Why is my turbo smoking?!?

[jdm>usdm]

So yeah I have a turbonetics t3 50trim that was just rebuilt with a new turbine shaft and all the seals and stuff. I had it rebuilt because it was smoking. so I put it on the car after the rebuild and it was still smoking, so I was told to get an oil restrictor for the oil feed. but i already have what appears to be somewhere close to an .063 restrictor on there. and its not just a light smoke. the downpipe i have isnt connected to the rest of the exhaust and when i start it up oil sprays from the downpipe onto the ground. It cant be the motor because the plugs arent oily and i even pulled the turbo off the manifold and sat it off to the side with the oil lines still connected just to see if the motor would smoke at all without the turbo, and it didnt. anyone ever run into a problem similar to this or have any advice? this is my first turboed car so im still new to this and learning. maybe theres something i overlooked.

[scttydb411]

too large oil feed.
no restrictor.
kinked, restricted oil drain.
drain too low in pan or low point in line lower than where tapped into pan.
bad seals.

that's what usually does it.

[jdm>usdm]

Thanks. maybe its my drain line then. the line is a little too long so its not all down hill right into the pan, it levels out a little before it gets to the pan.. it may even drop a couple cm before it gets there now that i think about it.

[Whiteboy572]

If its a wet floating turbo i wouldnt rebuild it EVER, its beter to just replace it. See if the turbine shaft has any play in it. If it has a good bit ~1/8-1/4" thats probly the cause.

[Whiteboy572]

too large oil feed.
no restrictor.
kinked, restricted oil drain.
drain too low in pan or low point in line lower than where tapped into pan.
bad seals.

that's what usually does it.

Also a under sized return line could hender flow pushing the oil pressure through the seals.

[The Yousef]

peer pressure.

it's because all the cool turbos do it...and your turbo doesn't want to be a square.

[Whiteboy572]

peer pressure.

it's because all the cool turbos do it...and your turbo doesn't want to be a square.

Yeh, just convince other turbos to quit smoking and yours will too!

[Sport1.3]

i had a similar problem with a bad return line, even with my stock turbo.....mine has to be cleaned out every so often

[The Yousef]

Yeh, just convince other turbos to quit smoking and yours will too!

exactly.

or you can always try the patch...i'm not sure how well the boost patch will work though...

[Whiteboy572]

If you dont already i would put an earls in line oil filter, mesh screen, on the feed line also cause if you run a restrictor it will clogg up pretty easily. You would be suprised the things people look over when modding their car.

[Whiteboy572]

exactly.

or you can always try the patch...i'm not sure who well the boost patch will work though...

[jdm>usdm]

Haha thanks for the laughs and all the input. yeah it must be the drain line. and i know its not too small, its like 4x the diamater of the feed. and the turbo has no shaft play at all. The drain line must just need to be shortend up so gravity can do its job more effeciently.

[mitch lab]

My old car was boosted before, it wasn't the turbo my piston rings was shot. Try a leak down test.

[RandomGuy]

yessir@ rings being a possibility...

and also, you said you got a new turbine shaft? What is the reason for that... because if you got a new turbine shaft, the inside of the center housing could have been damaged along with the old shaft, mainly the 'land' which the turbine seal squeezes into... That'd be my #1 guess as it sits... and then possibly the motor/something unrelated.

A cheap fix find any low mileage garrett turbo... (either a junkyard saab 900, or anything thats not blown completely).. You can pick one up for 50 bux... Hell even an ebay one isn't so bad..

use the center housing off of that turbo and it'll bolt right onto your turbonetics (all 12 bolts).. you might have to get a new feed/return line based on what type of turbo you're getting.... pop in all the new bearings/c-clips/ seals ... get the shaft/compressor balanced... pop on all of ur housings from the turbonetics (only problem i can forsee is that on some turbonetics turbos, the backplate (the part behind the compressor housing) won't fit the center housing on regular turbos... but thats only if you have like a T04S or something big...


Just to clarify, i'm pretty sure, but you have a 50 trim, right? So its a small shaft turbo, right? BC if its a big shaft turbo you're going to have to get one of those expensive ass center housings. (or a new turbo)

[streak]

also check your PCV system for clogs, a clogged PCV valve made mine smoke, new valve & hoses for good measure. Make sure you have vacuum where it goes into also

[jdm>usdm]

My old car was boosted before, it wasn't the turbo my piston rings was shot. Try a leak down test.

compression is good in all the cylinders.

the motor was rebuilt with fresh stock internals just about 4k miles ago

[jdm>usdm]

yessir@ rings being a possibility...

and also, you said you got a new turbine shaft? What is the reason for that... because if you got a new turbine shaft, the inside of the center housing could have been damaged along with the old shaft, mainly the 'land' which the turbine seal squeezes into... That'd be my #1 guess as it sits... and then possibly the motor/something unrelated.

A cheap fix find any low mileage garrett turbo... (either a junkyard saab 900, or anything thats not blown completely).. You can pick one up for 50 bux... Hell even an ebay one isn't so bad..

use the center housing off of that turbo and it'll bolt right onto your turbonetics (all 12 bolts).. you might have to get a new feed/return line based on what type of turbo you're getting.... pop in all the new bearings/c-clips/ seals ... get the shaft/compressor balanced... pop on all of ur housings from the turbonetics (only problem i can forsee is that on some turbonetics turbos, the backplate (the part behind the compressor housing) won't fit the center housing on regular turbos... but thats only if you have like a T04S or something big...


Just to clarify, i'm pretty sure, but you have a 50 trim, right? So its a small shaft turbo, right? BC if its a big shaft turbo you're going to have to get one of those expensive ass center housings. (or a new turbo)

yeah my buddy has a turbo he was about to put on his car. i may just borrow that, put it on my car and see if that smokes..

but i have more than qualified people look at my turbo. two of them build and mess around with turbos for a living. i personally didnt choose to get a new turbine shaft. it was suggested to me by a buddy who knows what hes doing and i got a really good deal on it. he told me the turbo looks perfect.

i heard from someone that the drain line should always be a minumum of a -10. mine's a -8. would that have something to do with it?

[jdm>usdm]

also check your PCV system for clogs, a clogged PCV valve made mine smoke, new valve & hoses for good measure. Make sure you have vacuum where it goes into also

all of the lines look good

[08turb@x]

get a new turbo ebay ones are great if taken care of properly i have no problems with mine smoking and they are easy and cheap to replace just incase you blow the turbo again

[turbodawg]

Could be that you have oil pooling in your IC and IC pipes that is being blown into your motor by the turbo from when it blew before

[Psycho]

Your exhaust valves might have bad seals. Take the exhaust manifold off and check the valve stems for oil.

[RandomGuy]

true dat

[highspeed]

what size -AN line are you running. I had a similar problem and I went from a 4 to a 3 and that restricted the flow. They have it at Summits. Good luck either way

[jdm>usdm]

So i went ahead and just took it to a shop. Apperently whoever put this car together did a lousy job. first and foremost, i was told the clearences were off in the turbo and some of seal was in backwards. the guy who put together the tubo for me had tons of experience rebuilding turbos, and when i told him that a seal was in backwards he said that there were no seals to put in backwards. so i dont know. then there was like a 30 pound spring in the wastegate, and it was supposed to be tuned on just 4 pounds. and the vacume line that opens the wastegate was a steal braided one, but there was no rubber tube on the inside! so it did nothing! the spring in my bov was way too stiff, and all of the other vacume lines were too small. i feel like there was more but i cant remember. but thanks for all of the responses. they were greatly appreciated

[ejohnson88]

Man sounds like you have just had some issues bro. Can't wait for you to check out my turbo I got plenty of reps, had Mainstream build my turbo setup with my turbo, so you know it was done more right than a back yard tuner. If you are in the market for waste gates... I got my Turbonetics Evolution wastegate as well..