Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Technical => Engine Tech => Topic started by: 88turbo on August 31, 2005, 06:24:10 PM

Title: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on August 31, 2005, 06:24:10 PM
I noticed today that I have a slight amount of white smoke coming from my tail pipe does this mean my turbo is shot?  I have aproximatly 165k on the engine
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: greg wys on August 31, 2005, 08:58:21 PM
88turbo, sounds like its head gasket time.please dont shoot the messenger. do a compresion test on your cylinders. that should tell the tale.
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on August 31, 2005, 10:17:25 PM
*strangles greg*  I just got done putting a head gasket in  second one in two months thats not what I want to hear......  :nono:  the last one was last weekend dont tell me its blown
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: greg wys on August 31, 2005, 10:32:03 PM
alright, take it easy, did you have the head checked for flatness and or milled down a touch?if the exhaust smells a little sweet its coolant. maybe a crack somewhere you missed.
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on August 31, 2005, 10:34:02 PM
no harm meant.  checked the head with a straight edge and was ok  the smoke is oil  but it only does it once in a while.  so theres where I am thinking that the turbo is on its way out the door.  when dads turbo went it smoked alot worse.
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: greg wys on August 31, 2005, 10:38:18 PM
dont have a ton of exp. with turbos, white oily smoke cant be good though. glad its not the head gasket.
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on August 31, 2005, 10:41:59 PM
same here and I am also glad I picked up the extra turbo where you from btw
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: greg wys on August 31, 2005, 10:50:17 PM
Michigan, 30 miles west of the motor city
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on August 31, 2005, 10:58:53 PM
I live in kansas about 40 miles west of wichita
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 460 turbo truck on September 02, 2005, 09:31:05 AM
white smoke from oil ?! every time i've had oil smoke ( trust me i own a lot of oldies, 75 dodge pickup with 200K miles still running) and my turbo stang, that leaks oil into the exhaust housing, makes a nice pretty blue smoke...but the thing is....it makes lots of it,

but yours could be leaking into the compresser side, take of your charge pipe, and wipe the inside clean with a white paper towel, the see if it's oily....you may be getting into boost, and have the oil burn through the whole motor before you notice it ...
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 02, 2005, 06:20:28 PM
I'll give that a try but from what I have read alittle oil is normal.  wouldnt hurt anything to try never know with my luck though lets not go into that one though....
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 08, 2005, 08:21:07 PM
had the I/C off today and noticed a bit of oil on my lower hose.  I think its time for a turbo swap.  plus its starting to get a bit weak
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: BogusSVO on September 18, 2005, 07:03:20 PM
could just be bad valve stem seals, if it only smokes on start up or long lights....
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 18, 2005, 10:37:16 PM
Quote from: BogusSVO
could just be bad valve stem seals, if it only smokes on start up or long lights....


changed turbo's and it no longer smokes.  but now it doesnt want to accelerate with or without boost.  any ideas?  new tps, new plugs/wires, new rotor, cleaned connections inside dist, timing set at 10* btdc  I'm lost unless the tps needs adjusting
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: BogusSVO on September 19, 2005, 09:25:25 AM
is the waste gate actuator working properly? the new turbo you put on was it a new or used one? did ya plumb the vac line to the waste gate the right way?
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Tbird232ci on September 19, 2005, 10:33:48 AM
try to open and close the wastegate by hand, if you can open it relatively easily, you need a new actuator

how much boost is it making?
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 19, 2005, 11:10:35 AM
Quote from: BogusSVO
is the waste gate actuator working properly? the new turbo you put on was it a new or used one? did ya plumb the vac line to the waste gate the right way?


the turbo I put on was used but I couldnt move the wastegate by hand. its barely making 5psi but if I bypass the hoses on the I/C  I can make almost 10psi  wastegate was already hooked up when I got the turbo.  what is the little round box on the fender with the two wires and two vacuum lines? and what does it do? could it be bad?
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Tbird232ci on September 19, 2005, 02:13:55 PM
thats the boost control selenoid, they usually dont go bad

try taking the vacume lines off of the selenoid, and connecting them together, and see what happens with your boost, should be 15psi or so
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 19, 2005, 09:52:55 PM
I have tried what you suggested and I get about 10-15 psi.  I just got a boost controller from ebay.  is that where I need to install it?
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Tbird232ci on September 19, 2005, 11:00:43 PM
http://www.turbotbird.com/techinfo/GillisValve/GillisValve.htm

basically, where it says to put a plug, i just put caps over the fittings, and it works just as well, thats how i have mine routed

if you need pictures or anything, let me know, and i can pull the IC off and show you how mine is done
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 19, 2005, 11:56:18 PM
I think a pic would help but only if you dont mind pulling your I/C.  thanks
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Tbird232ci on September 20, 2005, 01:22:41 PM
alright, the pics didnt come out as well as i had hoped, especially since i kept burning my knuckles on the turbo, but heres what i got

(http://www.webpost.net/tc/tctbird87/Pict0038.jpg)
yes, i know its large, but i left it that way so things could be clearly seen

the split fitting i just capped off, you could use a pipe plug for it, which i believe its a 3/8's pipe thread, you can get em at most auto parts stores, similar to the one that i have on my inlet

on the inlet, if you kept all of your cruise control vacume lines, one of those tall fittings will have a line that goes to your intercooler, leave that one on, but cap the other off

(http://www.webpost.net/tc/tctbird87/Pict0039.jpg)
in this shot, you can see where my boost controller is tucked, right next to my turbo inlet hose, youll see a little bit a brass poking out, i would have free'd it up to show you how the lines are run more clearly, but i kept burning my knuckles like before

basically, you take a line directly from the vacume tree on the firewall, and run it directly to the bottom nipple of the boost controller, the one directly across from the adjustment screw, and then the other nipple on the boost controller gets run directly to the wastegate

if you need anything else, let me know, ill help ya out
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 20, 2005, 09:45:58 PM
thank you for the pictures, I think I have an idea of how to hook up my boost controller.  I unplugged my O2 sensor and it seems to be running alot better. I dont know why this would be.    but back to the boost controller...  cap everything on the turbo and I/C?  and run from the vacuum tree on the firewall. sorry if I sound stupid I dont really understand how this works.
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Tbird232ci on September 20, 2005, 10:30:41 PM
the line that runs from the turbo inlet to the a/c is for your cruise control, leave that one hooked up

cap off the rest

on the vac tree, there should be one nipple with a cap on it, uncap it and run that to your controller
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 20, 2005, 11:37:51 PM
got ya, I'll be doing this tomorrow.  also I think maybe my cam timing might be off a hair.  gonna check that too.  I think that might be why I am not accelerating like it should I'll let you know what I find.
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 21, 2005, 09:37:27 PM
well, I got everything hooked up and it is boosting 15+ but I think my cam timing is way off because I have no power what so ever and it sounds as if its backfiring throught the exhaust.  are there any tips or tricks when setting cam timing on the 2.3?  I seem to have no luck :dunno:
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Tbird232ci on September 21, 2005, 10:24:44 PM
do a compression test, backfiring through the exhaust could be cam timing, or a blown headgasket

a compression test is a bit easier than messing with cam timing
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 21, 2005, 11:58:59 PM
not the head gasket again..... lol  could it be possible that I have the boost set too high?
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Tbird232ci on September 22, 2005, 10:25:44 AM
ive run mine as high as 21psi without too much issue, didnt go any faster with the IHI, but it was up there

too much boost wouldnt cause that problem
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 22, 2005, 12:53:33 PM
its starting to boost at maybe 1200 rpm's  and thats showing a full 16psi on my stock guage  kind of acts like if trying to force too much air into it too soon.  I'm gonna play around witht he controller today and see what happens. turn it all the way down and start from there like I should of done in the first place.... :crazy:
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Tbird232ci on September 22, 2005, 02:26:00 PM
mine used to boost that low, untill my IHI decided it doesnt like too much

18psi is the highest you should really run, and thats about what i run with my IHI

you have exhaust on the car? or an intake of sorts?
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Chuck W on September 22, 2005, 04:12:40 PM
Quote from: 88turbo
  I unplugged my O2 sensor and it seems to be running alot better. I dont know why this would be.   



Plug it back in or buy/install a new one.  Your other posts talk about backfiring through the exhaust and being low on power.....It's running in open loop and probably a bit rich.  These cars are made to run with an O2 sensor.....
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: Tbird232ci on September 22, 2005, 04:42:06 PM
Quote from: Chuck W
Plug it back in or buy/install a new one.  Your other posts talk about backfiring through the exhaust and being low on power.....It's running in open loop and probably a bit rich.  These cars are made to run with an O2 sensor.....

good call, i didnt even catch that

by unplugging it, and it running better shows that your O2 is bad, and you need to replace it, its in limp home mode and wont run properly
Title: Re: smoke.....
Post by: 88turbo on September 22, 2005, 10:13:56 PM
intake is stock I'm not sure on the exhaust but its single  something the guy before me did.. :nutkick:  thats how I feel about him.  anyways O2 (only 2 months old Bosch) is plugged in.  I decided that I needed to check my timing today and it was firing after tdc  so there was my backfiring problem  car is running pretty decent now but it kind of bucks while accelerating.