Engine smoke from DP/Y-pipe area?
 

I have noticed small puffs of smoke coming from under my intake pipes (at a rate of about one puff per 40 seconds). Also, I can see a small flame ignite for a split second. I need some help on diagnosing the issue.

Facts:
1) Only happens after I have been boosting. If I stay away from hard driving there is no smoke. Was first noticed after a track hot-lap.

2) The smoke doesn't smell sweet.

3) It appeared to be coming from under my intake hoses. I removed them and saw some oil build up on the y-pipe, and inside the coupler that attaches the y-pipe to the charge pipe connected to the intercooler.

4) I cleaned up the y-pipe and any area where i saw any oily residue, Reassembled/tightened couplers and drove her hard again. Still had smoke coming from under the y-pipe.

Are there any common oil related smoke issues in this area? I did a search but didn't find anything conclusive. Any help in troubleshooting wold be appreciated.

The smoke could be coming from one of your turbo oil feed lines and is dripping down on the exhaust manifold causing the smoke. It could also be oil from excessive blow by from the crankcase vent system. I would not drive the car until the problem has been found. Many FDs have burned up due to engine fires.

If the secondary turbo oil return line leaks, it drips right on the down pipe. Parts to fix it are cheap, but it's not to easy to get to.

Paul

lol... sounds exactly like mine, mine is the second oil return line, I replaced the gasket on it and somethings wrong with it, I just got the car running again after being down the past two weeks and now I can't drive it! ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGH.
anyways get underneath and see what's leaking, or if you're not a skilled mechanic get a friend who is to help ya out, my roommate is a diesel mech and he did it for me.
anyways call rotary performance (rx7.com) when you figure it out and they'll set you straight on what you need.

I could never really figure out exactly where the oil leak originated, but it did get fixed. We removed everything down to the bare turbos and reassembled and torqued everything down.

No more leak, and no more fires. Yay!.

that seems like the solution to half the problems on these cars, take everything apart, put it back together, and see where you're at when the dust settles, confusing, annoying, yet gratifying.

Mine did almost the same thing except for the fire part. The smoke was coming from the y-pipe area and it ended up being a bad y-pipe o-ring. My problem started after a track day. The o-ring turned hard as if it were made of hard plastic and wasnt sealing at all. A new o-ring took care of it.

It's back.
 

No flames any more, and it only happens after 5 hotlaps when I pull into pit lane. Just a little bit of smoke/vapours coming from under the y-pipe. Wan, I'll have to try your o ring solution.

Once the car cools down, reach under the y-pipe to see if theres any oil right where the two y-pipe halves meet. 3 track days in a row completely destroyed mine. Hopefully its an easy fix for you as it was for me. :icon_tup:

I believe all rx7 smokes ? as I was told all rotary burns alot of oil ... correct me if I'm wrong. I've seen this on my friends turbo FC too

Not necessarily. And definitely shouldn't come dirctly from the IC piping...

All rotaries burn oil by design, yes. However that does NOT mean there should be smoke coming from anywhere in the engine bay. Any fluid leaking in the engine compartment is a potential problem.