Alright guys got some problems and I'm a newb at this stuff - give me some info

[Mustangs_Suck]

Ok i just got my KA-T and we've got some problems heh.

I have ALOT of white smoke coming out of the muffler, the coolant is full and all levels are holding.

There is an exhaust leak I can tell - so I'm gonna get that repaired and see where that takes me.

Now, I have some oil leakage too. it's coming out from where the turbo manifold connects to the piece in the picture below:

The black arrow points to where it's coming out of and the red arrow points to the piece that I said the turbo manifold is connected to.

I'm thinking it's a gasket of some kind - it's a VERY slow small seepage leak - anyone tell me what this is called? (as I said I'm a n00b when it comes to these parts and whatnot)

It also looks like oil is dripping downward onto my downpipe, but I can't see under it to see exactly from where.

I'm just wondering what all this could possibly be - the smoke is white, not mixed with blue, and it doesn't smell like fuel.

If the oil is coming from my exhaust - what does this mean? as I said I can't see if it's dripping from where the downpipe connects, or if it's running down from some other part and dripping onto it - so I'm just keeping all options open.

It starts/idles/runs good, and the turbo spools up and blow's off well just to let you know.

Thank you for any help I appreciate it.

[hannibal]

umm, that thing the manifold is connected to is called a turbine. If oil is leaking from there, I think you have a bad turbo. The oil used to lubricate the turbo is leaking out of the center bearing section and into the turbine side.

White smoke is supposed to be a coolant leak. Blue is oil and black is running rich.

[Mustangs_Suck]

umm, that thing the manifold is connected to is called a turbine. If oil is leaking from there, I think you have a bad turbo. The oil used to lubricate the turbo is leaking out of the center bearing section and into the turbine side.

White smoke is supposed to be a coolant leak. Blue is oil and black is running rich.

I was afraid of that, I hope that's not it....but with my luck it probably is.

The shafts might be wearing out as it's a used turbo........but idk I guess I'll have to get it in a shop.

[virus77]

are you running a restrictor in the oil feed line.

[Mustangs_Suck]

are you running a restrictor in the oil feed line.

I don't believe so.

I'd have to ask the previous owner to know for sure though.

The car just got hauled off to nissan (poor thing's scraping the ground so much..it's like an inch off the ground right now as it's got some spare tires on the front, i just got two new fronts though) so I guess I'll find out soon.

I'm sitting around going nuts waiting for the "yeah this thing is messed up" call.

EDIT: ok no there is no restrictor


Modified by Mustangs_Suck at 11:07 PM 3/7/2005

[C-Kwik]

Oil can actually smoke quite white. I've had valve stem seal leaks and 3 turbo bearings go and they emitted white smoke each time. The smell of the smoke will be more inherent as to the type of leak you are having. Coolant will smell like coolant(sweet) and have a humid feel to it. Oil just smells toxic.

[npaulseth]

Sweet Jesus are you using the SSauto-crap turbo kit?

[Mustangs_Suck]

Oil can actually smoke quite white. I've had valve stem seal leaks and 3 turbo bearings go and they emitted white smoke each time. The smell of the smoke will be more inherent as to the type of leak you are having. Coolant will smell like coolant(sweet) and have a humid feel to it. Oil just smells toxic.

Alright well I'm pretty much thinking my turbo seals are going or gone - so yeah...oh well rebuilding it won't cost too much.

[Mustangs_Suck]

Sweet Jesus are you using the SSauto-crap turbo kit?

xspower t25 bottom mount manifoldsr20det t25 turbocheapturbo oil line kitfmic w/ custom pipingblitz bov3inch divorced turbo elbow,downpipe, test pipe3inch catback gtspec exhaust

that's what I got that has to do with my turbo.

set at 7psi with 370cc injectors

it's a good enough set up for a stock KA with 122k miles on it.

When the engine starts to go that's when the serious **** will start being done when it comes to the motor as well as the turbo.

[hysteria]

he's only using the ssautochrome manifold.

you know this is probably the most budget set up i have ever seen. you should advertise what you have done if you get everything working well because there are a lot of people who would like to spend very little money to make a bit more power... the blitz bov seems just a bit out of place... blitz is pretty high quality/cost.

rebuild kits are not expensive. when you get all of this done seriously post up your results (how the car runs, if boost holds all the way through the rpm range, what boost pressure you are running, and any other info). i've heard a lot about t25's not being able to perform when mated to a ka, but that's just what i've heard. i've never used a t25 before.

[Mustangs_Suck]

he's only using the ssautochrome manifold.

you know this is probably the most budget set up i have ever seen. you should advertise what you have done if you get everything working well because there are a lot of people who would like to spend very little money to make a bit more power... the blitz bov seems just a bit out of place... blitz is pretty high quality/cost.

rebuild kits are not expensive. when you get all of this done seriously post up your results (how the car runs, if boost holds all the way through the rpm range, what boost pressure you are running, and any other info). i've heard a lot about t25's not being able to perform when mated to a ka, but that's just what i've heard. i've never used a t25 before.

I will do so. I didn't buy this set up, I bought the car like this - the problems were an, lets say, unknown bonus? lol

I got the call from Nissan and they said that they had their master technician who has been working on Nissan's for over 27 years looking at it. He said "the problem is, is that there are alot of aftermarket parts on this car" well no ****ing duh. He told me that the master tech. wants me to come in and he's going to show me what's all wrong, as the explaining it over the phone just wouldn't work.

I'm assuming he thinks that I don't know what "your turbo is leaking" or whatever means - I already pretty much know I need to rebuild the turbo, and I'm pretty sure all that's left is an exhaust leak - which I will have them fix. The turbo I will have a good shop do, and then I will put it in myself.

I guess we'll find out tomorrow if there's anything else I didn't pick up on after looking at it....I'm hoping nothing though.

[hannibal]

I'm surprised they didnt slam the hood and run away when they saw the turbo...

[ILikeMy240sx]

I got the call from Nissan and they said that they had their master technician who has been working on Nissan's for over 27 years looking at it. He said "the problem is, is that there are alot of aftermarket parts on this car"

LOL!!! you need 27 years of experience to tell that? haha

[Mustangs_Suck]

I'm surprised they didnt slam the hood and run away when they saw the turbo...

Nope I called them before I had it sent in and told them it has a turbo kit on it, and he said "alright I have a master tech that has dealt with turbo nissans for over 27 years, i"ll have him look at it, as he'll know exactly what's wrong and what to do"

I was weary on it too as I know dealerships don't like touching modded cars, but this one did, which is cool

[Mustangs_Suck]

LOL!!! you need 27 years of experience to tell that? haha

I know right? lol i was like wtf i know this much.

[Mustangs_Suck]

but as for an update - my turbo is leaking oil....i kinda figured that...oh well that isn't too bad.

but the problem is they said there is "thousands of dollars of work needed to be done" on this.

so we'll see what else is wrong when i go there in about 2 hrs.

I'm sure they are going to give me every tiny little thing wrong with it, so some of it I really won't bother with at the time being, plus you have to include a dealership's crazy labor price into it all. So if I do all this work (minus rebuilding the turbo I'll have a good turbo shop do that for $300 or so) this might not be too bad...I guess we'll see.

If it's ****ed idk what I'm going to do...the guy I bought it from said it "runs/drives/idles/boosts perfectly" ...which obviously it doesn't...I'm willing to let go the turbo rebuild as then i'll have a new turbo (this one was used) and it isn't that much $$$, but if there's other **** wrong that is serious - well...I'll just leave it at that...

[hysteria]

master tech: this will cost thousands of dollars to repair...

translation: your turbo is leaking and we will charge you thousands of dollars to rebuild it.

oh and by the way, buying a different used t25 that doesn't leak would cost less than $300... for that price you could get a t28...

just be sure you weigh your options before paying for a rebuilt t25 that's not worth it... if i'm not mistaken that manifold will support a t28.

[Mustangs_Suck]

master tech: this will cost thousands of dollars to repair...

translation: your turbo is leaking and we will charge you thousands of dollars to rebuild it.

oh and by the way, buying a different used t25 that doesn't leak would cost less than $300... for that price you could get a t28...

just be sure you weigh your options before paying for a rebuilt t25 that's not worth it... if i'm not mistaken that manifold will support a t28.

Alright I'm back from Nissan

The guy who said "thousands of dollars" was the service counter guy - NOT the master tech who looked at it.

The master tech said that all he can see is that the turbo is leaking oil out the bottom. He said that I will have to find a way to repair/replace the turbo, as it isn't a Nissan part and they will not be able to repair/replace it.

He said if I rebuild this one, or get another one to repair it - he will take this one out, and put the rebuilt or new one in for a total of $410 about. I'm surprised Nissan'll work on this at their dealership - he said off the record he works and tunes street racing cars at this dealership all the time, as many employees have tt 300zx's and other fun things - so I think this dealership really might turn out to be a good place to have it done - I know lots of dealerships try to rape you on prices and do ****ty work - but this guy's know what he's doing and $410 to remove a turbo and install another one seems pretty damn good...about 4 hrs. of labor.

He said the turbo is spitting the oil out onto the downpipe and into the exhaust and that's why I'm getting the oil leak, and so much smoke.

So I'm thinking of rebuilding this one, as then I'll pretty much have a brand new turbo - instead of buying another used one where the same thing could happen right away.

As for getting a t28 - I really don't want to get a used turbo..and I really don't want to throw out anymore power into this stock motor with 122k on it, right now I just need something that'll get me around until I get everything paid off and can start looking into rebuilding the entire motor.

He said the steering linkage is rubbing against the bottom of the turbo pretty tightly....I asked the guy who I bought it from what was up that and he suggested that I take the motor mount bolts out and move the engine a tiny bit to the right, and that should take care of that......is there any other way I could fix this problem???

Thanks guys...looks like I just need to get this turbo rebuilt or a new one, and I'm all golden.

[DammitBobby]

$410 to swap a turbo?? WTF it takes basic tools to do the job and if you can`t do that then you really don`t want to mess with this car. Dam even I could change that out in half the time! You need to find some NICO members to help you.

[Chingon]

give me 410 and I'll swap it!! And I haven't ever worked on replacing turbos... <<that's how easy it is.

[NX95240]

do you have anybody around you that could help.that knows alittle about turbos ? it would SAVE you alot of money.

[Mustangs_Suck]

I just like have professionals do the work...they know what they are doing or they wouldn't have their job. It's not some punk kid doing this, it's an older gentleman that's been doing specifically turbo nissan's for over 27 years.

Yes I have the tools to do this, yes I could do it myself, and yes I have friends that are smarter on cars than I that could do it as well - but there's more than just this turbo to be put on it, I have to somehow get it to stop rubbing on the steering linkage - and I'd just rather have this guy do my work...instead of my trying to figure out ****, get frustrated and end up breaking more.

and yeah..there isn't a ****ing thing in WI i hate this state. No one here knows wtf they are doing when it comes to aftermarket parts and installations - why do you think there is like 2 somewhat decent aftermarket shops in the entire state? it's just a bunch of god damn hillbillies out here.

[hannibal]

Man, you have too much money!

Yes, 27 yrs of experience implies he'll do a good job. But it doesnt take that much knowledge to change a turbo. Learn to do this stuff yourself. Or start saving now for all the little things that will come up over time.

There are some NICO members in WI. Click the 'members' button at the top and you can search for them....

[Mustangs_Suck]

Man, you have too much money!

Yes, 27 yrs of experience implies he'll do a good job. But it doesnt take that much knowledge to change a turbo. Learn to do this stuff yourself. Or start saving now for all the little things that will come up over time.

There are some NICO members in WI. Click the 'members' button at the top and you can search for them....

LOL I'm an unemployed 19 yr. old kid with about $1900 in my bank account after i get my 3 checks my last job still owes me plus whenever tax returns come in.

The reason I can afford any of this is the least my bank could give me was a 12,500 loan, and I've spent only $6,500 of it..so the money would just keep being tacked on to that.

Most little things I will fix myself or have a friend help me, but I need this car up and running asap so I can get back on the job hunt, and I'd just personally rather have a shop do it, as if any other little problems come about they'll take care of them, rather than I just getting frustrated and it sitting around for more days to come.

For my solution - I'm buying a brand new Garrett T25, and just rebuilding the old one so I'll have two good turbos - if the new one ever goes wrong I can just pop in the rebuilt one so I have no down time. When I get a job and start paying all this **** back and if the new t25 is still doing all good I'll just sell the rebuilt one and use the $$$ to begin my full engine rebuild and whatnot I have planned for the near future, but first these things gotta get done to it and I gotta start paying this ***** off.

I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to cars, this is my 3rd 240sx - so I've done my fair share of work on these things - and I've known turbos for quite awhile too as I used to deal with TT stealths/3000gts alot as well - but I'm new to the turbo scene as far as 240sx's go and I just gotta get used to em, and learn how the KA and Turbo's work together (even though I've come to find it's really nothing but trouble)

[hannibal]

That makes sense. Be careful how you spend your 'mod money'.

I just imagined you taking the car to the dealer for oil changes...

[Mustangs_Suck]

That makes sense. Be careful how you spend your 'mod money'.

I just imagined you taking the car to the dealer for oil changes...

Oh I will I'm just spending what I absolutely need to, and then forgetting I even have anything else to use if needs be. The only other things I need to do are to get the car tuned all properly for WOT, it's just tuned good for daily driving, but it wasn't tuned for wot, so the guy didn't know if it would try overboosting or anything. I also need to get it all rust-proofed - the car has NO rust ANYWHERE on the body, even the underside (it was a flordia car all it's life) and since it's now here in the salt-loaded roads of WI - we gotta make sure it stays rust free

and lol no I do all my oil changes myself, or take it into a quick-lube place that'll do em for like $15 in 10 min. when I don't feel like doing it myself.

[hysteria]

man think of it this way... 410 is just 410 you're going to have to pay off later....

loans and credit suck... they give you no sense of worth... it's jsut something to "pay off"... when you earn the money and then drop it all at once it's a little different. i think you're more careful with it when it's not just a loan. anyway i'm not trying to knock what you're doing but i think it would be better if you tried just selling this t25 and getting something that's worth your time, and installing it yourself. you could do it for much less than $410. since this is a budget setup you could go to xspower or ssautochrome (the same company) and buy a new turbo for cheap. just a thought. good luck with whatever you do.

[hysteria]

look for instance:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...=WDVW

that manifold you have may not support this turbo, but you can definitely find something comparable to it for cheap, just like this one.

[eddiec]

i'm still suprised a dealership is touching it at all. most dealers will not tkae anyhthing over 5-6 years because the techs end up breaking more old stuff getting to the stuff thats supposed to be fixed.

and $400 is still too much no matter how you slice it. but good luck and keep us informed how that t25 works.

[Mustangs_Suck]

man think of it this way... 410 is just 410 you're going to have to pay off later....

loans and credit suck... they give you no sense of worth... it's jsut something to "pay off"... when you earn the money and then drop it all at once it's a little different. i think you're more careful with it when it's not just a loan. anyway i'm not trying to knock what you're doing but i think it would be better if you tried just selling this t25 and getting something that's worth your time, and installing it yourself. you could do it for much less than $410. since this is a budget setup you could go to xspower or ssautochrome (the same company) and buy a new turbo for cheap. just a thought. good luck with whatever you do.

No way am I touching a XS Power turbo - I've read up on those things and they are TERRIBLE. Alot of people are having the casing splitting directly in half!

I'm most likely buying a Garrett T28