car smokes

I was driving my MR2 turbo yesterday to work, Half way to work (about 15 minutes of driving) in a red light. I noticed the car was smoking really bad (white smoke). Did not notice any difference on idle or performance on the rest of my way to work. Got to work, and went down during lunch time to see what was the problem, started up the car and the smoking problem was gone. In the evening, on my way home, the samething happened, half way home it started to smoke again.

checked for oil in the turbo housing = no sign of oil leakage
checked for coolant in the oil = no sign of coolant in oil
checked for shaft play on compressor wheel = normal shaft play
The car idle very steady at 800 rpm

After going through these checks, I cranked the car back up. I let it idle for 1/2 hour, reving it to 4000-5000 rpm intermittently. It never smoked.
I was too chicken to drive to work this morning.

Any idea

White smoke is either coolant OR oil burning AFTER the combustion chamber.
It is possible your seals are leaking on the turbine(exhuast) side of the turbocharger. When this happens you can smoke white as the oil burns off whne it touches the really hot side of the turbo.

Not sure really how to tell you to diagnos this.
Next time it happens, make a note if it smells like oil or coolant. They both have distinct "flavors".

I will check on that this weekend.

Also, how much is to rebuild the turbo? I read you have t3/t4 turbo set up in one of your cars, How much am I looking to spend if I go that route? I know that Greddy TD06-20G is $1400.

No clue how much turbo rebuilds are.
Custom T3T4 kits run around $1700-$2100.

Realize the TD06 kit has an internal wastegate and it will cost $$ later to convert over to external wastegate which is recommended.

I can refer you to 2 greast companies that put together T3T4 kits for our cars.

I won't be getting it anytime soon, I have to comeout with money first. But if you send me the info it would be great.

im going with coolant somewhere dripping on a hot surface. and if i were you depending on the year of your MR2, i would not rebuild your turbo. instead buying a turbo, as jekyl said, with the external wastegates.

The weird thing is that it does not smoke when all the time. When I got home that day, the car was smoking. I turned it off, and immediately cranked it back up and the smoking stopped. I had it on idle for 30 minutes and was reving it intermmitently and the smoke never came back. I have not driven the car since then. Is this normal for the turbo to drip coolant into the exhaust manifold?

id say the turbo dripping on the exhaust would be a good thing to check. how many times has it smoked like this? would recomend next time it smokes pull off the road immediatly, and try to pin point the source if you can. also when you idled it, did you notice any minor leaks? or funny smells? another kinda if'y idea i had was mabey some kind of tranny leak, or rubbing. that would explain why the smoke dident come back when you idled it.

jekylandhyde y would he need a custom t3t4 kit ive seen some made for the mr2

The white smoke is coming out from the exhaust. not from the engine compartment. I also noticed that when I ama warming up the car, the exhaust spits out water thru the murfler (driplets). I am assuming that is only condensation from the exhaust because I live in Florida and most of the time is very humid. I am 100% sure this is water, there is no coolant or oil mixture in it.
FYI, the car does not have a catalitic converter. It has been replaced with the blitz down pipe.
Do you guys think that by not having the cat is causing this?
To answer your question ToyotaGT, It has done this twice, and there is no way that I can see down the turbine side with the heatshield in place.

kmak68, the "kits" that are available for the MR2 are not mass produced. They are made by individuals from start to finish by order. In my mind, that is a "custom kit".

louie, the water droplets coming out of the exhaust is normal. Running no cats is not a problem. I have none on Hyde.

Again, your white smoke is either coolant or oil.
My guess is it is oil since you haven't reported overheating.

I can almost guarantee that it is ur turbo. I have had that problem a couple of times. To find out just take the intake of of your turbo and grab the wheel (cold of course) and try to move it up and down. If it moves very freely, chances are that it needs to be rebuilt. Only do that if you plan to keep that turbo for a while or ur wasting ur money. It will last a while if you dont mind the smoking. I picked up my turbo from a friend for $500 plus youll need an adapter ,feed line, and dump tube. Theres really not much cost if you can find a turbo for a good price.

Why is it better to go with external wastegate?

External wastegates control boost better and more accurately.
There have been many MR2 owners with TD06s with the internal gate that have had major problesm with over boosting.

The white smoke smells like oil. I guess is time for new turbo. If anybody knows where can I get one pls let me know, I am open to suggestion. I just want 300 hp at the wheel, I want the car as my daily driver.

I'm not sure I would use the word "just" and 300 wrhp in the same sentence.

You are going to need an upgraded fuel system, something to control it and a bigger turbo (T3T4 like I have or a TDO6). Those turbos wil lrun you around $2000 when all is said and done.
I would alos suggest a water injection system and upgraded intercooler for 300 rwhp.

OK, lets take the word "just" out. In the meantime, I would like to replace the turbo with a bigger one of course and run it at low psi. The TD06 kit that I have seen is the one with internal wastegate. Will this be safe enough to use it? I know you said that the internal wastegate is not accurate and will overboost? What brand of T3/T4 you have in your car?

The TD06 internal kit will probably run you around $1400 or so. Is it safe? For the most part.

I would only run it at 12-13 psi on pump gas (93 octane). When you first get it, I would monitor boost like a hawk to make sure you are not spiking.
The problem poeple have had is having the TDO6 spike to 18+ psi and spank their engine.

I ran a TDO6 on 3 MR2s in the past at 14-15 psi and had no problems. I only broke one motor and that was my fault for playing with the fuel system and not knowing anything about it.

My T3T4 was purchased from ITS (innovative turbo systems). However, to get it on the car you will need a "kit" of some sort. I had everything custom made and it cost me around $2100.

http://www.autolabonline.com/ and KO Racing both offer great T3T4 kits for our cars.

Thanks for the advice.

its the turbo seal, my car is doing the same thing because we ran too much boost on an already weak seal and it just blew. problem is i have no money to fix it.