redrotorR1

I had the turbos rebuilt about a month ago and just recently I've been noticing that the car smokes out the tailpipe a LOT during cold starts. NOW, just yesterday, the car smoked for a good 5-10 minutes ... white smoke, that smells like burning oil? Pop the hood, and there's smoke also coming from around the turbo assembly. Same color, same smell. And now I've noticed that the oil pressure is around 15. I thought it might be the cheap 5W oil that the shop used to help break in the seals on the turbos; so, I changed out the oil with Mobil 1 Synthetic, and replaced the oil filter with a new Mazda oil filter. The smoke is still there somewhat (not nearly as bad); but the turbo assembly (or that region) is still burning oil. And I still have low oil pressure. I searched and didn't find any links that help ... this is Mazda reman engine with 20K miles on it. I'm thinking that the seals to the rotor housing on the turbo assembly might have been installed incorrectly. Any other ideas?

blackscorpio

White smoke is usually coolant blue smoke is oil black smoke is gas. Dunno if that helps any.

Also did you check the MAP sensor? before you ask me what this is do a quick search.

redrotorR1

No, I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with the ignition and/or timing. The MAP sensor was replaced about 6 months ago and the dashpot was re-seated along with that. I replaced the spark plugs, wires, and fuel filter during that time as extra insurance (idle problem).

I know everyone says white smoke is coolant, but this smoke does not smell sweet. It definitely smells like oil burning. When I started it this afternoon, it billowed the white smoke for a couple of minutes ... and it's excessive. Like forming a cloud around the car, if not for the wind. I dropped the car off this afternoon to get looked at. I'm hoping it's something with the turbos ... they're still under warranty.

Any other ideas? I'd like to get a healthy base of possibilities before I get a diagnosis back from the shop.

BLKTOPTRVL

Last I’d heard, synthetic oil in a rotary was a big mistake. Is this still true?

mjw

iTrader: (1)

No, you can run synthetic in a rotary without a problem. First off oil smoke isn't "blue" like most people think of blue, it is close to white with a slight tint to it I would say.. the smell of the smoke is what tells the tale though, and the difference between burning coolant and burning oil is easy to distinguish. That being said I assume you know the difference between the two and it sounds like you are burning oil. Could be the turbo oil seals, the oil return gaskets, or both.. but I think your warranty may be coming in handy pretty soon. As for your low oil pressure when are you registering 15psi? At idle? 15psi at idle is fine, and the stock sending unit is not exactly accurate on top of that.. plus running a thinner oil like 5W or Mobil synthetic will cause lower oil pressures on the gauge most often.

Matt

redrotorR1

Cool, mjw. That's a relief. I'm still worried though b/c when I was running Redline 30WT synthetic, the oil pressure was typically around 30. I've noticed that the engine doesn't really consume much oil. I know the stock gauge is funky and the oil sending unit might be a little faulty, so we'll see over time.

Would the turbo oil seals or the oil return gaskets leaking cause the smoke to billow out the back? A few times now, I've noticed that on startup, the smoke just pours out the tailpipe. There's a little smoke (by comparison) coming from the turbo assembly region, but when it smokes out the back, it's excessive. In fact, at the autocross on Sunday, it actually starting pouring out the tailpipe as I was revving the engine at the start gate. Does that sound possible?

blackscorpio

redrotorR1 - the MAP sensor may have been replaced but the hoses that are connected to it and the filter the go through(look like a small top) have a nasty habbit of of popping off when you get on boost fast(anytime you open the car up ). Just do a visual inspect and make sure the hoses are connected securely.

mjw

iTrader: (1)

Well it sounds to me like the internal oil seal is leaking oil into the intake air stream on the compressor side.. this may be contributing to your low oil pressure as well. It may be something else, but seeing how you just had them replaced it seems to be a likely culprit. Take off your intercooler pipes and the intake elbow by the TB, how much oil residue is in there?

Matt

redrotorR1

blackscorpio - thanks for the advice. I have checked the MAP sensor and the hoses many times since I got the car back. I was confused because my boost was doing weird stuff ... 9-6-9 patterns and sometimes full 10 when dropping gear. And, most of the rubber hoses have been replaced with silicone and tie-wrapped; so hoses popping off is much less likely now.

mjw - I think you're on the ball with that one. I already took the car in, so I won't be able to look for oil residues myself right now. I really couldn't see anything on the top of the assembly when this first started happening. And I didn't have any oil spots under the car, so I'm thinking its a bad seal of some sort. Everything just seems to say that the turbos are leaking. My guy said he was sending the turbos off to Garrett for rebuild, which sounded kinda fishy to me b/c I thought Garrett just manufactures parts for turbos. Well, anyways, the box that the come back in reads Borg Werner, www.turbonetics.com .... I could've sworn that I read a post about how their rebuilds always suck. Plus, with the irregular boost patterns that I had, I'd say there's some validity to that statement.

Anyways, thanks for the replies, guys. Hopefully, I'll have her back in proper condition this time.