Bad Idle, White smoke, but pulls hard as heck! ... Help

[ericherm1]

Ok guys I have a mind boggler for you.

I installed a Megan racing manifold and had to chuck the oil seperator that goes from the rear of the motor to the back of the T pipe on the cam cover. Now I'm getting hella white smoke when I come to a stop and at hot idle. I say "hot" because when its cold it does not smoke at all. The smoke smells like oil.

I'm running 550cc injectors and a Power-FC. The lag time on the injectors is 1.5ms. I subtracted the lag time from the stock 370cc injectors to get the correction value of +0.92ms @ 68%. When I have it set to this it idles incredibly bad. I tried to set it back to 0ms and it was good till I pressed the gas then it started bobing.

The idle bobs between 600rpm & 1500rpm and sometimes dies.

Now the question is: Could all this smoke be coming from the hose that I used to replace the factory oil seperator?

Could my idle problem be because of the oil being recirculated the AIV and TPS sensors crapped out?

I would like some of your expert opinions to help guide me in my trouble shooting and mending venture.Thanks

[ericherm1]

I feel like I'm being ignored here.........

I checked the head gasket ie(leak down test, compresion test) all passed. I checked the oil it was golden brown like it should. I checked the coolent and it was a little low but it was good and green with no oil residue.I checked the block and head for seapage or leaks... found none.

I would like your thoughts before I break back into the motor.

Could it be the seals on the turbo?

The car was involved in a flood that came up to the lower body line on the door, could it be the glass in the mufflers burning off residue?

Oh, it only does this when its hot!

[ericherm1]

I did notice some oil from the BOV on the hotpipe. I have the enjuku hotpipe with the greddy flange. Would this indicate excessive blow-by or a bad turbo?

[S14-NEO]

bad turbo sounds like yet again...check for shaft play...side to side ok ...in and out really bad

[ericherm1]

Would the ecsessive oil cause the TPS and AIV to mess up the idle so bad that it dies after it gets hot, well bobs so hard from 600-1500rpm that it dies.

Yes the shaft does move in and out about 1mm and moves side to side about 1.5mm. Could it have done this because I didn't pour some oil in the turbo before I put it back on? Because it was fine before I took it off.

Oh, I pulled the plugs once again and the chambers are clear... a little rich but clear and clean.

I also pulled the inake hose off and there was oil pooled just before the intake side of the impellar.

Sorry guys, I'm not a noob to N/A motors but this is my first SR20DET and probably not my last, so I need some walking through the extra steps.

[tonynalli]

thats why KA's are your friends. but im not sure how the oil would affect the tps.

[Nowhere]

Yes the shaft does move in and out about 1mm and moves side to side about 1.5mm. Could it have done this because I didn't pour some oil in the turbo before I put it back on? Because it was fine before I took it off.

Here's a MM scale. If you have 1.5 side to side and 1 in/out, your turbo is bad.Side to side is usually 1/10mm and there's no noticeable in/out play.1mm is about the same with as the "2" on a twenty dollar bill..

[ericherm1]

Ok guys, I just ordered an S15 turbo. I hope this cures my smoking problem.........

[afmafia]

did u ever figure out what the problem with your car was ?? honestly i dont think your turbo is shot . also where is your bov located on the driver side or passanger side of the car ??

[spider_slayer]

if the shaft is moving in and out it most likely is the turbo. a bad turbo will still make some boost............jsut not very efficently.

[ericherm1]

did u ever figure out what the problem with your car was ?? honestly i dont think your turbo is shot . also where is your bov located on the driver side or passanger side of the car ??

I think its the turbo due to fact that there is no oil in the coolent and no coolent in the oil. It does not overheat and only smokes when coming to a slow stop and while idling. It does not do it when its cold only when its warm. Also compression is good 162 in all cyl and not a drop of oil or coolent is visable anywhere around the head or block. Took the cam cover off and the oil is normal color.

I figured it was the turbo from talking with S14MARKSR over AIM. When I installed the cams, headgasket and greddy valve springs I errored and clocked the intake cam 3 teeth advanced so the exhaust mani super heated at idles and probably overheated the turbo too fast causing the trust bearing seals to go bad. Plus the car sat while I was on vacation back in June for 3 weeks with the exhaust fill of water half way up the downpipe. The water was from a flood that happend the 2nd day I was gone on vacation, thanks to the AF for plugging our storm drains ... but thats another story....

Anyhow after I fixed the cam timing I took it out let the motor idle at 1000rpm for 20 min and then 2000 for 10min to break in the head gasket. Then I took it out on the highway and holy crap it pulled like hell... was like a totally different motor...really put a smile on my face. Then I slowed down on the offramp and came to a stop at the stop sign and wham smoke screen.

[afmafia]

what was wrong with your car ?????

[yellow_jacket]

Have you pulled the plugs to check for oil residue yet? What about the charge piping? Any residue there.

I have installed many motors where the exhaust smoked for quite a while due to built up oil/antifreeze/water and residues from the previously blown motor. If this car had water all up in the exhaust from flooding, I would look there first. I actually had a mazda Milennia that took about three days to burn everything out of the exhaust from the previously blown heads.

[sr20detmaybe]

Here's a MM scale. If you have 1.5 side to side and 1 in/out, your turbo is bad.Side to side is usually 1/10mm and there's no noticeable in/out play.1mm is about the same with as the "2" on a twenty dollar bill..

no the 2 on a 20 dollar bill is about the same at a CM which is 10 mm, learn how to read a ruler.

[afmafia]

if i were u i would check your oil return and oil feed on the turbo i had the same problem . also check for boost leaks mainly off the bov

[ericherm1]

I just installed the S15 turbo and walla NO MORE SMOKE... but the bad idles is still there... probably from the MAF settings on the Power FC.

[afmafia]

do u still have the oil on the bov and is the oil dripping from there landing on the belts and spraying all over the place

[travisn]

you guys ignored the first thing he said. he installed a megan racing header and had to remove the oil seperator. so that means that the oil isnt being separated from the air tract in the pcv system which is what that is for. so you need a oil catch can to be put inplace where the stock "catch can" used to be. that way the good vapor can still make its way back into the intake and the residue will stay in the can, not in the intake. now i believe the turbo is bad too, but the pcv system is an important part of an engie and shouldnt be ignored. neither should a bad turbo, believe me.

[RobDET]

You are going to love that S15 T28.

And newberry check it out where he says that installing the new turbo fixed the smoke...

[heavy1metal]

a little off track, what would oil residue on the plugs mean?

[travisn]

it probably means that you have bad rings and oil is getting through (check compression and leak down. the little o-ring gaskets for the spark plug wells might be bad, check them too

[ericherm1]

Ok guys I think I figured this thing out. I changed the hose from the breather to the block and found on the stock hose that there is a resistor plug just before the catch can. I put that in the new hose and no more oil in the intake. The new turbo runs GREAT... should be pushing more than 300+ hopefully but the main problem with my car is the POWER FC so.... I just got me an new E5 ecu and am going to send it off for an Enthalpy tune ... hear he's the best. Anyhow the POWER FC will be up for sale soon!!

Any offers...

[ericherm1]

oh the hose that I used to replace the stock catch can is a universal "L" vacume hose for a brake booster. Works great!!