So, we got the completely rebuilt motor started the other day and...smoke everywhere. BUT, I am not talking about normal assembly lube smoke, I am talking such massive amounts of smoke it cant be explained...amounts that could fill a 3000 square foot shop so thick you couldnt see in like 2 minutes. We let it run for a good 20 minutes, and the smoke didnt even thin out. I pulled off the turbo and it looked like there was oil in the rear housing..yet when we pulled the plugs they were clean. What could this be?

 

Oil control rings and/or springs installed incorrectly. Who did the rebuild?

 

I think the builder reused the oil rings or the spring fail.

 

Too much oil in the turbo blowing out the turbine side. Put a restrictor pill in the oil feed line.

A builder would have to be super negigent and/or blind to screw up the oil control rings and not know it. And unless there are MAJOR flaws with the iron faces or port shape, it'd be hard to have an engine burn that much oil. Plus the plugs are clean...

The fault is likely in the turbo. Disconnect the oil feed line, clamp on a piece of hose and route it back into the oil filler neck. Use vise grips on the nut on the compressor wheel to keep the turbo shaft stationary, then fire it up and let it run. Slowly rev the rpms up to 3k and let it run for a while to heat up the exhaust and burn off the oil that is there now. IF the smoke dies down and eventually goes away, you've found the issue. You can then try a restrictor in the oil feed line/fittings, and if the problem comes back, then you know you need a turbo.

You'll have to route the intake tubing to the AFM around the turbo to do this...

 

Ok, I will give that a try. I am obviously hoping its the turbo and not the motor. Dont gotta worry about AFM, got haltech. If there is too much oil in the turbo though, how is it filling the rear rotor exhaust port?

 

I thought you said that the oil was in the rear housing...of the turbo...when you pulled it off?

IF the oil is coming from the port on the engine, then yes there is an internal issue.

Just so you know, you can use the same procedure above and run the engine open header...plug the oil drain hose from the turbo, reroute the oil supply line into the oil filler neck or drain tube, and fire it up.

 

I agree it's most likely the oil control rings... I had the very same problem when I rebuilt the 13b in my 86' RX7 N/A... It smoked like crazy as it idled in my driveway... low or no oil pressure... very poor compression... too much oil was seeping into the rotor housings... oil burned excessively... my fault for not seating the rings correctly no worries... just a moinor set back.