[Mk2] [Turbo] My Tubby-A Casual Smoker?!

[Greddy-Matt]

Hi guys,

Just wondering what could cause a car to smoke at idle??

I Had a bit of a worry yesterday. I pulled into the petrol station as I was seriously low on fuel, and was sat waiting for a free pump with the car in neutral and idling for about 5 mins.

I happened to look in the rear view mirror and saw whisps of thick white smoke coming out from under the rear of the car (not through the engine lid)!

I switched the car off ASAP, and it's not done it before or since...

Any ideas? Should i worry about this?

Regards

Matt

[RobCrezz]

Has it lost any coolant? Could just be a hose starting to leak?

[Greddy-Matt]

Good thinking I'll have a look I thought it might be oil leaking onto hot exhaust / down pipe but cant find any leaks..

[Ed]

Thick white smoke is more likely to be caused by oil than by coolant. Coolant would just be steam.

Check the downpipe and the exhaust for signs of oil leaking onto it and go from there. I take it the smoke wasn't coming from the exhaust but the actual engine bay.

[Greddy-Matt]

Im not sure where it was coming from because all i could see was smoke around/over my spoiler etc, I dont think it was coming from the bay because when i lfted the lid there was no trace of it, it seemed to be coming from under the car rather than out of the rear if that makes sense?

[Ry_B]

Was it a cold engine?

[Greddy-Matt]

Nope, Id done prob about 15 minutes of town driving first, she was up to temp easy aprox 90/95 degrees on oil temp She never smokes on start up

[Slarty]

Prossibly the oil seals on the turbo on their way out.

When you're at idle the oil pressure drops which stops the seals from sealing. Oil then leaks past onto the exhaust turbine and comes out as white smoke.

[Greddy-Matt]

thanks Slarty that sounds like a possibillity because i cant find any oil leaks anywhere! and I guess running @ 1.15 bar with the BOV partially open, and the turbo over spinning to compensate wont have helped things...

Is there any way to test the seals?

[Slarty]

I don't know of a way of testing them, sorry!

Pretty much every case I've heard of white smoke at idle has been the turbo oil seals though, both on here and on the GT4OC (obviously same engine/turbo).

hth?

[simmo490]

you aint runnin a nur spec by any chance are you?

[Driftlimits Performance]

change your oil to a 10-40 semi synth and keep on top of the changes.

[Greddy-Matt]

change your oil to a 10-40 semi synth and keep on top of the changes.

Ok, Im using 05-W40 fully synthetic at the mo, changed every 4-5months, what effect will using the 10w have Luke?

Not using a Nur Spec anymore, I've got a Motoria fitted

[Greddy-Matt]

Is more than likely the turbo as its smoking on standstill from the exhaust now when its warmed up. Looks like new turbo time!

[Bry]

are you sure it's not just condensation, due to the recent cold weather. Does the white smoke you mention smell ?

[Greddy-Matt]

I don't think its condensation, its after its fully warmed up and at standstill, its smokey rather than steamy, and smells like fuel / oil/burning, kinda bonfire rather than sauna lol...

[Bry]

I don't think its condensation, its after its fully warmed up and at standstill, its smokey rather than steamy, and smells like fuel / oil/burning, kinda bonfire rather than sauna lol...

Take the turbo intake piping off and see if there's any oil covering the turbo and the intake pipe

[Greddy-Matt]

There's a little black sticky sludge/residue on the hotpipe side of the turbo, and a small amount on the intake housing/blades but only a v small amount.? The oil breather pipe is still conected to the intake at the mo.

[mcoppen]

When the oil seals on my turbo went everytime i came to a stop and the revs dropped to idle a cloud of smoke would come out as oil was released past the seals then it would stop smoking completely and sit there happily. Is it doing this?

[Greddy-Matt]

Sort of, like the other day in stop start traffic, id move, come to a rest, then once the revs had dropped to idle, after a minute or 2 it started smoking untill i moved.