f'ing cars!! why do i bother! please help me...

[gotoinstant-redline]

hey all,

just got my new gearbox all fitted and sorted. the car purs like a kitten now and its ready for a rip up the road..
its taken me about a week to swap the box and do a whole load of other jobs to my car. first time i've ever done any real work on the R.

problem is that just as i'm warming up the car ready for the first test drive, the turbo starts to smoke!!!!! NOOO!!!
there is no smoke out the exhaust and the exhaust gasses dont smell of oil. the engine is brand new and still 200miles shy of being run in. the turbo was in perfect health last time i used the car.

thing is now there is oil leaking from somwhere on the middle of the turbo and spraying oil onto the hot side of the turbo. then the heat burns the oil and i get a cloud of smoke from the front of the car.

i'm guessing that its the oil feed to the turbo that has sprung a leak.
i've been on the floor looking up, on the top looking down and using mirrors etc to see where the oil is coming from. i cant track it down at all.
it must be right behind the turbo next to the block.. is this where the oil inlet to the turbo is?

its a small amount of oil, like form a pin hole sized leak. but on the hot turbo it burns fast
i've not driven on boost (or at all yet) to see if the exhaust smokes etc.
the oil only leaks when i rev the car.

oil presure at idle is over 4 on the dial and it drops to just above the next line down when up to 80oC. when i rev the car the presure goes back up over 4 again (not reving more than 3900rpm due to run in.) and takes a while to come back down.. a 4 or 5 secs i spose.

is my turbo shot?
should i drive it and see if the exhaust smokes?
is it just the oil feed?
is the oil feed behind the turbo in a hard to get to place?
do i have to take the manifold off to repair it?
how much are SS braided oil and water lines?
if oil is leaking then should i not drive on boost for fear of starving the turbo of oil?


gah bloody cars! you fix one expensive problem and you get another!! grrr

cheers

Luke.

 

[geetee]

I would not do any boost at all if you suspect a fractured or leaking oil feed pipe to the turbo. The tubby will self destruct very quickly without correct lubrication.

You're probably going to have to whip the tubby off to see exactly what's what.

Probably worth dropping (Mike) ex-GTIR a PM - he does braided / flexible replacement pipes for the turbo feeds - which by all accounts are the poodles parts and a damn sight easier to refit.

You'll also need all the gaskets and copper washers for the banjo bolts.

Drop an email to Mike Feeney at MJP mike@mjpauto.go-plus.net - he's done lots of these gasket kits.

You shouldn't need to take the manifold off - but you will need the manifold to turbo gasket.

Good Luck

GeeTee 8)

 

[gotoinstant-redline]

thanks!

at least i dont have to remove the manifold.
flexi oil and water feeds seems like a top idea. damn shame, all i want to do is sell the damn thing and now it does this to me!

so even a tiny amount of leaking oil could kill the turbo if i come on boost?
best not test that then.. just take the damn thing apart and see if i can find a leak that is not the turbo.

fingers crossed its not the turbo..

L.

 

[gotoinstant-redline]

most odd.

its not doing it any more!
i warmed up the car like i did yesterday and waited for the temp to get to 80. then took it for a short blast up the road and back. put white paper and cloths near the turbo to catch any splatter (so i could see if it was new or old oil being burnt)
no oil on the papers or cloth.. most odd. reved it up as i did while it was stood on the drive. (not over 4k but still same as before) and no leaks.

my mech friend says that it might have been lose where it has been sat for months. and the warm up, clean up, cool down and then warm up and run has bedded the joint back.

i'll do this again for another few days and keep an eye on it for a few weeks but i think the problem solved its self! yippie!

i've checked the oil level and the presure, all are fine and not changed from before the problem. it was only a small amount of oil burning off anyway so it wouldnt have dropped the oil level enough to see on the dip stick.

the car holds boost fine and no smoke from the exhaust or anywhere else for that matter..

for once my car seems to be being nice to me.. thank fook for that.

i dont hate my gtir.. i just thought i did


L.

 

[Edd]

could it just have been oil or fluid that had leasked onto the turbo and was burning off when you changed your gearbox?
I know when i had my clutch changed at Mikes i spilt a bit of oil on the turbo when doing an oil change and it smoked in engine bay for fookin ages :shock:

 

[gotoinstant-redline]

it might have been..
i did spill a bit of oil on the front bumber when filling up the gearbox and some of it went that way.. so it might just have looked fresh because it was warmed up by the turbo..

but my mech m8 said he could see it sorta spraying but couldnt see where from. even tho he had his head there as i reved it.. might have been the oil boiling on the turbo and that caused it to splatter a little?

meh.. so long as the problem doesnt come back, i'll not worry about it anymore. but i'm gonna keep an eye on it for now.

L.

 

[charlie]

when i done my elbow gasket, i soaked quite a few bolts in release oil to aid removal of them. Even though the manifold looked dry, when i started it up, it smoked like mad for a while after. Fingers crossed u got nothing to worry about.

 

[gotoinstant-redline]

cool. this is starting to sound like a common rebuild oil spill problem. lets hope so!

L.

 

[geetee]

QUIIIIICKKK! Sell it b4 it goes wrong again :lol:

 

[gotoinstant-redline]

hehe..

still need mot and stuff. and i need to finish running it in etc so the new owner can use it properly

L.

 

[Fast Guy]

Hopefully it was just spilt oil burning off, but then why could your mate see oil leaking (allegedly?)
If it was leaking I wouldn't have driven it at all, if you're driving along and it suddenly leaks big style, how much oil leaks before you notice the smoke, the lack of oil pressure and the resulting fire? Best case blown turbo, worse car totalled car, well you could claim on the insurance and inbetween you could have a siezed engine .

The braided flexi hoses are a wise move tho. Mine look good They'll look even better when I take them out of my living room and put them on the car.

 

[geetee]

Perhaps it's the 'mate' who's looking to buy it.... so everytime you get him to look under the bonnet for you he swiftly pours a bit of oil on the turbo to make it look fooked - and knock ur price down :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers
GeeTee

 

[gotoinstant-redline]

lol.

we only drove it about .3 miles at low speed. just to coach it into leaking.
cas (my m8) said he thought he could see it splattering from what would have been a tiny pin hole sized leek.. but he said he couldnt see where it was coming from.
we didnt have a bonnet on the car (easy to see smoke) and the oil presure gauge is right next to me and him.. witha pin hole leek there is no way i could have seezed the engine or started a fire. meh.. all's well that ends well thats what i fink.

cas rebuilds engines and gearboxes and genraly works on nissans and toytas and said he had seen quite a few newly built cars spit oil for a short while and not after that. so i'll keep an eye on it and hope its all ok.

i'd love him to buy my car. but he hasnt got a penny to his name! he spends it all on tools and his new workshop. there is a small (and i mean small) chance that i could keep the R but i'm not holding my breath

oh well. next up is mot then tax then run in..

L.