gio64

iTrader: (1)

Hi everyone. I am having some issues (or at least I think some of them are) and I see something that doesn't make sense to me.
I apologize ahead of time for I am a newbie.

I was doing my Even cheaper bastard mod and I took the stock airbox to test-fit the mod before epoxying it together and continuing the installation.

Issue # 1 Even Cheaper Bastard Intake Mod Fitment.

I lowered the mod into place and I am having some problems fitting it.
a) the intake doesn't go all the way down so that the lip with the bolt can rest on the chassis where the unused hole is. This is due to the fact that the inner side (towards the fans shroud) doesn't fit between the fan shroud hole and the side of the chassis (see pic 1).


b) Looking down at the area where the intake mod should end up sitting, it seems to me that there wouldn't be any opening through which air could be sucked into the intake box; in other words, I feel that -even resolving the binding/fitment issue- that box I'm putting in, would be (more or less) sealed from the outside as there are no visible spaces that remain open.

Issue # 2 Mystery unhooked hose
After removing the top and bottom part of the intake box, I noticed that there is a hose that came out of it (on the intercooler side of the intake box), that goes from the intake itself to... nowhere! It is the hose in the picture below that has the rusty clamps. Its lower end is just flapping in mid-air; if you look hard you can see the loose end under the other hose.


Issue # 3 Oil in the intake
After removing the intake box, I noticed this "stream" of what appears to be oil that goes apparently, from the BOV intake filter box hole to the first turbo intake hole.
(pic 1)


I am thinking that it is coming out of the BOV hose and downward to the primary intake hose.
There is some oil on the edge of the turbo intake hose.
I also noticed that there is a bit of oil moisture right around these two vacuum lines.
(Pic 2)


I pulled them to have a look at the inside, but I don't seem to be able to see well inside to understand whether or not there is any oil in them.
a) Now, I am thinking that the primary turbo is leaking oil. I don't see any smoke billowing out of the exhaust while changing gears. I (as some of you can recall) had a blue smoke at startup issue which seems to be somewhat resolved; I had done an oil change and I had switched to synth; this seemed to have caused the smoke and so I switched back to mineral; however, the smoke seemed to only have got better, not resolved; I capped both ends of the PCV line from oil filler neck to UIM. Once the car is up in temperature, there is never any smoke coming out of the tailpipe. Last couple of times I started it, there was hardly any blue smoke (I am not sure it was blue, very hard to tell).
b) I also cannot explain the oil moisture. If I have searched and studied right, one of these two hoses inserted in the intake comes from the oil filler neck. If I understand this right, the oil filler neck vacuum line is constantly under vacuum, no matter what the conditions (vacuum or boost) are.

I have a somewhat related question. If I switch gears under vacuum, is it safe to assume that the BOV wouldn't open?

Needless to say, I would really appreciate any help I can get, I am anxiously waiting for your (incredibly vast) wisdom.
I forgot to mention that the car is completely stock, with the exception of the DP. I have pulled the intake filter and it might be a K&N, but I have to have a look at it, I didn't have time since I noticed these things and came over here to write the post.
Please excuse the length and anticipated thanks for all your input.
Giovanni

gio64

iTrader: (1)

I have checked both the sides of the BOV hose and it looks like they're dry.
The section coming out of what I believe to be the Y pipe at the attachment with the pipe seems to have a bit of oil at the connection.

I was also going to ask if this oil could be from the time I put synth in.
Once again, help would be really appreciated.

TpCpLaYa

iTrader: (10)

the intake hose should go to nowhere.....yep its weird but that is totally normal

and yes, its possible that your BOV is blowing a little bit of oil...ALOT of oil would be bad but a little is normal

and one of those two vacuum hose on the primary turbo intake runs from the PCV and is SUPPOSED to inject a lil bit of oil into the primary tract

if your getting alot of oil, which u said u couldnt determine, i would replace the PCV

gio64

iTrader: (1)

First off, thank you for the reply.

Like I said, I don't know if this oil is a little, some or a lot.
Here's all I can factually state:
1) Until I changed to synth, there was no oil consumption and no blue smoke
2) After I changed to synth, there was a lot of smoke at startup
3) After I changed back to mineral, the smoke was less
4) After I eliminated the PCV, the blue smoke at startup was even less
5) Until I changed to synth, I never noticed oil levels going down on the dipstick. The car was driven for about 600 Kms over that period of time
6) After I changed to synth, the oil on the dipstick goes down noticeably (or at least, that's what I though, read on)
7) There is no smoke after the car has warmed up, blue or otherwise
8) A couple of days ago, I checked the oil and it seemed it had gone down "one diamond" (over a short driving distance)
9) I checked the oil again (without having driven the car at all after the last check) and the oil level was back up one diamond!
10) If the oil is coming down that fast, there should be a considerable amount of smoke coming out of the car, all the time. This is not what happens. The lines that "could" spit the oil out are dry, there are no spills at the connections.

I don't know if this helps at all.

In regards to the "Mystery hose", I really don't understand what it does. It is past the filter, hooked to a low pressure area. This means (to me) that some of the air sucked in by the turbos goes through no filtering at all. Why would that be? Would it be possible to eliminate the hose and plug the hole? Would this restrict the air flow (I would imagine so)? Wouldn't it be possible to instead plug a little filter right at the air box attachment point?

Thank you,
Giovanni

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

The hose to nowhere is just a vent line. It's routed through a silencer in the airbox to quiet the sound. Its from the ACV and is basically a blow-off line for the airpump.

The oil: Synthetics are more effective at carrying away deposits than mineral oil. For this reason, it's not advisable to switch to synthetic oil on a higher mileage engine. What can happen is that "gunk" which has built up around a possible leak, can get dislodged and carried away with the more effective synthetic. This can then expose a leak which wasn't present before with the mineral oil. While the leak wasn't caused by the synthetic oil, it was exposed by it.

In your case, I would clean up all the oil you see. Then monitor those areas for the new few hundred kilometers. If you start seeing a lot of build up again from normal street driving, then you might have a problem.

gio64

iTrader: (1)

Thank you as well.
I'll try that when I put it back together.
Any ideas on dipstick readings and absence of smoke in any circumstance but beginning of warmup?

Also, would the use of, say, Castrol GTX High mileage oil do any good? Or would this even be a tragedy for a rotary?

gio64

iTrader: (1)

Just to confirm what you state: the synth I put in and took out after driving no more than 100 kms is as black as you could imagine!
The mineral I put back on is perfectly clean on the dipstick anytime I check.

So... Should I hope the gunk forms again?
I also read yesterday that clogged air filters cause the compressor side of the turbo to leak. Could this be the problem or part of it?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

With the amount of gunk and grime inside an engine, it doesn't take many miles to turn brand new oil dark. However, synthetic will turn dark quicker due to its ability to carry away and/or suspend more of that gunk.

Well, you don't necessarily want gunk inside the engine. As far as the second part of your question, I don't know how valid that is. However, I doubt that's your problem in either case.

gio64

iTrader: (1)

Well, I was on this site yesterday
http://www.dieselpage.com/art0898tu.htm
It is for diesel engines, but this section talks about turbos in general, so I thought it would be acceptably reliable.
I was also reading that the turbo seals are metal seals and if they go south is only in case there is wear of the compressor shaft/bearing, which in turn makes the turbine "float" around and "grind" against the metal seals, which get worn out and eventually leak.

I am puzzled by this smoke as vacuum/boost are perfect and the turbos/engine only have 59K miles during which the car was well cared for, at least as far as I know and can tell (looking at engine compartment, exterior, interior, underside and what not, on top of what I was able to gather from the mechanic that has serviced it for the last 5 years and the last owner).

I was wondering (I am in the process of making the even cheaper bastard intake mod) if I will have issues with boosting past 10 or with creep. What do you think?
I only have a DP besides what I am doing (and vacuum hose job, but that doesn't mean anything in this respect).

TpCpLaYa

iTrader: (10)

you are aware of the oil injectors correct? Its normal for these cars to puff out a blue cloud or two on a cold start

Oil will leak/drip down after the car is turned off....and then next time you start that little pool of oil is immediately burned off (blue smoke)


Now I actually feel comfortable when i see a lil puff of blue smoke because I know that those seals are gettin the oil they need.......this is only a little smoke...not a massive cloud

In the past...while taking off my UIM....i noticed a few missing lines. One of them was a vacuum line that connects to the Oil Injectors

what was weird is that before i knew they were unhooked, the car never had that little puff of blue smoke. After they were connected again I got the blue smoke....maybe like once every 3 or 4 start ups


SO in a way, the Blue smoke is good because you know you got oil going to your seals IMMEDIATELY when starting up cold.....but thats only to a certain extent, when you are consistantly blowing smoke and a lot of it, then you got a problem

gio64

iTrader: (1)

Yes, I am.
See, what this car used to do before I changed the oil to synth (which I should be called an idiot for), was to start and let go white smoke (not coolant) for about 60/90 seconds, starting 15/20 seconds after turning the key.
There were/are no coolant problems as the levels were and are stable, no overheating and no "heat soak" behaviour.
After I put the synth in, it would smoke considerably at the start, blue smoke and it would last for at least 90 seconds.
I then decided to put Castrol GTX back in and this helped with the smoke (at least partially) on cold starts, but the smoke would remain blue as opposed to white and the time it would smoke blue was still in that 90 seconds (or even a bit more) bracket.
I have removed the PCV and capped both ends effectively. The last time I drove it, the oil seemed to have gone back up one diamond. I started the car, the smoke this time was pretty much white the entire time it smoked. I drove, no problems, no smoke I could see (I was checking the mirrors while shifting gears as well).
The reason why I am concerned, is that the oil level (with synth and after switching back), goes down considerably (I have experienced a drop of 1 diamond on the stick after driving around the city and a bit of highway for 30 minutes).
This is brutal compared to what the car did since I purchased, 6 months ago, when I went some 600 Kms and experienced no noticeable oil loss on the dipstick.
Like I said, it doesn't smoke after that warm-up period, which makes me wonder, since burning that much, at least I should see the smoke somewhere...
I don't see any leaks under the car.
When I bought it, there was a tiny droplet under it, extremely minimal, but after having it for 1 month or so, there have been no droplets at all, I had cleaned the couple I had and the area where the car sits in the garage is squeaky clean.





I understand that. Like I said, it's blue at startup, when it stops smoking, it stops for good. But while I don't see it coming out of the tail pipe or on the concrete of my garage, I don't see it down the dipstick either...