Ever wondered: "Damn, is all that smoke coming from my motor or the turbo?"
 

Well here is how I'm going to find out.
I probably shouldn't share all these brilliant idea with the internet, but I'm sure it'll help most of you guys out at some time or another.

You can see here why I'm concerned that the turbo is leaking oil (return above feed)
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s.../turbofix1.jpg
And my solution is to pull the oil feed off and use my custom turbo stopping device to prevent damage to the turbo.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s.../turbofix2.jpg

:lol::lol::lol:


If you have not run the engine like this already i would not. The oil not only lubes the turbo but also cools the bearings. Without oil to cool the bearings the heat from the turbine wheel will rapidly transfer to the seals and bearings.

I would've built a custom turbo blockoff plate and let all the exhaust come out of the wastegate runner...

hahaha

fantastic.

The best way to tell between engine smoke and turbo smoke is to remove the turbo and manifold, and install an N/A exhaust manifold. Then start the engine, if it smokes not only does that eliminate the turbo as a culprit, it will be very obvious if the seal problem is related to the front or rear rotor.

^ of course that would be ideal, but that's a little more complicated (and time consuming) than what the original poster is doing :)

exactly, I don't have an n/a manifold that would fit this exhaust.

And do ya'll think it's going to hurt the turbo when I take it on my daily commute like this?

I'd pull the turbo off, but leave the turbine housing on the manifold and make a piece of steel to block the hole where the turbine was.

Phil,

I have not had nearly enough to drink before I read this post.

However, in a moment of clarity and since there is actually some blood in my alcohol stream...

How come you just don't switch the oil feed / return lines and install a restrictor? I mean does the turbo actually care which direction the oil comes from?

what do you think is going to happen when that area heats up from the turbo manifold?

I don't know, its a good question.

Chuck knew what the reason was why we coulden't switch them.

To me it seems like there is a pretty good probability that the wrench could get shaken just a little bit and when it does all the fishing line/zip ties are going to do is prevent it from falling AWAY from the turbo, and actually push it right into the compressor wheel...

I think when it comes to things like this it's better to do it right the first time, typically if something isn't already widely known as a good diagnosis method there's a reason... More power to you though! I'm interested to see how it turns out at the very least :D.

Well I know you guys are curious so here is an update: After about 45 minutes of driving this morning there was almost NO smoke (just a lil on startup). Wrench stayed put but the compressor housing did get toasty. So on my way home a stopped by home depot and made my custom boost controller (needle valve) fit the oil feed line. Now I have a flow regulator.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...f/turboreg.jpg
The feed for the turbo comes from the custom pedestal, which does have a fairly small hole but is unrestricted. I thought the oil flow to the turbo may be too high when, after plugging up the oil feed, I noticed my oil pressure is about 30PSI higher than before.
So now I have the needle valve cracked a half turn open, which dropped my oil press. by about 10psi, and while bench testing the air flow (blowing through it by mouth) of the valve, I saw some flow by 1/2 turn, and mostly full flow by 3 turns.

Now I'm thinking I'll just set the oil like timing, advance it till it smokes, then back off a lil.

Wow at this. Just wow.

I think there should be a drink minimum before opening any of your threads.

You drove the better part of an hour without oil flow to the turbo? and no air filter? with a wrench holding the compressor wheel stationary?

I will admit I am very impressed the wrench stayed put! Not surprised that the turbo was a bit warm! Still interested to see where this goes though :D.

Question: What oil pressure should I see between the restricter and the turbo?

i know you guys were hoping for a epic fail with a destroyed turbo, oil explosion, and a motor eating metal....but I've put about 800 miles on the thing with the valve and it seems to be working good. I kinda like the idea of being able to "crank up" the oil pressure when you know the turbo is fixing to get hot.

One way to see if it is just the motor is to check the intake and spark plugs for oil.

oil on plugs + no oil in intake = smoke from motor

What this doesn't tell you though is if both are leaking, or if just the turbo is leaking.

Oil in the intake can cause oil on the spark plugs.

But if the intake is clean and the plugs oily, it's likely just the motor.

A place to start anyway.

but the problem is, all my plugs are screwed all the time and its probably because of my screwed tune. black plugs = rich.

Why not take off the turbo and look in the exhaust manifold runners/exhaust sleeves?

You can probably tell the difference between carbon and oil.

Oil will look wet, just carbon won't.

Sorry, I can't help it but.......lol @ you! why did you open another thread to show what happened to your turbo because you did this? :rlaugh: Why not just post the pics in here? I knew this was going to end badly...:lol:
You are one silly man.

This, friends, is what you call a modern marvel of engineering.

this is the funniest thing ive ever read. just fantastic.