This question is pretty basic and simple.

Long story short, my car is throwing blue smoke out of the exhaust when I let go of the gas pedal. i was running a -4 feed line and then put a restrictor on it. It would still smoke. If I let the car idle and do nothing, it won't smoke. Then I thought it might have been the return line. I found a kink it in and changed out the return line. No more kink, but still throwing blue smoke. I can definitely smell oil burning.

I tried leaving it in Neutral and revving the motor up to 3k RPMs and held it there. Blue smoke would still pour out. There's no oil in the charge pipes, intercooler, or the exhaust side of the DP but only maybe because it has been burned off before it even reaches the downpipe.

If I disconnect the return line from the return flange on the pan, oil pours out but the flage is on top of the pan and I only put 3.5 quarts of oil in there.

I ran a wet compression test and got 200 accross the board.

At normal operating temperatures, with the motor still on, I removed the oil cap and saw no smoke. Also, no smoke out of the breather.

No signs of hesitation and car still runs fine. The only problem is that it smokes.

I don't want to jump conclusions, but here are some possibilties that I can think of..

- shot turbo seals

- cracked ringlands (but car still runs perfectly fine)

- turbo return flange on pan is in a bad position

- bad piston/piston rings

What could be wrong?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If I disconnect the return line from the return flange on the pan, oil pours out but the flage is on top of the pan and I only put 3.5 quarts of oil in there.
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We have a winner.

If the oil drain is above the level of the oil the pressure will rise and you will blow oil past the seals. It is also possible that the seals blew already. It only takes a few miles of driving with a pressurized CHRA to blow the seals.

 

When the car is running the oil level is significantly lower, though.

 

hmm.. Perhaps my seals were shot by the time I got to fix the oil feed line and the kinked return line..

 

I'd be willing to guess that it is your rings.

 

Would u happen to know the symptoms of the rings?

 

Aren't you using a used turbo anyways?

I still think it's the turbo itself. But that's just me.

 

dont want to jack your thread but i thought you were supposed to mount the oil return line as high in the oil pan as possible.

 

My next reply was going to be to do a compression test and a leak down test. Those tests will determine if its the rings. (I just went through the same situation)

theo99gsr : That is correct.


Modified by Dunc at 4:29 PM 7/26/2005

 

so whats up with this? If the oil drain is above the level of the oil the pressure will rise and you will blow oil past the seals.

wont mounting it as high as possible be above the level of the oil???

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dunc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My next reply was going to be to do a compression test and a leak down test. Those tests will determine if its the rings. (I just went through the same situation)

theo99gsr : That is correct.


Modified by Dunc at 4:21 PM 7/26/2005</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did a wet test and it was 200 accross the board.. I don't know if doing it wet would effect the readings of the pistons/rings..

 

ok compression is fine....now do a leakdown. My compression was fine too, but leak down showed bad rings.

 

What do you mean by wet? You poured oil in?

 

I ddin't disconnect the ECU so it was feeding fuel.. (yes, stupid move)

 

That will mess up the numbers, yes.

You want the engine *HOT*, remove ecu fuse, hold throttle to the floor, and crank it.

By wet, I thought you meant you poured oil in each cylinder (about 1 cap full), to see if that helped the rings seal.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dustin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That will mess up the numbers, yes.

You want the engine *HOT*, remove ecu fuse, hold throttle to the floor, and crank it.

By wet, I thought you meant you poured oil in each cylinder (about 1 cap full), to see if that helped the rings seal.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I THOUGHT about pouring oil, but I just wanted to try it first. I guess tonight I'll go home and try it again... I'm HOPING it's the turbo that's wrong. The min I started it up, it had smoked already when I first drove it, but then again with my luck, it could be something worse..

 

Could the piston rings crack instantly after you start the car?

 

well since you said it smokes when you let go of the gas pedal and when you rev it at 3000rpm.. those sound like high vacuum situations to me.. check intake valve seals.. could be something else but you never know..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dunc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok compression is fine....now do a leakdown. My compression was fine too, but leak down showed bad rings.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That is exactly what you need to do. My car was doing the same, I thought it was the turbo seals, which it was but after putting on a new turbo, the smoke persisted. I thought the oil in the dp and exhaust just needed to be burnt off, but the smoke didnt stop. The car ran fine with good comp and all, but the leakdown proved my rings were the problem. Do the leakdown and know for sure, it just makes sense.

 

bump... just subscribing...

 

Took off the turbo today for inspection again. I found oil on the exhaust side.. tons of it.. I'm going to switch out the turbo and if that doesn't work, then I'm sure it's the rings.. a leakdown will be in the works.