turbo problem? blue/white smoke and stalling. Long post

Hi everyone, I recently just got #711/2000. Im getting white/bluish smoke from the tail pipe. Im guessing its the seal on the turbo? or turbo itself. I seen cars with blown turbos but this doesnt really sound like it. Another thing is that I keep on looking under the hood, by the turbo or whatever and I dont see or smell any smoke or leaks or cracks of any kind. Im starting to think its something in the motor. Its not a really bad cloudy smoke but i can see it from my rear view when I gas it from a stop.

Another issue is that sometimes when it hits boost, and I neutral it, the car stalls. It seems it doesnt hold idle very well but it happens randomly. Im thinking its a idle air control?

Also, during acceleration(cruise speed) I feel a deceleration if I gas it less then a 1/4 in. Its weird, I have to downshift all the time.

Thanks for any help at all

 

[1990ggsxnj]

First thing's first is check your oil...DON'T RUN LOW...it sounds like you're eating a lot. Also, stop hitting boost if it's causing a problem.

If you think it's a turbo, looking at it under the hood won't do much. You have to at least pull the intake tube off of the turbo and check to see what's going on with movement of the shaft. Try spinning the compressor wheel. Spin freely? Any massive amounts of oil in the housing and/or intake tube?

Also, an easy thing to do is a compression test. If you're rings or valves are that bad, it should show there.

There are things afterwords, but try those first and see where it goes.

 

[Hertz]

Valve stem seals.

 

[1990ggsxnj]

Why do I keep forgetting about those little bastards?

Yes, if they leak, idle can suffer.

 

Just checked the oil, kinda low but still have some, I will recheck every now and then. Yeah I "tried" not to hit boost, but sometimes cant help it lol.
Will use that great info you gave me and check on the turbo tomorrow.
I'm begining to think its valve stem seals. Is there anything I should do or check to see if its the stem seals?
Also if it was to be the turbo, can I just get a stock gsx one and put it on? Sorry Im a nub at this.

 

[1990ggsxnj]

If you're compression is fine, pcv valve is fine, and turbo has checked ok, most likely it is the valve stems. USUALLY you will get the red flags for bad valve stems with smoke at idle, moderate/hard acceleration, and giving any gas after decelerating. The worse the seals, the more prominent the problem will be (IE possible idle/stalling problems).

If the compression is low, try adding oil to the cylinders and see if that helps. If compression jumps up, most likely it is rings that are worn (which doesn't sound exactly like what your problem could be).

Have you searched the Vfaq's at all?

Do the battery of tests and let us know what you find. Even if it's not needed, it's a good way to get to know your car and find any other problems that may exist.

 

Just checked compression is low on cylinder one. pcv was replaced, intake tube and around turbo has a lot of oil on it. When I get home I will try to find and replace the turbo. Would a gst or gsx turbo fit perfectly? I will try to boost up the compression also with oil but, my mechanic was saying the valve could be stuck closed and would require a $1200 head job. ()
Bad motor and turbo? Wow this really sucks.

What are VFAQ's?

I did go thru some searches and couldnt find anything close to or didnt find an answer.

 

[toybreaker]

Quoting 1990ggsxnj:
First thing's first is check your oil...DON'T RUN LOW...it sounds like you're eating a lot. Also, stop hitting boost if it's causing a problem.

If you think it's a turbo, looking at it under the hood won't do much. You have to at least pull the intake tube off of the turbo and check to see what's going on with movement of the shaft. Try spinning the compressor wheel. Spin freely? Any massive amounts of oil in the housing and/or intake tube?

Also, an easy thing to do is a compression test. If you're rings or valves are that bad, it should show there.

There are things afterwords, but try those first and see where it goes.



Excellent post! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/applause.gif

Quoting Vampirevr4:
Just checked compression is low on cylinder one



That's not good.

How low?

Quoting Vampirevr4:
my mechanic was saying the valve could be stuck closed and would require a $1200 head job.



Have your mechanic do a differntial leakdown test, and post the results.

That will tell the tale.

At this point, one of the best things you could do would be to ask some of the other california guys for help.

There's some really sharp guys out there!

Anybody want to lend a hand? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worthy.gif

 

[CarRacer]

Try using the '+' with your search words. +turbo +smoking +fix.


A 14b turbo that came stock off of a GSX or TSI is the same turbo that comes stock on these cars. I'm sure you can hit up the local DSM scene and find one pretty cheap.

 

The compression didnt even go beyond 40, about to oil it up to see if I can restore the compression. Turbo is getting replaced today found a stock tsi one.
As for the differntial leak down test that will have to wait cause my mechanic guy is booked for a while. I really appreciate the help on here guys. I cant belive how bad
of shape this car is, its really stressing me out cause I also need a daily driver.

Im still not sure what I'm going to do about the head situation. I'm getting a leak somewhere, and it would be my first time doing head work. Time to find a manual /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif