The RBambler needs HELP!

[bmxarmy]

Hey guys,

I have a few issues I really need to resolve ASAP, as I was planning on going out to the drags this weekend and the rambler isnt running to good.

It started after the weekend trip to the car show. I drove aprox. 120 miles all in. a total of 250 on the motor so far. ( Since I have had it, I did not rebuild s*** on it)

Car is running 11-12psi, no creep. Around 12.2-12.6 AFR under boost. 14-15 at idle

Between shifts while under boost I get a fairly decent puff of smoke, and after driving it for a while....slightly hard at idle it will smoke. If I drive like a granny it seems not to do it. I did not have any crankcase ventilation at the time, so I did that tonight......nothing changed.

The other thing is that it seems to surge while at a constant rpm or lightly accelerating, like it goes and lets off. over and over every second or so instead of a steady acceleration. It also didn't do this at first. Is it possible my plugs could cause this? It was seeing really rich conditions at first and I never checked the plugs yet.

Thanks in advance for the help and all the support getting the rbambler as far as it has gotten already!

nolan

[RRRRB]

id check the TPS, the plugs wouldnt be a bad idea either

what color is the smoke?

If its bluish color you might have a turbo starting to s*** the bed

[bmxarmy]

Bluish color, turbo has got more shaft play than it should.....definitely more than what it had when I got it. I'm not sure what I did wrong though. I ran a big a** drain line as straight as possible and have an oil restrictor in the feed line (A little bigger than 1/16")

TPS should be ok as i get a full sweep reading in the megatune program, and it stays steady on the screen as I accelerate.

Anyone other ideas?

[240z4u]

What turbo is it? It could be valve stem seals if it is smoking on decel and initially when it starts up. The turbo is the more likely suspect.

[SlowKoop]

Its an hx35 I didnt see if you put a restrictor on the turbo oil feed? But thats the same exact thing that mine was doing when my holset went out. When you get on the throttle watch the oil psi, mine goes to about 80 psi in higher rpms? Holsets aren't designed for that much pressure. Ill try and find the restrictor that I used, what size is your oil feed line?

[SlowKoop]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/12mm-x-1 ... 0785493901

Something like this should solve your problem.

[robbie2883]

if it only smokes at idle or start up then that's the most likely culprit. the only way to know for sure is to see if there's oil on the back of the valves which requires a boroscope or to remove the intake and exhaust manifold. it could be the turbo and you're just not seeing all the smoke while you're moving. if the turbo is bad it will be constantly smoke...not just here and there. did you prime the turbo before starting the car? and neither of those explain the surging though. what are your air fuel ratios doing while surging? usually that type of surging is a tuning issue. either the afr's or timing...or a sensor connection problem.

another thing...did you set your base tps and timing on the motor?

[SlowKoop]

For some reason with my hx even with the restrictor I get alot of smoke out the exhaust after I run the car hard but then it goes away after the car settles down for a minute. I would see if there is any oil on the hotside of the turbo or maybe in your intercooler piping.

[bmxarmy]

Base tps is open to 4% to allow some air by as I have no aac or iac right now. Base timing is set...it is done through the edis ignition. I got new plugs today and will try that.

My I/C piping is clean and so is the exhaust, ( I had the down pipe off to weld in the crankcase evac) Turbo has some side to side shaft play and a rebuild kit is on route. Oil restrictor is a hair bigger than 1/16"

No smoke at start up, it is a big blue puff during shifts while under boost. Normal driving nothing is seen. After a few hard pulls it will smoke at idle then clear up.

I will try the plugs tonight and see if anything clears up.

[Zacho2]

No smoke at start up, it is a big blue puff during shifts while under boost. Normal driving nothing is seen. After a few hard pulls it will smoke at idle then clear up.

Sounds like valve stem seals to me, a going turbo in my experience smokes very often especially at idle. Here is a friends 1J we diagnosed and replaced the stem seals on. Should give you a good comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRLru2DDIyI

[robbie2883]

i forgot you were running a complete standalone with it's own timing setup. th smoke deff sounds like valve stem seals as mentioned

[DustinZ]

Run the bov recirc. The bov sounds like it's cracking open during cruise. Your issue is likely right at the edge where positive pressure is produced. Hope that helps.

Dustinz