I have a fully built sleeved B18. Arias 83mm, eagle rods, S300, E85, etc... I fired the motor for the first time last night and it blows a lot of white smoke. It was tuned on E85 before this build with the same turbo set up. The only difference is the bore went from 81.5 to 83 and the compression went from 9:1 to 9.4:1.

Break in method: I pulled the plugs and injectors, cranked the motor for 5 seconds to prime the oil system. Put everything back together and started the motor. It fired right up but was smoking a little at idle. I let the car run for 20 mins at idle, then changed the oil. Started it again and started to rev the car to 2K, 3K then 4K. As revs went up so did the smoke.

It's strange because it's white and does not smell like coolant, just fuel with a little oil. Can oil burn white??? I was thinking maybe it's just burning off assembly lube and crap because the car sat for a year. So I took the car out for a drive and it drives great, better than I remember. Traction issues in second gear at half throttle at 4,000 rpm. I took it for a gentle 15 minute drive and smoke didn't change.

For piece of mind I checked the compression and it was 175-180 across the board. With good compression, I doubt the rings are bad so I ruled out oil coming up from the oil pan. Then i dropped the charge pipe off the turbo and there was zero oil in the piping so I think the turbo's fine.

My two thoughts are, bad valve seals because it sat for a year? Or... I installed a nice catch can set up, could this have something to do with miss wired vacuum lines or the stock black thing under the intake manifold?

Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts.

 

Or... I installed a nice catch can set up, could this have something to do with miss wired vacuum lines or the stock black thing under the intake manifold?

Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts.[/QUOTE]

i would think this is were you should look into.. sounds like your not venting the blow by gases and its coming straight out your ex. put the stock pcv and breather box back on and see if it goes away.

 

I'll try that but I may have thrown away part of the pcv system. Is the breather box the black thing on the back of the block? If so I think I threw it away, is there another way I can rout the lines that went to it? I just thought that my aftermarket catch can would replace all that. Would it really smoke much if the system and box are not installed properly? Pictures or diagrams showing how to install it correctly would help a lot if anyone has them. Thanks

 

Did you have the head decked by a machine shop before you put it back on, might not be 100% level. If not, that could very likely be your problem.

 

I was thinking about that because I didn't. When I got the block machined the shop told me my sleeves were 3 thousandths higher than they should be. There is a small oil leak at the headgasket on the corner of the block by cylinder #1. I think I need to machine the head, but with good compression could it be a head gasket leak into the cylinder?

 

Yes, still very possible that the seal is not 100%. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are very few things it could be besides that. White smoke is ALWAYS coolant + oil mixing. Good luck!

 

No its doesnt, coolant burning alone is white. Oil has a blue tint to it, also what does the smoke smell like?

 

It's strange because it's white and does not smell sweet like coolant, just fuel with a bit of oil. Can oil burn white? It's a lot of smoke, could it be blow by related to the PCV system or vacuum lines?

 

Soudnds like the seals on the exhaust side of the turbo are bad

 

Could be, I haven't taken the down pipe off yet. I'm sure there will be oil in it though because the motor is buring it. The turbo was fine when I started the build, could seals go bad just sitting on the shelf for a year? When I drove the car it was boosting hard and had great response. It felt healthy as ever. Is there a way to know if seals are bad when I pull the down pipe?

 

The car will still boost fine and pull hard, The only real way to do it is to run it with no turbo manifold at all and see if the smoke comes out from the cylinder head ports. If it does then you can even narrow it down to what cylinder its coming from

 

Have you drained the oil/coolant and smelled them? I would start with those steps. If there is ANY milkyness in either fluid, it's the HG. Just opening up the coolant tank will NOT be enough, you need to drain it all.

 

what does the smoke smell like? sweet? = coolant.

whats the weather like where you are?> water vapor and condensation is not abnormal either.

 

Im heading to the shop now. Haven't drained the coolant yet, overflow tank didn't look milky. Oil was a bit milky and dirty because of assemply lube and initital break in but Im not sure how much milk is normal. If I drain the fluids Ill take pics.

As far as smell, that's the strange thing. I can't put my finger on it. It smells mainly like fuel with a little oil and little to no coolant smell. Can new oil burn white? I live in Colorado but this is way too much smoke to be water vapor and condensation. Smoke is little at idle and pours out of the car at 3,000 rpm. The shop was full of white smoke when reving the car

 

I got $ that it's probably the rings.

 

Really with 180psi in each cylinder its the rings?

 

Agreed. Compression is good. My rings are gaped enough for plenty of power and heat. Two cylinders are 175 the others are 180

 

I didnt get any work done, the shop owner had to leave early for a flight tomorrow. I drove the car home to put in the garage, it was smoking bad the whole way. Expired tags, no insurance, one headlight and clouds of smoke = not a good idea

 

do a leakdown with the rad cap off, if it bubbles,

headgasket

 

so you're running on the same tune as before and now the compression is up and the bore is bigger? maybe thats why???

if not. then maybe cuz its cold out?

i'm blowing white smoke too...since its cold out.

 

The tune has nothing to do with a smoking motor, unless is so rich that its blowing black smoke

 

I've got money that you're not even close. If the rings were bad (even though he just had a rebuild, guess reading > you) he would have BLUE smoke, not white.

 

if the ring gaps are on the loose side its fine which is more than likely the case. on par ring gaps for a sleeved forged motor is going to be in the .0018-.0024 which is going to alot for some oil consumption and a tiny bit of smoke.

if you do not have a sweet smell from the exhaust then its fine especially with good comp numbers across the board. If your running on the old tune and went up in compression and bore size it needs to be retuned asap. stop boosting it and get retune. the motor becomes more effecient with higher compression and the larger displacement making it probably rich condition in some cases and lean in others.

 

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to have to wait a week to work on my car because the shop owner left town.

True. And I know it's not the tune because I tried loading my emissions tune which is very lean and it was still smoking just as bad.

I've got money my rings are fine too. Good compression and no blue smoke.

I'll try this. So is it possible to have good compression and a blown head gasket? Also, wouldn't a bad gasket leak coolant into the combustion chamber, not oil? Because the sleeves are surrounded by coolant, not oil....?

My ring gaps are .0026 for the top ring and .0022 for the second and the oil rings are like .0035. I understand this could lead to a little smoke but this is not a little, smoke is pouring out of my car. On my way home cars were honking and flashing their lights at me because of the smoke. I'm not going to drive the car anymore until I get this fixed. I didn't boost it much, the car has yet to see over 4500rpm or wide open throttle. The motor has seen max10psi at 4000 rpm.

Since I do have an oil leak at the headgasket Im going to pull the head and have it decked. I pray this will fix my problem but can it really be a gasket leak with good compression? Also on this, should I buy a new headgasket? This one only has 5 miles on it.

If smoke continues, I'll check the turbo. Can turbo seals go bad just sitting on the shelf for a year?

Thanks again for the advice

 

A compression test won't tell you anything about the oil control rings. However, since his smoke is white, I doubt that it is an oil consumption problem.