omghiii

Car: 1997 Civic Coupe DX
Engine: jdm sohc ZC 10k miles
T3T4 Hybrid turbo, bought it used :S

I installed the turbo on my car about two weeks ago, and it was only after I drilled the oil pan I realized the injectors / fuel pump a guy sold me were wrong, just some random injectors and not 450cc's. So since I already drilled the pan I just finished the install with stock Injectors, stock spark plugs, stock fuel pump, and it still has the stock ecu..

A few days went by, driving normally, shifting under 3k rpms, when all of a sudden the car started smoking a lot and overheating. I changed out the radiator for a nice thick aluminum one, and changed the thermostat. The overheating problem is gone, but the car still smokes like crazy. It smokes a ton out the exhaust, as well as up front by the turbo where the downpipe doesn't exactly fit the turbo (yet) it has about a quarter inch of an opening up there, and so smoke comes out there as well as the exhaust.

It's really white smoke, and there is some oil inside the exhaust pipe.

I recently lost my job, so I really only have 40$ or so to fix this problem until I sell my new t25 turbo and other random parts for some extra money.
What I really need is some way to tell exactly what is causing the leak. If anyone has any advice so I can start eliminating certain things as suspects, that'd be great.

My ideas are: headgasket, piston rings, and the turbo. Not sure what else it could be? How can I tell?

Any help would be great!
edit: I was told to install a breather filter in the back of my valve cover, so I did but it's not helping anything at all


Modified by omghiii at 4:11 PM 9/5/2008

.Grimace

if you want to eliminate rings/ head gasket, do a compression test. if that comes out fine then take off your turbo and have a look at it. you said you had no job/ only 40$ so it doesn't sound like you'll be driving it anywhere.

omghiii

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .Grimace &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you want to eliminate rings/ head gasket, do a compression test. if that comes out fine then take off your turbo and have a look at it. you said you had no job/ only 40$ so it doesn't sound like you'll be driving it anywhere.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Ok, so if it comes out 9.2:1 then its not those? Thanks!
I may as well just hook up the T25 if its the turbo. What really blows is this is my only car

.Grimace

a compression tester does not read like that. it will give you a number like 180 or 160 somewhere in there. you might get numbers like cylinder #1- 140, #2- 140, #3- 85,#4- 135. this will tell you your problem cylinder is #3. it's not going to tell you the compression like you're thinking of.

omghiii

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .Grimace &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">a compression tester does not read like that. it will give you a number like 180 or 160 somewhere in there. you might get numbers like cylinder #1- 140, #2- 140, #3- 85,#4- 135. this will tell you your problem cylinder is #3. it's not going to tell you the compression like you're thinking of.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ok, i'll head down to Napa and maybe they could help me out with this, thanks

.Grimace

kragen or harbor freight has like 20$ ones. while these aren't the most accurate they should help you pin point what cylinder is fuxored (if any)

omghiii

Ok, so i went to napa, and checker auto but neither had a tester i could use, but after describing symptoms to both stores they were both pretty positive it was the headgasket. So i picked that up for 34$ and will be pulling it all apart probably tomorrow. Sorry for the unorganized text, i'm on my phone.

geebs

My friend had a turbo ls in his del sol.. it smoked horribly.. white smoke.
took the downpipe off and it was covered in oil on the inside..
the turbo seals went bad.. had his turbo rebuilt and put an oil restrictor on the feed line.. now his engine runs perfect. no smoke

i'd replace the turbo with the new one you have.. that'll rule the turbo out before you touch the headgasket.

omghiii

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by geebs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My friend had a turbo ls in his del sol.. it smoked horribly.. white smoke.
took the downpipe off and it was covered in oil on the inside..
the turbo seals went bad.. had his turbo rebuilt and put an oil restrictor on the feed line.. now his engine runs perfect. no smoke

i'd replace the turbo with the new one you have.. that'll rule the turbo out before you touch the headgasket.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I just took the charge piping apart on the compressor side of my turbo, and there is oil in there for sure. So I guess thats the problem? Not a headgasket? For sure? lol

edit: theres also some oil build up right in the center of the compressor side of the turbo.. not sure what that is called (but its where you hook up the intake or mesh, where the turbo sucks in air)

omghiii

As soon as I get the Go Ahead from you guys, i'll start putting on the t25, but I also have a question about that.

The t3/td04 I have on the car has an external wastegate, and my t25 has an internal one. Problematic?

omghiii

Sr420Det

Your gonna have to block off where the external wg goes.

.Grimace

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sr420Det &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your gonna have to block off where the external wg goes.</TD></TR></TABLE>

omghiii

Thank you fellas!