CaliConquestAlex Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 (edited) I figured that I'd post here before I tear into the engine. Some backstory; My car has been running perfect for the last several months following a few years of sitting. There were no engine leaks and the car pulled hard with no smoking at all at idle, no boost, and on boost. Today I drove the car about 15 miles into work. I wasn't driving aggressively but I did get into the boost a bit. The car was perfectly fine. I parked the car and then came back a couple hours later to go for a drive with a coworker. I was kind of trying to show off and had a few full throttle pulls 1st-3rd. After this I noticed a bunch of white smoke pouring out the exhaust. I drove the car back to the parking garage in a cloud of smoke. I waited until the engine cooled down and checked the coolant, which appeared normal. I unscrewed the oil cap and that's when I noticed that there was some oil that had been forced out of the oil cap onto the valve cover and the dip stick was also popped out. The oil level and color looked normal, however, when I removed the oil cap some smoke came out. I had the car towed back to my house and took the oil cap off and started the car. Smoke was blowing out of the oil cap and out of the tail pipe. What do you all think is the cause? I've been told that it could be valve stem seals leaking oil into the cylinders which is being burnt and causing smoke in the exhaust and inside the valve cover/engine. The engine runs and drives fine...I drove it on and off of the tow truck. Any help is much appreciated! So far my plan for the weekend is to do a compression test and then I'm thinking about pulling the head off for inspection. Edited December 19, 2013 by CaliConquestAlex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHARDmitsu. Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 The popped dipstick suggests blow by or excessive crankcase pressure. Check your plugs, do a compression test, thats the easiest way to start diagnosing things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 (edited) Could the excessive crankcase pressure be caused by a failed valve stem seal allowing boost to exit the combustion chamber and it finds the path of least resistance which would be the dipstick? I would imagine if the rings were failing, the engine would run like poop, no? Edited December 19, 2013 by CaliConquestAlex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHARDmitsu. Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 A failed stem seal is a far stretch but possible. The cloud of smoke is of concern that's why I suggested doing the compression test and checking for oil/buring on your spark plugs. This would help indicate or rule out if something went wrong inside a cylinder. If all checks out good, you can start looking at other things like blown turbine seal, damaged stem seal, or a faulty crankcase vent system. What kinda crank ventilation system are you running, OEM pcv or KV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 (edited) I'm running crank vents with a catch can hooked to the turbo inlet for on-boost vacuum. The smoke seems like it's oil burning based on the smell and the fact that it's also coming out of the valve cover, but it's more white than blueish. I'm definitely going to do a compression test before tearing anything down. The ajusa head gasket was replaced about 6 months ago and I did a compression test at that time yielding 90 psi even across all 4 cylinders. The bottom end is a stock rebuild with less than 5k miles on it. Edited December 20, 2013 by CaliConquestAlex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHARDmitsu. Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 90psi is low even for stock pistons. Was it a cold or hot comp test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott87star Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 A crap valve stem seal wouldn't cause the issues you're talking about, sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrngwae Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 Alex, it is real easy to pull the vband on the turbo to see if the hot side wheel is wet with oil. my guess is turbo. I have burned a few up trouble shooting my correct feed rate. it did exactly what you described. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psu_Crash Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 Does the smoke smell like oil ... or cotton candy ...Last last engine failure did this. Ran fine and strong, then all of the sudden billowing white smoke that was definitely coolant. Diagnosis... cracked block Let's hope yours isn't catastrophic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 Well the cylinder head is going to come off and I'll post some pics. I don't think it's the turbo as it has a restrictor in the feed line. I hope it's not the block as i don't want to pull the engine out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoFab Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 Man I hope this is nothing severe. Great feedback from all you guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 I did a little more checking tonight... It's definitely not the turbo. I believe the smoke is originating within the cylinder head as its blowing out of the valve cover PCV and rear port. I really have no idea. I guess it could be blow-by, but the engine runs just fine. I'll do a compression test over the next few days and report back with the numbers. I really hope it isn't the bottom end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrngwae Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 alex, are you running an oil separator? is it gummed up and not draining correct? if its no the turbo it may be cracked ring or broken ring land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 make sure the valve cover rear vac line is not blocked.i was somehow sucking oil in from the PCV under boost.the engine was not venting properly. excessive crank case pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 (edited) The oil separator system has been replaced with krank vents. One kv is connected to the intake plenum for vacuum at idle and no boost and the other kv is connected to the air intake on the turbo to pull vacuum under boost. Like i said, the engine ran perfectly prior to a hard 1-3 run. Edited December 20, 2013 by CaliConquestAlex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuGG Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 (edited) Check this out. http://www.starquest...howtopic=116034 Indiana is the man. Edited December 20, 2013 by BuGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntercooledFlatty Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 to me, it sounds like it needs a swap j/k man gl with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 I started the engine this morning and noticed that it takes about 30 seconds for the smoke to start to develop on the cold engine. I removed the rear valve cover breather hose and watched as the white smoke slowly started to come out after about 30 seconds of the engine running. Then the smoke just gets thicker and thicker. Also, I pulled the dip stick and noticed the the engine appeared to be about a half quart down on oil, but the color still looked normal. So it's definitely burning oil and the smoke from that is getting into the crank case somehow. Could be rings or the something in the cylinder head I'm thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntercooledFlatty Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 do you have a milkshake ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 The oil is not milkshake'd at all. I'll try to take some videos of it running tonight to add more color to this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopDawg_43 Posted December 21, 2013 Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 Sounds like you may have a broken piston ring. At first I though turbo, but since you have elimated that as a possiblity, piston rin is up next,. May also be a ring land has dropped. And that will add the cost a new set of pistons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psu_Crash Posted December 21, 2013 Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 No milkshake is good news!Any results on a compression test yet? Better yet, a leak down test might point you in the direction of trouble. Based on what you have said so far I seriously doubt valve stem seals though, unfortunately it does sound more and more like a bottom end problem.But I'm optimistic for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 Compression test didn't reveal anything. All 4 cylinders were between 95-115 psi. See the below video showing the symptoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 Ok, here's a more detailed analysis on the spark plugs. I took the turbo off and there was oil all over the turbine side and also inside of the exhaust manifold. Would it more likely be the turbo seal if the plugs aren't wet and look tan and dry. I was thinking that the engine would be burning oil inside, but the plugs would look terrible if that was the case, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted December 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 Here's a pic of the turbine housing. http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s415/apordes/BD5A268E-B365-47D2-AA3F-8979580C5DFA_zpsuwwwmewh.jpg This is the oxygen sensor. It had a film of oil on it. http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s415/apordes/EA374D98-71AC-452E-AA99-9109456B11E6_zpsywljl8cw.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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