car smoking

[RETed]

If the car is smoking, it isn't smoking that much...

I assume the exhaust ports on the engine / turbo exhaust manifold has color about the same as the turbine wheel?
If so, that's good and bad.
Good that it's not a major failure of the oil control rings on the engine.
Bad that we cannot narrow it down to either the engine or the turbo - the oil leak isn't that bad yet.

Can you take apart the turbine housing off the turbo?
It's just the 6-bolts that are along the inside of the turbine housing facing the turbo center housing.
Those should be 13mm (or 1/2") bolt heads.
If you can take that off, we can inspect the area between the center housing and turbine heat shield.

Just to make sure we cover all the bases...
You did check the intercooler pipes and intercooler for signs of oil pooling in there, right?


-Ted

[therex]

Originally Posted by RETed

If the car is smoking, it isn't smoking that much...

I assume the exhaust ports on the engine / turbo exhaust manifold has color about the same as the turbine wheel?
If so, that's good and bad.
Good that it's not a major failure of the oil control rings on the engine.
Bad that we cannot narrow it down to either the engine or the turbo - the oil leak isn't that bad yet.

Can you take apart the turbine housing off the turbo?
It's just the 6-bolts that are along the inside of the turbine housing facing the turbo center housing.
Those should be 13mm (or 1/2") bolt heads.
If you can take that off, we can inspect the area between the center housing and turbine heat shield.

Just to make sure we cover all the bases...
You did check the intercooler pipes and intercooler for signs of oil pooling in there, right?


-Ted

Lol it was getting annoying though and yeah i can take it apart but i dont really want to haha would i need a new gasket? And yeah i looked at the exhaust ports, really clean, obviously black from exhaust though, no oil , no oil in intercooler pipes a guy on a local forum said it looked wet around the turbo shaft rear seal?

[RETed]

No gasket on that part of the turbo.
Everything is machined friction fit.


-Ted

[therex]

Originally Posted by RETed

No gasket on that part of the turbo.
Everything is machined friction fit.


-Ted

alright i guess ill give that a try what am i looking for and what should i torque them back to?

[RETed]

Torque them down till they stop and nothing moves...
I know there are torque specs out there (you can use the ones for the generic Garrett T3/T04 turbos), but I find it very hard to get the head of a torque wrench into that space.
If you happened to be able to torque them properly, the fact that they are 13mm bolt heads implies that torque should in the range of 20 - 40 lb./ft.

Once you get the turbine housing off, you'll expose the turbine wheel.
Right under the turbine wheel, you have a "cover" of sorts - this is the turbine heat shield.

http://turbocharged.com/catalog/parts_list.html
It is part #18 labeled here as "wheel shroud."

If the turbo is leaking out out the turbine piston ring back there, you're going to find a lot of crust black stuff fall out when you "spin" that heat shield.
This turbine heat shield is normally held into place when the turbine housing is bolt back in.
Once the turbine housing is removed, this heat shield can move a little bit.
If no oil is leaking back there, it's going to be pretty clean and no black, crusty bits will fall out when you shake it.

Some tips...
When you remove the 6 bolts holding the turbine wheel to the center housing, the turbine housing will most likely get stuck.
Note that two of the bolts are lined up with the oil supply and drain flanges.
Alternate backing these two bolts out evenly, and this will help "push" the turbine housing off the center housing.
When removing the turbine housing, try to keep contact with the turbine wheel to a minimum.
You can double-check this by spinning the wheels as you slowly remove the housing.
Initially, you can tap the turbine housing with a hammer gently in a circle to help it come off.
The turbine housing will be stubborn sometimes, and you'll feel like you're going to snap the bolts doing this, but I have never broken anything no matter how badly stuck everything is.
When you put everything back, make sure these two bolts line up in the same position.
It is important that the oil supply and drain flanges are vertically up and down.


-Ted

[therex]

looks like it was a bad turbine piston ring!

[RETed]

Yep, you can see the black, crusty stuff coming out from under the cup.
If you can had gone one step further and pulled the wheels apart, then you would've seen the mess that's under the cup.
Congrads for getting down to the bottom of this!
Replacing the turbo is a lot better than replacing the engine...

Looking at the non-stock bolts on the compressor housing side, this turbo has been taken apart / rebuild before?


-Ted

[therex]

no idea! and funny...i called a guy at a local turbo shop and he said all that cover and ring are used for are exhaust gasses and its most likely my drain line not big enough,thats why its coming out of there

[RETed]

Yes, it's possible that back-pressure through the oil drain line can cause oil to leak past the turbine compression ring back there...
...but we're talking about a stock turbo using the stock oil drain line, right?
Unless you messed up a gasket or went bonkers with the silicone RTV, that's almost impossible...

http://turbocharged.com/catalog/parts_list.html

Part #16 is the turbine compression piston ring that needs to be replaced.
Since these rebuild kits are relatively cheap versus the labor costs, you might as well get the entire turbo rebuilt.


-Ted

[therex]

Originally Posted by RETed

Yes, it's possible that back-pressure through the oil drain line can cause oil to leak past the turbine compression ring back there...
...but we're talking about a stock turbo using the stock oil drain line, right?
Unless you messed up a gasket or went bonkers with the silicone RTV, that's almost impossible...

http://turbocharged.com/catalog/parts_list.html

Part #16 is the turbine compression piston ring that needs to be replaced.
Since these rebuild kits are relatively cheap versus the labor costs, you might as well get the entire turbo rebuilt.


-Ted

lol no, not stock turbo and not stock drain line...

[RETed]

Hmmm...turbine housing looks stock.
What kinda turbo is it?

What size oil drain line are you running?
Can you take a pic of it?
If the oil drain line is too small or badly designed, it could be possible that "fixing" this problem could solve the smoking problem...


-Ted

[therex]

Originally Posted by RETed

Hmmm...turbine housing looks stock.
What kinda turbo is it?

What size oil drain line are you running?
Can you take a pic of it?
If the oil drain line is too small or badly designed, it could be possible that "fixing" this problem could solve the smoking problem...


-Ted

UPDATE

if anyone cares lol

i guess its the stock turbo...but me and a guy i know whos a nut with these ended up doing a bunch of stuff and also deleting the oil metering pump, NO MORE SMOKE thank god!