midcont

In the late fall, mid October ish I had a new but well known shop do an oil and filter change.
On getting the car back there was significant smoke on startup.
I reported back to the mechanic but in the two or three times I drove the car over the next few weeks the smoke diminished and then stopped on startup
By mid November the car was parked for the winter
When I went to get it out a week ago I found a big pool of oil under the left turbo
I called the mechanic and reopened the issue
All the while they have insisted no overfill, oem filters properly installed etc
The car never smoked and never dropped oil before
The mechanic wants me to have him install the oil backflow valve but I've tried that before and had issues and the car really never needed it (I had done it as a preventative measure but it didn't work properly and was removed)
So the mechanic says nothing wrong turbos leak and install the kit
I think I'll take it to another mechanic
Will I risk damage to the turbos by driving it? Any thoughts to what could be the issue if the mechanic is accurate?

wagongotya

check to make sure the oil filters aren't overtightened. might save yourself a huge headache with something easy.

midcont

He claims they were not over tightened
I asked specifically

Mike J

hmm what did you expect him to say?

"Oops, sorry, I guess I am not a professional after all, and over-tightened the filter, possibly blowing your Turbo"...

Did anything else change? Brand or weight of oil? Any other changes?

These cars seem to be sensitive and at times just start to smoke - I am not sure if there is a pattern except for the usual suspects, like brand of filter and tightening torque.

Cheers,

Mike

Texas993

I went to a well respected parts house today in DFW, but advertises nationally. I had never gone there and wanted to meet them. I asked for filters for my upcoming oil change. They only carried Mahle! Seriously! I walked and drove straight to the dealer (where they discount to the same price as Sunset). I couldn't believe that a well know shop would sell those.

To the OP. Yes, you need to have someone - who isn't defense about their work - check it out. If it is smoking, I wouldn't drive it far. It just makes clean up more difficult and won't help the turbos. It could be lots of things happening. As stated above, do the easy stuff first. Curious about the check valves not working out. I've never heard that before.

ca993twin

It is very easy for a shop to use the Mahle filters... Mahle claims they are the correct filter for both the NA and the TT. Mahle is a well respected brand... they simply have this application wrong. Who knows how many turbos have been misdiagnosed or ruined by these filters.

midcont

Well he was adamant about using oem filters and not overtightening
Looks like I'll have to pay somebody else to correct the problem--my regular shop Powertech
So should the car be ok to drive 50 miles or so or will I be doing permanent damage?

midcont

Apparently my then 16k mike turbos were "corroded" preventing a good seat with the valve and would require machining the turbo housing
It went from a few hundred dollar preventative maintenance to over 1k
Because I never had the problem anyway I reversed it
They've been sitting in a baggie in the passenger armrest ever since

Texas993

I'm sorry that I am of no help. I don't think that it is easy for someone to tell you if it will harm the turbos or not. If it is leaking badly, it will impact the turbos because the turbines will not be able to turn with the weight of the oil. And the excess oil could make its way into places where it should not.

But, I am hardly an expert. I experienced the problems of turbos leaks last year. I removed my turbos and had them rebuilt. When I re-installed them, I installed the check valves and new turbo lines. I did the work myself, so I am familiar with the process. But I am not familiar with diagnosis beyond my own issues.

I'd call the shop where you plan to take it next and ask them. It is pretty easy to drain some oil before you drive it. You could drive the rear tires on some boards to get a little lift and drain the oil from the turbos. You would get a bit out that way.

Good luck.

badabing

I would have it flatbedded the 50 miles. The cost of tow will far outweigh the risks to the car if driven. In fact I wouldnt run the engine at all.

I had 2 similiar incidents in the past few years. First it was passenger tailpipe billowing due to use of Mahle filters. Second time 2 years later it was driver side due to overfill.

In both cases I had the car towed, but just starting and idling the engine to maneuver the car into place to be picked up sent oil throughout the engine including intercooler, its hoses, intake runners, turbos and their plumbing and into the exhaust.

If you search my post on the same subject you will see some additional sage advice from Kevin about why it is ill advised to run the engine in this condition.

After correcting the cause of the condition (either overfilled or failed filter) all the above mentioned systems should be dismantled, checked for oil and cleaned. In my case I even had to replace one muffler because the sound deadening packing had become so saturated with oil that everytime it warmed up, it smoked (not billowing) and reeked of burning oil. It took me awhile to come to that conclusion that it was the muffler and all the while I feared one of my turbos had failed because of the constant smoking.

After cleaning up the mess, the car runs perfectly and the only smoke I get is the occassional puff on startup, no different than when it was new. And it hardly ever does it at that.

I am the original owner, the car has 32K, and like you I have the original turbos with no check valves or redesigned oil lines and the car did not smoke before.

Hope this helps and let me know if I can help you in any other way.

midcont

It's frustrating to me because it's clear that they don't want to clean out the mess caused by whatever was done incorrectly on the install
They won't cop to anything done wrong and want to sell me that back flow kit instead. I definitely get the feeling of standoffishness from the tone on the phone and not sure why.
So I'll have to pay somebody else to do it. Hopefully at that time they'll tell me what was done wrong.
To clarify my op this is not a new shop, just new to me.
Any advice on how to approach this or should I just cut my losses and run?

rcg412

Mike @ Poweretech knows to use the right filters. he did my PPI/intiial work on my turbo and even mentioned they use the OEM filters in this case, not the Mahle. but for what it is worth i use Rennwerke for everything, i think they know the cars a bit better. PM me for more info.

Quadcammer

Josh, sorry to hear of your issues.

mind pm'ing me which shop this is?

thanks.
Oliver

Andreas Langhoff (2nd reg)

There is a reason why I did a set of modified oil return lines...

http://www.zweisteintrading.eu/993_turbo_oil_lines.htm

Good luck
Andreas

midcont

Wanted to update my post.
So my trusted mechanic-Powertech-went through the car a few weeks ago and it looks like its a very slow leak from the valve cover. This would explain why there was a small pool of oill after the car sat over the winter.
It's not been dripping in the last few weeks, probably because I'm driving it and there is no smoke.
Why it was smoking like crazy right after the oil change still has me scratching my head. Maybe something was spilled?
Why the original shop coulden't have done the diagnosis over the week they had the car back also has me scratching my head.

So I'll live with a little leak from the valve covers I guess. Porsche calls for 10 hrs or something crazy to change them but research here tells me its more like 2-3.