Turbo rebuild time?

[SpeedRacer1]

Alright I have a pretty bad bluish-white smoke coming out of the exhaust at all times (well its cold and dry here) and I can see it really well. I am losing both oil and coolant, oil at a more alarming rate than coolant. When I removed my hot pipe there was oil coating it. When I removed the intake tube i saw a nice little pool of oil collecting in the air outlet the led to the compressor.

Now I understand that when someone is burning oil its usually for one of a few things, the common problems are valve stem seals going bad, blown headgasket or turbo seals failing. I am assuming that since ive located the oil sitting in the turbo that it is the turbo seals and not either of the other two. Anybody care to agree or more deeply inform me? I'll get a pic of the pool if anybody wants to see it:pface

[ItzGenX]

"burning" oil is also caused by worn piston rings, deposits around valve seat, and any type of oil gasket along the engine.

[Team503]

Blueish-white is definitely oil - white is coolant usually. Sounds like the seals on your turbo are gone, and you're probably just leaking coolant.

What does the exhaust smell like? What does the engine bay smell like? Is there smoke (even a tiny bit) coming from anywhere in the engine bay (blown turbos usually emit some smoke)?

Have you done a leakdown test on the coolant system?

[SRdS14]

right now mine is doing the same thing...well actually only when i idle. i'm almost 100% that its my turbo. its been past 60K which is rebuilding time, but luckily i'm upgrading anyways. have you done a leakdown/compression test? mine came out fine, but it was still smoking...however, it COULD be your piston rings slowly wearing...but i doubt it. count on it being your turbo. ~Scott 95 sr20

[SpeedRacer1]

Well seeing as how my turbo is now on the floor in my garage and will soon be on its way for an estimate its a little late to check those things. We'll see what happens, if it isnt the turbo then im in a new world of hurt.

[Team503]

If it's not the turbo, do a compression test on the block to check for leakage on the rings/gaskets. If you're losing compression, you have a bigger problem than boost.

[gtune4]

mine just started smoking pretty bad tonight as well. the idle is rough, and there is definitly oil in the hot pipe?any suggestions

[dj_lennon_franz]

its more than likely yer turbos...remember...these engines have been sitting in a DAMP junkyard for up to 12 years and all that water that has built up inside the turbo from sitting has prolly rotted away those turbo seals inside...mine began smoking like that when i was boosting 14 PSI...nothing MAJOR to worry about...shouldnt hurt the engine...if the turbo goes out the exhaust will just bypass the turbo...engine wont have **** for power but nothing major....just either replace the turbo or buy a rebuild kit (im trying to save to get a T3T4 setup right now) but i turned the boost down to stock and the smoking went away...still burns a bit of oil but nothing to cause white smoke...just a really annoying smell

[Movingviolation240]

Have any of you guys actually taken appart a turbo to see what it looks like? It's basically impossible for you to get water from the centersection to the compressor. And turbo seals are just like piston rings, only smaller.

I'd check compression, even with the motor cold you should get all the numbers within a few points of eachother. It sounds to me like it COULD be a headgasket if your are burnning coolent. It's normal to have oil in the inlet and in all the turbo plumming. Look in the turbo manifold and see where the 'shinny' stuff is... either in the turbine section of the turbo or in the inlet. That will give you a good idea where the oil is coming from. I've never seen the compressor side of a turbo have a ring failure before the turbine side (since that's the side with all the heat) so that's more than likely where your problem is. Just take the reverse thread nut off the front of the turbo (after you strip down the centersection) then tap the shaft out of the centersection after you pull the compressor wheel off. Then you can see the rear oil seal. More than likely if it went out it colapsed and you'll see that it no longer looks like a piston ring but more like a peice of safety wire or somthin wraped around the shaft. Useually when that seal goes bad there is a lot of cooked oil behind and around the carbon sheild (little stamped steel bowl shaped thing between the turbine wheel and the centersection). It will also feel pretty gritty when you try and turn the thing by hand.

Now if the inside of the exhaust manifold OR the inlet to the turbine section has a shiney blackish color to it then you have problems up in your motor and you can forget wasteing money on a turbo rebuild and start trying to find a new headgasket.

PaulOrlando, FL