MichelleJD

UPDATE page 5


It looks like I may have had too much fun last night with my brief flirt with 20 psi. My car is belching oil smoke like the "skeeter man" (you in the south know what I'm talking about ). I can barely see behind me at low rpms. The faster I go, the less smoke there is. You can see puffs of smoke when I shift. This has just started. Did I blow my HG last night? The temp gauge is fine, so if it's blown it's not at the water jacket. Any ideas (or confirmation of my fears?).

streckfu's

Tough call, Michelle. You are not helping me look forward to my assembly! Does the smoke clear up any after the car warms? Does the amount of smoke increase with rpms (while in neutral)?

Did your EBC not limit the boost?

MichelleJD

No, the smoke does not clear after the car warms. It seems to get less with acceleration. The EBC limits boost okay, I just didn't set it properly on my first run last night. She hit 20 psi damn quick. I wouldn't have thought that would be a problem as I have an o-ringed head. I know there is argument over whether the WFHG or stock is any better. Mine is a WF. Maybe I should replace it with a stock one

I'm kinda hoping it IS the HG. My only other guess would be a ring problem....and that would REALLY make me an unhappy camper

WesM951

Sorry to hear Michelle. White smoke is usually blown HG, but i'd wait for other opinions before coming to a conclusion.

I get a small puff of white smoke when i first start it in the mornings, but i suppose its normal, nothing out of the ordinary after that.

Geo

Sorry Michelle. That sucks. Hopefully it's only a HG, but I'd see if you can find someone with a boroscope to make sure there isn't anything doing damage that can be mitigated.

Peckster

20! Even O-ringed, I don't have the money to play at that level. My guess is that oil smoke would be a bad turbo seal of something in that area.

If an HG, the temp could still show as normal. Check for low coolant, milkshake and clean plugs, if none of these it is likely somehing else.

Scott at Team Harco

Wow - that hurts. I'd pull the plugs first to see if you can identify a specific cylinder. You'll likely see one of more plug with oil on it. Then for fun I'd do a 'k'ompression check and a leak-down test. Both will help to narrow the search. No matter what you find - it won't be pretty.

There are three likely scenarios:
1) broken ring(s) in one or more cylinders
2) bad valve or valve seat seal
3) head gasket seal problem
...four
4) other (yeah - turbo seal is a possibilty)

Best of luck resolving this. This is going to be painful.

edit to fix the 'c' word that gets kompressed

MichelleJD

Me either! As soon as I saw it I pulled over and reset it at 17. The HKS is calibrated in kg so it's hard to figure out. It's right now though.

Scott:
I'm praying to god it's number 2 or 3 and NOT #1!

Dan87951

Geez michelle breaking it before i even get a ride in it...
Like scott said pull the spark plugs and do a compression check. While the spark plugs are out I would crank the motor over and see if you see any fluid coming out of the spark plugs hole. When I blew my head gasket I parked the car came on rennlist and was asking questions like “does white smoke indicate a blown head gasket?”... majority said yes. Well the moral of my story is when I went back out to mess with it I went to crank the car over and the motor was hydro locked. I pulled the plugs and sure enough coolant had gotten into the cylinders from the blown head gasket. That was the answer I got! I immediately drained the coolant and poored motor oil in the cylinders to prevent any corrosion. Not only did I have a head gasket to repair but now a broken starter because when I tried cranking the motor over when it was hydro locked (didn’t know at the time) it broke the ring gear on the starter. So becareful when cranking that car or you might be doing a starter soon like I did. If I was you I would turn it over by hand first before trying to turn over or just take the plugs out and crank it. Good Luck with it..

MichelleJD

I'll tell ya Dan - even without being properly tuned that thing was pulling like a train at 120! You can hear that turbo whine like crazy!

David Floyd

New engine, 20psi, 120 mph and not properly tuned =

I agree on doing a leakdown test.

Wish you best of luck as I know you have a lot of time and money in the rebuild.

TRWright

Can you actually see your oil level drop?

Dan87951

I bet Michelle!! That motor was designed to do one purpose kick ***!!
Do you have the ARC2 hooked up yet?
Park the car and drive the SUV around until you figure out whats going on.. Keep us posted.

Scott at Team Harco

Agreed. Anything in the bottom end is really bad.... as opposed to just bad for something in the head or head gasket. Keep us updated on the diagnosis.

MichelleJD

I'm about to do a compression test.

David - is right! Since I've tackled this thing once, the second time doesn't scare me. If it needs to be rebuilt, so be it. I already have plans to put a stand alone EMS in as the ARC2 is a royal PITA. I've been trying to tune this thing for days. It's close, but not yet right. As Anita is not my full time driver right now, I've got plenty of time to fix her. WHile Alicia is in Myanmar (Burma) i have the use of her 96 Contour. I also have my Exploder. I'm just tired of having to work on Anita and would rather have to do a HG job than a full rebuild. I guess it's how you learn