NorthWestPerformance

Hi guys,

I've got a 99 Civic EX 1.6 D16Y8. I'm running a Turbonetics T3, Front mount, cometic head gasket w/ARP head studs
I just installed a new turbo manifold and wastegate, re-tuned with Crome-Pro and had it dyno'd on Friday the 16th. I was holding a steady 13-14psi since I have installed the new manifold and wastegate.
By the second run on the dyno I noticed a little steam coming from the Valve Cover breather and boost was lacking down to about 11psi. I still pulled 225HP at the wheels, and after the dyno was done it just didn't seem as responsive.
After an hour drive home, I ended up racing a Cobalt SS so I hammered on it pretty good through 3rd and 4th, and it pulled nicely all the way through the R's, although still at only 10-11psi.
After the race, which I won, the Cobalt pulled off and I hit the next stop light to be followed by a blinding screen of white smoke to blow past me. The car was running fine, idling fine, not overheating at all, but there was steam/smoke billowing out of the VC breather, and now out of the exhaust when I would rev it a little.

From here my first thought was turbo seals let loose injecting oil into the intake/intercooler, but I removed the charge pipe at the TB and looked in the turbo, pretty dry. A little residue but nothing like I was expecting. I also noticed oil was blowing out of the oil fill cap and leaking down the back side of the engine...

Any thoughts on what this could be? Anyone have similar problems? I drove the car to work today, didn't get into boost at all and still got some steam/smoke coming out the breather even at idle. No oil pressure light, no weird noises, nothing but smoke and loss of boost...

Thanks in advance!

chimmike

do a leakdown, could be headgasket.

This is the thing you need to tell us:
does the "smoke" linger, or does it dissipate/disappear?

If it lingers, it's oil smoke. If it dissipates, it's burning coolant.

When you changed the turbo mani, did you notice any oil on the turbine or compressor wheels?

NorthWestPerformance

Just did a compression check...

Starting from the transmission side...

85-90psi/120-135psi/125-145psi/70-100psi


I pressurized the drivers side cylinder holding it at TDC with both intake and exhaust valves closed. I pulled the valve cover and dipstick and have some air flow coming out of the crankcase telling me the rings are basically fried. This would be a first for me, I'm used to blown head gaskets, never smoked the rings... I did buy this engine used with 70k, so who knows how bad it was before...

Any other thoughts?

NorthWestPerformance

The smoke coming out the tailpipe seems to stick around, but the smoke coming out the breather seems to disipate. While sitting at a stop light for a minute, the smoke will just start coming out around the hood a little, but seems to disipate. I didn't notice any smoke from the tailpipe at all this morning. I can smell it clear as day, definately smells like oil burning. Oil level remains full, no indication of coolant in the oil and it's not overheating at all... Which is the first thing I see when it blows a head gasket, the temp gauge skyrockets. I've done about 7-8 head gaskets on two motors so far. This doesn't seem like a head gasket to me, although there is a first for everything...

When I changed the manifold I noticed very minimal residue on the turbine housing, but nothing too bad. I also removed FMIC piping and didn't find much if any oil/residue in them at all...

Thanks again for your help///

NorthWestPerformance

I just checked for exhaust gases in the radiator with a block tester that changes colors when exhaust gases are present. It didn't change colors, telling me there is no exhaust gases coming out the cooling system. I did hold the block tester over the smoking breather vent and right away it changed colors.
I removed the oil fill cap with the engine running and as soon as I removed it, it sounded like I just disconnected the exhaust...lol
I also removed the dipstick and have a lot of smoke and pressure coming out the dipstick tube and fill hole.

I'm betting on burned rings on cylinder #1 & #4, unless someone else has a suggestion... This is a first for me, and actually surprising considering was running 10.8-10.9 at 7500. I've seen these go all day long on 11.5/1...