A quick rundown of my setup. I built my setup last November or so after I got home from Afghanistan. I then parted the car out a few months later but kept the motor and turbo. I now have a 99 ex that everything is going into but one issue that I had before I parted the old car out was that every now and then I would get a large amount of smoke out the exhaust and once I started moving the smoke would go away. The turbo had been used for one or two dyno runs by Greg at Go-Autoworks and was practically brand new so I am certain the internals are fine. Also I found oil build-up at the base of the turbo housing that looked to be slowly leaking out.

So here is the question, I have seen some say to use a -3 smaller line and others say use a restrictor and others say no because they are not needed. My oil pump was brand new from Honda plus new HAMP filter with a -10 return setup so I was thinking that maybe the pressure was increased somehow and forcing the oil past seals? I have searched all over and have found many different opinions on this but none that have been running that turbo. I appreciate any help

 

A HAMP filter would never cause an oil pressure increase so that the sealing ring would be overpressurized (They are not rubber grommets, so "Seals" is a terrible use of the word).

Here's what a sealing ring looks like on the turbine shaft (on a bad turbocharger shaft)



It fits in this groove


The only way an oiling system would damage the turbo is if the pump itself were modified in a way that it would increase oil pressure by about 20-25psi or so, and no filter will do that..so that's not your issue.

In addition, you stated that it only starts to smoke at startup but not while driving. Are you sure that it doesn't have "BLUE" smoke during pressurized driving? If it doesn't, its not the turbo itself, its back to the oil feed/return system
For the S256, which is one of the smaller BEP turbos, I'd start to look at your feed line to see if there is any collection of oil (and make sure the oil return does NOT have any 90 degree fittings on the line at all, which could be another source of your issue) before blaming the turbo. -3AN is most recommended for the S256 with no restrictor.

Check those first, then we can go from there.

 

Yeah as for the smoking I would be sitting at a light and out of no where I would smoke out the light. The entire time at I was at T1 it never did any of that. It wasn't until a few days after that it started to do these things. The oil return is from one of Gregs kits which uses -10 line. My setup is maybe 7" long at most and uses no 90's just 2x 45's. I plan on purchasing a new -3 line from Greg tomorrow so we will see if that helps. My goal is to have the car back up and running by the end of Oct. Thank you for your input

 

Well you know your sh*t (LOL) because I just looked and I have a nice 90 on my oil return line . That will be going away tonight!

 

I was on the same boat as you my friend until my main bearings shot out.

Describing how your car discharges smoke off a line from a Red light, I have the same exact issue!

I mean above it all, the oil burning presence has mostly been experienced during a cold start. I thought the valve stem seals were giving me trouble, but obviously the
loss of oil and blue smoke was still present after the repair, and after re-routing my drain lines. (I've got 2 45* Fittings that I use. No 90* bends!)

However, oil burning has sunk down.

Replacing the valve stem seals submerged the dilemma by
quiet a lot! Regardless, it didn't solve the problem at the line still, and during a a stop/long idle/and go.
I didn't get a chance to fix or identify the issue since my Main bearings crapped out on me. Hopefully
I can see someone pin point this fix.

Shodan: Is it possible to blow or damage a turbo seal by running a kinked drain line/90 degree fitting/etc. over time, let's say for about 700-1000 miles ?