As far as valve seals, the car JUST turned over 120K miles last night, the spark plugs werent fouled and were a nice brownish/white/tan color. Just as they should be. Also, when I first start it, I get a very minimal amount. I would think if it were valve seals this would be much worse on start up and my plugs would look kinda fouled up.

About should have tested it before buying, maybe so, but I got it for 400 bucks. Its in really good shape short of this and CV joints/halfshafts.

I have a line that runs out of the valve cover that runs directly into the intake pipe. I think tahts my PCV This is my first 4 cylinder, and my first DSM, so learnin as I go.

As far as smell goes, it certainly does not smell like coolant when I sniff on the white puffs out the back. Has a faint oil smell to it.

My bets are on the turbo, but as said I gotta do a compression test. thanks for all the replies everyone.

 

[MrBoxx]

I have a line that runs out of the valve cover that runs directly into the intake pipe. I think tahts my PCV This is my first 4 cylinder, and my first DSM, so learnin as I go.

Actually that's your valve cover breather line, but you're close. The PCV valve is a little screw in nipple thing on the back of the valve cover.

As far as smell goes, it certainly does not smell like coolant when I sniff on the white puffs out the back. Has a faint oil smell to it.

My bets are on the turbo, but as said I gotta do a compression test. thanks for all the replies everyone.

It sounds like it's the turbo to me. 1mm of shaft play seems like it might be too much side/side play, but I don't have a caliper on hand to compare it to "normal" shaft play. All I can say is, you should barely be able to feel any movement side-side, and if there is excessive shaft play or the beginnings of it, you'll probably be able to feel it.

 

[3dimentia]

hehe ok I'll get the new PCV valve on there sometime this week (work away from home).

Wow I hadn't realized that that small amount of shaft play means they are on their way out. Its only side to side, none in and out at all, and as i said, its about 1mm roughly. They are supposed to be perfectly tight in there huh? Good to know.

Can anyone tell me how much a rebuild kit for a turbo costs? I like the lil 14B and don't have the funds to be doing all the supporting mods for a bigger turbo just yet

Thanks again

 

[dsm91TalonTSi]

with the wheel spinning well over speeds of 140k rpms, even the slightest play isnt good

a rebuilt kit can be picked up on ebay for about 60-80 bucks, and it's really easy to do, ive rebuilt 2 of my friends, the 14b and an evo3 16g...

if infact it is your turbo, might i recommend on buying a evo3 16g, i ran one on my talon and loved it, and there wasnt much done to mine while it was on.

 

[3dimentia]

with the wheel spinning well over speeds of 140k rpms, even the slightest play isnt good

a rebuilt kit can be picked up on ebay for about 60-80 bucks, and it's really easy to do, ive rebuilt 2 of my friends, the 14b and an evo3 16g...

if infact it is your turbo, might i recommend on buying a evo3 16g, i ran one on my talon and loved it, and there wasnt much done to mine while it was on.

Trust me, I would LOOOOVE to get a more efficient turbo. I would have to convince the wife first and sell off the camaro

First things first, gotta get that damned compression tester and check her out!

thanks

 

[TiradoCC]

my 95 gst was blowing white smoke for a while.....til the turbo blew. More than likely its the turbo but just to make sure a compression test will help you out.

 

[3dimentia]

So took it for a spin tonight after finding 3 vaccuum hoses that were unhooked. My idle got better, though it didn't fix the prob I was hoping it would (boost doesn't feel like its holding on/boost leak) so it really much be a boost leak still (or a bad turbo?)

Anyway, I THOUGHT it was worse with the smoke when its warm, but its definately worse when its colder. I have been under the impression that if it was an HG it would be worse when warm? Can anyone shed light on that?

Still no compression tester

thanks!

 

[diablos991]

Some autoparts stores will rent you a compression tester for cheap or let you borrow one for free. You can call around and try that route. However, they are always good tool to have so it isn't a bad idea to buy one.

 

[94cyclone]

im having a very similar issue. Smoke but no exhaust leak.

 

[alcali247]

yes i have searched and i'm not a newbie.........

my car smokes alot during start up and for the first 10 mins of running.......then it does not smoke anymore even under boost.

its heavy white smoke with alot of moisture. And like i said after 10 mins or so it does not do it anymore even if i boost it. I drive to work 20 min. away and it does not overheat.

any ideas? like i said i searched but i cant find anyone who has the same problem......what is different is that when the car is fully warmed up it stops smoking

 

[Vandal]

I'd start off with a compression test and check your head bolts and torque. Are there any other telltale signs off a bad HG?

Don't know how likely it is, I never had personal experience with those symptoms, but I don't think it's too far fetched to suggest that there may be such a teeny fault with the head gasket or even a crack in the head that it's enough for coolant to seep through and pool up as the car is cold and sits. Then, when it is warmed up, the aluminum (head) expands enough to seal the problem off for the time being.

 

[absolute_DSM]

Or its just condensation in the pipe from sitting blowing out.

 

[dSmgs-T]

is your oil and coolant levels alright, mixing...etc?

 

[slcorman91]

Does it smell like oil? If so it sounds like your valve seals in the head are allowing oil to get by the seal and sit on top of the valve. Therefore when you start it it smokes until the oil is burned off. I had a 1g that smoked on startup. I took the head off and had it gone through new valve seals, and guides put in it and fixed the problem. It could also be a leaky head gasket if it smells like coolant. Try checking the head bolts to make sure they are still torqued down properly. One might have backed out on you if you are running a high amount of boost.

 

[alcali247]

Its definately too much smoke to be normal condensation. And the smoke has no smell its not like a oil burning or fuel type of smoke its a white "clean" smelling smoke like water evaporating. And it really does not seem like my coolant level is changing. And if it is chaning its not changing much. And no signs of mixing fluids.