whats up with my engine?

marco · April 11, 2008, 10:51:43 AM

i am getting more and more smoke from my car. it still starts and runs fine, but the smoke cloud is stating to worry me and i would like to get it sorted.

the engine was rebuilt and street ported by wgt 40K ago and had an apexi fitted. I have since done a full rats nest simplification. compression test are according to Reworx \'excellent\' and i haven\'t had to top the water up (touch wood). how ever it is not making boost correctly and i am topping up the oil more often. it also feels down on power and less responsive. the smoke is light grey kind of colour and feels watery/greasy to touch. oh and the exhaust smells RICH! i can only see this at idle but i guess it is doing it all the time.

so from my deductions, it is either burning oil or chucking a load of fuel in. if it is fuel it could be the apexi playing up, or possibly sticking injectors? if it was a hose coming loose of the fpr then i would think it would be terminal and the engine would have gone pop by now.

if it is oil then it cold be one of four things-
turbo seals gone (original turbos with 90K on them)
oil blow by forcing it into the turbo intake
OMP system gone to pot
one or more seals in the engine have gone.

any more suggestions? and just how likely is it that an engine seal has gone? that would be the worse case scenario as it would be a rebuild job, and cost would be an order of magnitude greater. anything else can be overcome as i upgrade.

any advice, pointers, hint etc would be greatly received as i am stumbling blind into this!

cheers
marco

Brett · April 11, 2008, 11:07:28 AM

I\'d suggest the turbos have had enough, that would explain the lack of power and smoke.

AtomicRex · April 11, 2008, 11:12:45 AM

We\'ve loads of old turbos hanging around....

marco · April 11, 2008, 11:14:40 AM

cheers. whats the best way to check, take the intake off and look for play/ loads of oil in the inercooler pipes?

i amy as well use it as an excuse to upgrade the turbos hadn\'t i?

interloper393 · April 11, 2008, 11:47:35 AM

yip id say your tubbys are pumpy, just go the full on and rebuild the engine with massive ports and a t51

AtomicRex · April 11, 2008, 11:50:08 AM

nah....dont go for the old t series...you want to go with the newer gt series!! Using turbo technology that is twice the age of the car isnt the way forward!!!

marco · April 11, 2008, 11:53:29 AM

good advice interloper, can i borrow 5k please?

just debating uprated twins or a GT35r. either way it is going to need uprated fueling and a remap so would cover most of the other possible failure points.

am going to have a look at my tubs now. if i can use them for another month or so so i can save up the cash for the tubs then so much the better.

BlitzBoy · April 11, 2008, 11:54:59 AM

Go for the the T51 BB, new techonlgy

But seriously sounds like Turbos.
Work out if you want more power or not, if not just get another used twinturbo pack.

marco · April 11, 2008, 12:01:06 PM

who doesn\'t want more power?

actually have been thinking about it for quite a while, as at the back of my mind i sort of \'knew\' that my tubs were on the way out, for me driveability is everything, and i don\'t want big power. have always thought 350 at the wheels is about the right point. its just a case of how to get there. cost wise i guess that uprated twins and a cheap single kit is going to be similar, so it is going to be a trade off between simplicity and reliability, with low down response. oh and the fact that the insurers wont even bother with lube if i went with a single!

Jin Kazama · April 11, 2008, 01:03:22 PM

Quote from: AtomicRexnah....dont go for the old t series...you want to go with the newer gt series!! Using turbo technology that is twice the age of the car isnt the way forward!!!

^^What he said! I cannot understand why so many people get all wet about these old dinosaurs!

AtomicRex · April 11, 2008, 01:08:01 PM

Quote from: Jin Kazama^^What he said! I cannot understand why so many people get all wet about these old dinosaurs!

I think wet is a little bit of an exaggeration...Id say moist really

AtomicRex · April 11, 2008, 01:09:12 PM

Oh and Jin

How the hell is anyone meant to take you seriously with that avatar...lol

Jin Kazama · April 11, 2008, 01:25:32 PM

:Laugh It\'s my twin brother.

BlitzBoy · April 11, 2008, 01:28:17 PM

Quote from: marcowho doesn\'t want more power?

actually have been thinking about it for quite a while, as at the back of my mind i sort of \'knew\' that my tubs were on the way out, for me driveability is everything, and i don\'t want big power. have always thought 350 at the wheels is about the right point. its just a case of how to get there. cost wise i guess that uprated twins and a cheap single kit is going to be similar, so it is going to be a trade off between simplicity and reliability, with low down response. oh and the fact that the insurers wont even bother with lube if i went with a single!

for 350atw the GT3540 is ideal you will hit that with a mild street port at 0.8 BAR.

PS If you want big power T51 or T88 or GT42RS but make sure you go for a wild street port to spool those buggers

And yes my dinsosaur of a T51 does make me moist and with the porting and tuning the spool up puts most mid sized turbos to shame

ITS ALL IN THE TUNING

marco · April 11, 2008, 04:52:25 PM

right then, just had a look at my turbos, and there is no oil in the piping from the tubs to the intercooler (so that rules out oil blow by from the crank ventilation system i guess) and both turbos seem to spin freely, and have no axial play at all, but \'some\' radial play. dont the bearings have some paly in as standard? how much is some? i would guess mine has 0.5mm, even when i pushed it to its max amount of play and then tried to spin them , they were stiffer but it didn\'t feel like they were fouling on the housings.

so is the best guess still the tubs, or could the pfc have gone belly up? if it had then that would also explain the lack of boost. i am starting to wonder if it has reset itself- is there anyway to check?