sometimes after driving my car and it is idling, it will just start smoking out of the exhaust. if i get in and start driving it, ther will be a big cloud of smoke for a second but then it will stop. but it doesnt do this everytime it idles. it also takes a minute or two of idle time before it will start smoking, it just doesnt do it right off the bat. anybody got any ideas. when this happens out in public it is embarassing as shit.

My friends turbo civic would smoke from time to time and it was his turbo. Leaked oil out the exhaust side, what does the smoke look/smell like?

My old crx dx did the same thing and it was a head gasket. Is the smoke blue or black? Blue smoke is oil, Black smoke is rich gas, and if is just white its water/antifreeze. The only way you can tell if it is a head gasket w/out taking the head off is by doing a compression test.

that is EXACTLY what mine is doing..

i cant tell what kind of smoke it is tho.. ive been told that its because my HG is bout ready to pop... then ive been told it could be the turbo. but im pretty damn sure its coolant being burned. Have you ever overheated your SR? i forgot to turn on my electric fan one time and i think that did in my HG

The only way you can tell if it is a head gasket w/out taking the head off is by doing a compression test.

WTF are you talking about. Theres this thing called a block tester, it goes over your radiator neck and is filled with chemical. You rev the engine up and have someone hold the tester over the neck, if the chemical changes then your head is cracked, or your HG is gone. What happens is the carbon monoxide reacts with the coolant and changes, carbon monoxide enters your cooling system from cracked head, blown headgasket, or bad block (highly unlikely though).

IN this case, i would guess its your turbine shaft seal (if the smoke is blue that is). I would pull the turbo and look if there was oil before the turbo, and if there is oil after the turbo. Also check the outlet so see if there is lots of oil.


What color is smoke? Most cars with a blown HG will smoke often, and only get worse.

BHG smoke is white thick clouds from my experiences :)

it has ran hot a few times. i'll try the block tester. thats seems like a good place to start. where can i find one of those?

i would really like to avoid taking my turbo off, that is kind of a lot of work that i really dont want to do right now.

lets just say that the HG is going bad or ther is a small leak in the turbo that is leaking oil/coolant, why would it only smoke on idle. if there was a leak wouldnt it leak more while driving since ther would be more pressure to push the fluids out?

im not sure exactly why the oil at idle thing happens with turbos when the shaft seal goes out, but its a common failure. It might be because the turbo spinning will reduce the oil leaking out the shaft seal, IDK, i havent done a lot of research on that. Its usually an easy fix though if thats it.

"Internal leak test
If you are losing coolant, but there are no signs of leaks, you could have a blown head gasket. The best way to test for this problem is with a combustion leak test on the radiator. This is accomplished using a block tester. This is a kit that performs a chemical test on the vapors in the radiator. Blue tester fluid is added to the plastic container on the tester. If the fluid turns yellow during the test, then exhaust gasses are present in the radiator.

The most common causes for exhaust gasses to be present in the radiator is a blown head gasket. Replacing a bad head gasket requires a major disassembly of the engine and can be quite expensive. Other causes include a cracked head or a cracked block, both are even more undesirable than having to replace a head gasket."


Go to NAPA, and buy a block tester. These tools usually run about 40-50$, but you can use it on any of the cars you have, and comes handy if your ever worried you've got an overheating problem and want to check the HG/head.

The one i use looks like this

http://i6.ebayimg.com/04/i/07/69/aa/f8_1_b.JPG

that does sound like it makes sense with the turbo stuff. i am kind of hoping that it is something like that cause i would rather deal with that than the HG. if it is the turbo, i do have a gt2871r to put in i just didnt want to put it in yet because ther is a lot of other things that i wanted to put in with it.
but anyways, ill sart the process of elimination with the block tester.
thanks

i wa just looking for new seals for the turbo and i came across this site that was for saab turbos but it is a garret t25. they sell a 360 oil seal. i was just wondering if this might also work with my turbo. i dont really know if it is the same or not.

here is the link.

http://www.saabperformanceparts.com/item236.htm

the left is the one i replaced on my T25. Ive used the ones like the one on the right, but had problems installing it (on a K3 K26). The one on the right is what i would recommend, the one on the left is stll good design but i think the one on the right would garauntee (SP?) a good seal.

Also check out http://atpturbo.com/ for misc parts/fittings. Ive bought many parts off them for the T25 i had. Fast shipping too. Dont really carry rebuild parts though

For

thanks fot the info. i will do the block test just to make sure and then will just figure out which direction to go from there but i feel pretty confident that it is gonna be the turbo leak.

looks like ill be investing in a block tester...........

it takes my car a month to run low on water..

looks like ill be investing in a block tester...........

it takes my car a month to run low on water..

if your using any coolant i would suggest getting one! ;)

in the end i never used the block tester. i just put in the gt2871r and then it stoped the smoking at idle. it was fine for about the first three days but then it just started doing the opposite. now it smokes when i get on the gas.
does that sound like the head gasket.
i just want to get some opinions efore i go spend the fifty bucks on the block tester.

smoking on the gas sounds like rich mixture. id almost suggest investing in a wideband o2 sensor and some dyno time.

does a wideband o2 sensor work with the safcII. i dont really know anything about that stuff yet. another thing is that i still got stock injectors so if i go and get that dynotuned, i am worried about my injectors takin a crap on me.
do u think ill still be good to get it tuned with the stock injectors cause i dont got the money for that stuff right now but i cant be drivin my car while it is smokin like that either.

wideband is a type of guage. It will give an accurate reading of your A/F ratio. Im running an AEM UEGO setup in my car. Dont really like AEM products but this wideband is highly recommended and gives awesome reading and easy to install. Dont rely on the readings from a SAFC to tune the car.

I would find a definate answer to whats causing the smoke problems before you tune and buy parts.

in the end i never used the block tester. i just put in the gt2871r and then it stoped the smoking at idle. it was fine for about the first three days but then it just started doing the opposite. now it smokes when i get on the gas.
does that sound like the head gasket.
i just want to get some opinions efore i go spend the fifty bucks on the block tester.

whats the smoke color? How much boost are you running?

i think its a white color. its not like huge clouds so i cant get a really good look at it. but nonetheless im sure its oil. my friend just told me a little while ago that if it was because it was running rich, the smoke would be black.

i know lately moil pressure guage jumps around sometimes, almost like theres a short or something with it but i know theres not because its hooked up to the same power source as my other guages and theres nothing wrong with those. and the back lights dont flicker at all either. its not a lot. it is usually while i have my foot on the gas and just flickers a bit.

i was thinking that if there was somethin wrong with the HG (or god forbid the head itself) that it could cause this.

about the tuning. im not going to get it done anytime soon unless i have to. but will i be able to get it tuned with just a wideband sensor to moniter it? i though i needed some kind of air/fuel controller to get that tuned.
do they just do it through the ecu?

right now i have it at 11psi.
i havent driven it since it started smoking though.

You need to find your problem. You need to start running tests to locate. Start off with a compression test to make sure your not looking at internal problems first. Rich would be black yes. Check your plugs. If its white, i would think that too be coolant problems, but it could also be oil. How well does the car idle? Does it keep steady vacuum on boost/vac guage?

And yes, you need a fuel controller or adjustables to tune the car. If you dont have a SAFC or fuel controller i wouldnt worry about tuning the car.

the car idles and seems to run perfectly fine.
the boost/vacuum is always steady too.

hmmm, well if it pulls good vacuum i dont think it would really be bad internal. Maybe HG though. When the HG went on my car it would puff a nice white smoke cloud (not big but if i watched the rearview mirror i could see it come then go away real quick) when it was under 16psi and when i let off the gas. I dont know what your problem is, but i would recommend you start running tests to find what it is before it gets worse and you really break something.

yea. im gonna go get a compression tester tomorow.

what color is your coolant? How hot does the car run?

the coolant color is green. i use prestone and i mix it about 75/25. the car runs good. it doesnt overheat. i have the flexalite dual electric fans that i have on with a switch. it doesnt overheat. the average oil temp is about 180. but, like i said earlier, the oil pressure seems to pop around a little bit. it used to be realy bad before a changed the turbo to fix the idle smoke problem. now its a lot better. but the smoke seems to be the same, it just happens at a different time and it isnt as much. now i can notice it sometimes whenm i step on the gas. when i would roll up to a stop light, it would smoke for a second or two and then stop.

i bought the compression tester but didnt get around to doing today, will do it tommorow and let you know whats up with that.

i was thinkin that if it is the HG that i really dont want to have to change it.
i dont know how to, i know that i will probably run into another problem in the process if i do. overall its just not something im ready to deal with right now.
so, i was looking for some temp fixes to look into and i found this

http://www.steelseal.com/eng/howitworks.html

i know its not the right way to fix a HG, but givin my circumstance, if it will work than i might consider it but i wanted to run it by you guys first and see what the professioonal opinions are.
thanks

http://www.steelseal.com/eng/howitworks.html

hmmmmmm... I wouldn't use it.. :S

good luck!

i assumes that was gonna be the response. just felt like i had to ask.
know of a good place to get an OEM gasket?

well, i used that block tester, the exact same one and nothing showed up. i did it three times just to make sure. i guess i should be relieved but i still dont know why my car smokes when i get on the gas. i caqnt drive it like that, its like a big yellow sign sayin "pull me over".

know of anything else it might be?

did you ever do a compression test? If the compression is fine and the rings/pistons are ok then the only other thing it would most likely be is the valve seals or the turbo. Funny though, that your oil PSI jumps around. What psi does it jump around to and when? You dont think it could be the oil psi blowing oil through the seals on the turbo when it jumps around? Do you know why your oil psi jumps around? Pressure relief in oil pump sticking? Do a compression test so you can check that off and make sure.

the compresiion was fine. im not sure the order of the cylinder numbers but assuming that 1 is the one closest to the fan belts, these were the results.

1 -170, 170

2 - 165, 166

3 - 170, 170

4 - 169, 169

how do i check the oil pressure relief? of will i have to replace the whole oil pump? that actually sounds like it could be it. sometimes when i drive it and all the temps are to to normal running temp and the idle is normal, it will still idle at like 50 or 60 oil psi when it should be around 10 or 15.
i did each one twice just to be sure of the numbers.

i also know that i have to drive it for about 10, 15 minutes for it to start smoking. i figure thats about hhow long it would take for the exhaust to get hot enough to burn the oil.
and the oil psi mostly pops around when i get on the gas.

i am also using 10/30 royal purple oil incas this has anything to do with it.

hmmm, thats funny. 50-60psi at idle? that cant be good for the turbo. It should be like 15-20psi. Well im doubting its internal problem as in pistons/etc. I would start looking at why the oil psi is so high. Im thinking its the pressure relief in the pump, and the high pressure could push oil past the seals in the turbo causing it to smoke. I havent ever taken apart an SR oil pump so i dont know what its going to look like, any have a pic?

what size oil line are you running to the inlet on the turbo? Do you have an aftermarket oil psi guage?

its not always that high on idle, just sometimes. i dont know the size of the oil lines. i am using some taka motorsports lines.
ya, i am using some aftermarket guages but they have worked fine. its just the oil press and it didnt used to do that. anybody know about at what psi the relief valve should start opening up at? cause i was thinkin that if its kinda like around 70 or 80 psi, than that would have nothing to do with it idling high.

is the relief valve actually located in the oil pump. cause i was just thinkin about replacing the whole pump and trying to solve the problem with that?

is the relief valve actually located in the oil pump. cause i was just thinkin about replacing the whole pump and trying to solve the problem with that?

yes, it should be in the pump. It is in most cars atleast. i would find a SR20 specific forum and ask them. Im not that familar with an SR oil pump.

i found an sr forum and ther tellin me that the pressure shouldnt hurt anything but the turbo so i should just get an oil flow restrictor for the turbo oil inlet line.
i have some taka motorsports oil lines but i dont know the size of the line. im can anybody here help me out with putting a restrictor on my line.

can anybody tell me wich one is the oil feed line. i know that the top one is for he coolant but i dont know wich of the two bottom lines is the oil feed.

http://www.240sxmotoring.com/tamos13srtul.html

which turbo are you looking for? I would guess it to be around .035" but ill check. And yes, the excessive oil psi shouldnt hurt anything besides the turbo which im kinda thinking is your problem. If the oil psi is getting around as high as you say then it could be blowing oil past the seals in the turbo.

For a GT28R/GT28RS/GT30R/GT35R
GT28R/GT28RS/GT30R/GT35R

I would check into that. Id also talk to whoever you bought your lines from and find the exact size, its most likely -3an or -4an. If you have a -3an line then you would need to get an adapter to use that fitting in your oil line since the fitting shown is a -4an.

As to your question, the bottom one is the oil inlet. The inlet line on a turbo will always be smaller than the outlet.

i got directed to a guy in the other forum who they say knows just about everything when it comes to this sort of thing. imna see what he says.
u think ill need to replace the seal in the turbo when i get the restrictor in?

i got directed to a guy in the other forum who they say knows just about everything when it comes to this sort of thing. imna see what he says.
u think ill need to replace the seal in the turbo when i get the restrictor in?

maybe, it matters how much you have driven with it like that.

i have the restrictor to put in it. i also found out that ther was a small dip in the oil return line wich ive found out could cause major problems with the oil draining, to make matters worse, when i got the turbo out. there is a decent amount of shaft play now. i dont have any experience in taking the turbo itself apart and dont want to learn on this expensive turbo so does anybody know of a good place to take it to get it rebuilt around the orange county area.
thanks

i rebuild turbos, but i dont touch BB. I would look online at places like forcedperformance.com, and any other turbo specialty shops. I can direct you to the place i buy rebuild kits from and do balancing at, but im not sure if they would be that inexpensive for a rebuild.

How much you looking to spend? You might be better off sourcing out a new center cartridge.

only trying to spend few hundred bucks. what you mean by new center cartidge.

is that pretty much the center piece where the oil flows into

i found a place that has those, theyr like 800 bucks

i found a place that has those, theyr like 800 bucks

lol, you need to find a better place. You whole turbo didnt cost that much correct? I would look around to having it rebuild as for new seals.

How bad is the shaft play? Is it left to right or front to back?

the shaft play is mostly left to right but a little front to back.
can u post the url to the place where you buy your rebuild parts.

yea thats all i wanna do with it is get the seals replaced and remove all the shaft play but i aint even gonna try and attempt to do it myself.

if the shaft play is kinda bad for front to back, it usually says "im not rebuildable". But, thats not always the case, it matters how bad.

I like this company, but they mostly specialize in diesal (i get my cores from a machinery company (my old work) and are mostly large A/R diesal with external or no wastegate). http://www.softcom.net/users/hlturbo/2/]

I would send them an email and let them know what turbo it is, and describe whats happening. They might as for specs on how much the shaft play is, but it matters.

Usually seals would be the leaking oil, but excessive shaft play sounds like bearings. But it could be the turbine shaft seal or the thrust plate seals.

Good luck.

get a s15 turbo.... $650

get a s15 turbo.... $650

Not as a complete replacement for your GT2871, but it might make a good temporary solution if your willing to pay for the GT28 and the cost to rebuild or replace your current turbo.

the front to backplay is pretty minimul. i dont realy want to pay 650 for naother turbo. i still have my t25 that needs the seal replace. there is no shaft play in that.

i found hardline turbo on the net and was trying to call them friday but i didnt et an answer.

keep in mind that all this was caused by too much oil pressure. im not exactly too sure on how much damage that can do to a turbo. it started smoking a couple days after the turbo was in and i only drove it once or twice around the block after it started smoking for test purposes.
i dont fel like the damage is too bad(or maybe i just realy hope that) so imna try and see what can be done to fix it, but if all else fails. im just going to fix the t25 seal. i think those are only like 30 bucks or so. anybody here know how to do that. is it hard?

you need to find which seal it is in the t25. You could probably buy a rebuild kit for your t25 for around 80-100. Then you could save the bearings for later date when the shaft play is bad. Did you get the proper restricter yet?

yea. i have a .035 restrictor wich is used for the gt2871r. im not sure about the t25. i think i remember reading somewhere that turbos only need somewhere around 15 oil psi.
deending on wher things go, it migh just be easier for now to get the t25 fixed.
its kinda funny. i couldve done that from the get go of his whole thing but i decided that since i was gonna take all that apart anyways, i might as well put this better turbo i got lying around in my car instead.
now ook at where im at. just think. if i would have only known to use he oil restrictor in the first place, none of this would have happened.
i guess i kind of blame myself and my inexperience for this.

^^^^
Good post, friends have mine have been in the same situation as you. A turboed 4AG and he had the inlet/outlet lines on the turbo backwards, wrong restricter, and a bad A/F which led to him blowing up his project car 4AGZE the first couple weeks he had it. Luckily, the only thing you were having problems with is the restricter and a t25 (parts for the t25 are pretty cheap though). I would look around online and try and find a rebuild kit for the t25 and run that untill you can work things out with the GT28. If you had to as a last resort, you could even find a decent kit off ebay (if you find a reputable shop with good feedback, ive actually bought a t25 kit off ebay and it was really good quality too).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/T2-T25-T28-SuperDeluxe-Turbocharger-Turbo-Rebuild-Kit_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33742QQihZ006QQitem Z160070858951QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

i found this, he seams to have a lot of good feedback. anybody here have any bad experiences with them?

these guys were recommended by some people in a turbo rebuild faq.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/COMPLETE-TURBO-REBUILD-KIT-GARRETT-T2-T25-T28-DSM_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33742QQihZ012QQitem Z220069409979QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

yeah, go with Gpopshop. Thats who i bought mine from. Came with everything and good quality.

now all need to do is rebuild it. they have a pretty good diagram with the gpopshop one that could probably get me through it.

since im going to use the t25, is it ok to use the oil line restrictor?

it matters, if your using -3an lines, i wouldnt think you would need it. But, since you have that wierd oiling problem i would use it. If you have -4an lines i would def use that restricter. either way, you would probably be best to use it for now since you've been having these turbo problems and no restricter.

i was thinking exactly he same thing. i just wanted to make sure i wasnt going toscrew up the t25 by using the restrictor. BTW it is a .035 restrictor.

t25 dzn't need a restrictor!
r u using the T28 lines? or the T25 lines?
the T28 lines has the restrictor the T25 dzn't have it!
T28 is a dual ball bearing (needs less oil!)
T25 is a regular "floating" oil Journal turbo, needs more oil!

t25 dzn't need a restrictor!
r u using the T28 lines? or the T25 lines?
the T28 lines has the restrictor the T25 dzn't have it!
T28 is a dual ball bearing (needs less oil!)
T25 is a regular "floating" oil Journal turbo, needs more oil!

he has takata lines IIRC which look to be a-4an. Back when i had my T25 i was told from people on nico and here that i would probably need a restricter with a -4an line. Not only that but if you read the thread it sounds like the pressure relief in his oil pump is sticking causing it to spike. That would be blowing through the seals on the turbo. High oil pressure wouldnt really affect the motor since your supplying oil to so many difference orfices, but the seals in the turbo can get damaged with these spike.

dude.. i know why u have oil press problems! how is the OIL COOLER?!?!? what did u use to make it?

he has an oil cooler? Plus, having an oil cooler would really affect the spiking of the oil PSI up and down would it? I think the temp of the oil would change the viscosity of the oil, which would require a different weight oil depending on the setup.

this is the exact setup i have.
the only difference is the two oil filter relocation plates. i got those off of ebay but eveything is good with it. i have always been checking the connections for leaks so i know there arewnt any. i know that the oil pressure spikes didnt start right when i put the oil cooler in though. there was probably a good month or so inbetween the oil cooler and the pressure spikes. im sure i could check the dates on my posts here but aint realy worried about the cooler.

http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/167442

on average, my oil temp is about 170 to 180. when i drive hard, it goes up to about 210 for a little while.
i have been using 10/30 synthetic royal purple oil. should i switch to another wight or brand?