WTF is up with my car? Need advice quick...
 

i spent the past hour searching and couldnt find anyone with the same problem. heres the issue:

i added oil to the car saturday and drove it out during the night. on shutdown i noticed some smoke (smelled like oil)... since i spilled a bit when i added oil earlier that day i didnt think much of it... just some burnoff... doesnt happen again until this morning. i added a little oil last night. drove to the store, and on my way back i noticed some smoke again at a light. this happened twice. i get home, shut her down and a few minutes later i notice more smoke (coming from the passenger side of the engine bay). mind you, the car was running perfectly, oil pressure good, slightly rich, no coolant or cooling issues.

i figure that im going to diagnose this problem... i remove the intake elbow (to get a better view) and the upper IC pipe as well as the bypass valve hose so i can get a clear view of the turbo area. all i see is a bit of liquid near the O2 sensor... which was in the process of drying up. it seemed too thin to be oil... and didnt smell like coolant at all.

now heres the thing that has me freaked out... i put everything back on... let the car completely cool down... start her up... and she idles like crap... lumpy (variations of more than 200rpm), vac flux, and HEAVY fuel smell out of the exhaust... as well as some smoke (no emissions on the car... that smoke is normal. it just smells more like fuel now and pulses... heavily). during idle i try to rev it and it just "lumps" its way up the range... she will not stall out though it seems to try to.

i have no idea whats going on, or what could just suddenly break. i checked and rechecked the hoses and pipes... the connections are right. i need help... badly. the nearest rotary mech is in manassas (im in stafford) and im now afraid to drive the car.

make sure your put everthing back together right and tight.. Make sure you didnt bump a sensor or wire.. eg. map sensor.

^^^^^
Yup - map sensor - it's the small rectangular unit mounted on the firewall just to the right of the brake booster - says "boost sensor."

It's super easy to knock the hose loose (it's attached to the bottom of the sensor), and if you do the car will run just as you described.

yup... just checked it and the hose was off. the car runs fine now. thanks for the quick replies.

id say you either pulled map sensor off or you got an intake leak becuase you didnt put everything back on perfectly. to find that leak, spray some starter fluid around all the joints when the engine is running. have a fire extinguisher ready jsut incase and only use a bit of starter fluid at a time. when you find the leak, the idle will settle down. double check everything else as far as accidnetly pulling something off.

good luck

Another thing - if it came off once, it'll probably do it again. Tyrap it on so it won't fall off again.

^good call. im gonna grab some zip-ties and make sure it doesnt happen again.