White smoke from tailpipe during shifts

[MarcVIII]

I have a 97 GST spyder and have read that the likely culprit is valve seals. It is a non-existent problem when driving, but as soon as I shift the rear view mirror has a thick white smoke. Friends driving behind the car have told me of a constant strong exhaust scent consisting of oil.

Car has 255lph fp, uicp, air intake, exhaust. Turbo had been rebuilt allegedly by prior owner's mitsu mechanic. It at least looks newer and nice, compared to other turbos of the same age and mileage, but have no supporting documentation- no shaft play whatsoever though, so it seems legit. I reset the computer after charging a low battery for a few days and the smoke seems denser than I recalled.

I was reading a new PCV may fix the problem? I doubt its the culprit, but for $3 hard to pass up. I also heard that "thinner" Mobil 1 can be problematic? That is what i currently in the car.

Before I yank my head to replace them are there any tests I should run? I wanted to nail this out before putting a b/c, as its currently stock boost off the solenoid. I was looking to get a boost gauge and a/f in, not sure to put them in before or after the head pull, can they be used for diagnosis?

 

[tbonitz301]

I would try the pcv valve and perform a leakdown test. You say that the smoke was denser after a few days of sitting.That tells me its your valve seals, but be sure to run some test before you get out the wrenchs. Also i would opt for a wideband a/f gauge if you werent already. Those gauges cant really be used for diagnosis of valve seals, but a good vacuum/boost gauge can be a wealth of info if you know what to look at.

 

[MarcVIII]

I know the car has no codes. Could any other emissions, perhaps EGR valve be problematic? Don't know how good the one on the car is, but I have a good spare.

Also I know there was a link to the leakdown test, but not finding it at the moment. Anyone able to point me in the right direction? How does this vary from a compression test, I am blanking out.

 

[tbonitz301]

Hey man go find the biggest hill you can. Go down the hill in gear with the throttle closed, and when you get to the bottom stomp the gas and watch the smoke fly. If it smokes its your seals

 

[el guapo]

do you have some kind of goofy setup for a oil catch can i somehow plugged mine up once and had the same kind of thing happening till i relieved the obstruction

 

[MarcVIII]

do you have some kind of goofy setup for a oil catch can i somehow plugged mine up once and had the same kind of thing happening till i relieved the obstruction

The valve cover hose that recirculates to the turbo intake? No I removed that and put on a breather filter and the "poor man's oil catch can"- basically a fuel filter. It worked fine on my prior Talon and I've seen pics of other similar setups on here in pics. The fuel filter is see-thru and doesn't appear to be very full, I could remove it and blow it out with compressed air or get another. Come to think of it, I don't recall having this problem or unless to its current degree until I put the mods on it I pulled off my prior.

I was thinking. If it turns out to be valve guide seals, do I have to pull the head or can I do it through the valve cover? It may be easier to cannibalize off my aforementioned dead Talon that didn't have this problem, or look into a 1g head, mani, and TB.

 

[tbonitz301]

You can replace them with the head on the car. You need to pressurize each cylinder at tdc on the compression stroke. Then you can remove the locks, retainers,etc

 

[tbonitz301]

Also you might want to check your shaft play and turbo seals. I think you have bad valve seals