OK, so I just got back home and all of a sudden there is a HUGE amount of smoke coming from the exaust.  I just changed the oil return line with a nice hydraulic one last month in the middle of changing every sensor I could get my hands on.  I even pulled it to make sure it wasnt clogged or separating and to make sure oil was in fact returning through the hose.  I also pulled the O2 sensor to see if it was smoking from there as well and it is.

So what in the be-jesus is causing this new problem???  I did run her WOT for about 2 miles while I was playing with an IROC so I'm not wondering if I didnt melt the valve cover gasket maybe?  There was oil sprayed all over the engine and it seems to have come from the the oil filter breather thingy on top of the block (I know...what the hell is a breather thingy but I have seen in some of the pics here of others that they have a tube going from the turbo to the place where this thingy sits).

I ran her pretty hard and now this smole is like a wall.  I let the car cool off and started it bak up and as it warms up the smoke seems to get thicker and the idle is acting odd (normal to low to high to normal to low and on and on).

Any ideas on this one?

White Smoke is Water or Coolant being burnt by the engine....

could be the water seal in the turbo gone and leakng coolant into the downpipe and then being burnt in the exhaust..

or

engine is burning coolant, but yo would see that in your oil

I would SEE that in the oil?  Would that be the cause of the oil sprayed on the engine as well?

ya if coolant is leaking in the engine and being burnt your oil and dipstick will look milky and have a kinda foam on it.

when you check your oil or change it you will see coolant mixed with if it is a significant enough leak.

if its coming out the exhaust as white smoke its one of those 2 problems i mentioned.....oil on the motor won't do it, its a internal issue.

How do I check if the engine is burning coolant?  Just starting it and letting it run for 30 seconds the coolant hoses are hotter than you-know-where.

no not really

keep checking your oil for that milky stuff on the dipstick and any coolant loss in the coolant system.

thats about it really

Sweet...thanks.  I'll change the seal tomorrow and see what happens.

white smoke can also be caused by burning trans fluid.  check the vaccuum line that runs from the modulator on the front of the tranny.  It is a hard steel line that runs up to a 5/8" flange that goes directly into the plenum.  Pull the connection from the modulator on the front of the tranny and check for fluid in the line.  The line bolts to the plenum in the section where the throttle body attaches.  Worth a look even if you think its coolant.   :icon_mrgreen:

White smoke is a tricky b*tch sometimes.  :icon_mad:

What does the smoke smell like? Is it a pungent turn your head ew smell, or does it smell like coolant or oil? The amount of smoke...are you fogging for insects or are you just covering your license plate from the coppers?

To start and the easiest thing to do...as Ryan said and pull the vacuum modulator line and see if there is ALOT of tranny fluid in there. If there is then pick up a vacuum modulator and swap her out. Will most likely take a few hours and a couple of WOT 3rd gear runs to clear it out.

If no tranny fluid there...then look for coolant loss or oil loss.

If you are low on coolant...it is time for a coolant system pressure test. If it is bleeding off and you do not see it outside the engine then it can be a coolant seal in the turbo or head gasket. You can do a cylinder bleed down to void the headgasket.

Also when you pulled the 02 sensor...did what was on there smell like oil or coolant or the pungent smell? Did it evaporate or was it dripping? If dripping did you grab a white paper towel and dab it to get a color from it? If it evaporated right away was it a steam or lingering smoke?

Just jamming a bunch out there to try and narrow down what the mosquitoe fogger is caused by! ;) :icon_cool:

Quote from: TGPilot on April 19, 2006, 08:23:42 PM
White smoke is a tricky b*tch sometimes.  :icon_mad:

What does the smoke smell like? Is it a pungent turn your head ew smell, or does it smell like coolant or oil? The amount of smoke...are you fogging for insects or are you just covering your license plate from the coppers?

To start and the easiest thing to do...as Ryan said and pull the vacuum modulator line and see if there is ALOT of tranny fluid in there. If there is then pick up a vacuum modulator and swap her out. Will most likely take a few hours and a couple of WOT 3rd gear runs to clear it out.

If no tranny fluid there...then look for coolant loss or oil loss.

If you are low on coolant...it is time for a coolant system pressure test. If it is bleeding off and you do not see it outside the engine then it can be a coolant seal in the turbo or head gasket. You can do a cylinder bleed down to void the headgasket.

Also when you pulled the 02 sensor...did what was on there smell like oil or coolant or the pungent smell? Did it evaporate or was it dripping? If dripping did you grab a white paper towel and dab it to get a color from it? If it evaporated right away was it a steam or lingering smoke?

Just jamming a bunch out there to try and narrow down what the mosquitoe fogger is caused by! ;) :icon_cool:

Lots of info so here goes...

The smoke smells like oil...sorta...  It isnt one of those "holy shit run for the hills" smells at all.  The amount smoke could be confuesd for a forest fire by low flying planes   :flamingdevil:

When I checked the oil level it was about a 1/4" down on the stick from full.  Not to the add more level but it wasnt full either and I just changed the oil 2 weeks ago.  The coolant level was also a little low in the overflow tank and I know I topped that off when I changed the oil as well.

When I pulled th O2 the only thing that came out was the same white smoke and no fluid...on a side note to that it did make a wicked sweet noise   :gr_grin:  and after I shut her down the smoke still lingered out of the hole and the exaust as well.

I will pull the modulator line today and see whats in it.  Does ALOT mean pouring out or just full or anything in it at all?  Not ever done squat with one of these so I'm not real clear as to how much of what should be in it. 

Also I didnt see any coolant anywhere outside the engine.  The only fluid I saw was the oil sprayed right up front by the fan and on the plenum.

As for 3rd gear WOT unfortunately mine is not a manual   :icon_cry:  so I will have to settle for WOT by foot once I get it fixed.

Thanks for the ideas and starting spots...I'll let ya know what I find.

if you see any hints of trans fluid your next step should be to replace that, and drive it hard for a day or so, keeping in mind that it could still be coolant or oil.  but if there is trans fluid in the line, it means the diaphram on the modulator is toast, and needs replacing anyway.  So check that out, report back here the findings and we can see what the next step should be.

The line from the plenum is way smaller that 5/8 and goes to a T connector and a small rubber hose.  One side comes back up and goes into what I think is the cruise control and the other plugs directly into a small round metal something.  I cant really see it because it is under the turbo.

I hate not knowing what I'm looking for but from the description this cant be it can it?  I pulled the little rubber hose and its dry as a bone inside it.  It looks more like a air hose than anything else.


EDIT: - I saw small bubbles coming from the back side of the turbo and smoke coming from what looks like the exaust pipe and x-over where it meets the turbo.  Any thoughts on this?  Could it be a valve gasket?

My finger is pointing to the line at the throttle body. Follow that down and you will find the vacuum modulator. Make sure there is a T check valve down on the modulator with one side of the 3 open.

Hope this helps! ;)

Quote from: TGPilot on April 20, 2006, 05:35:41 PM
My finger is pointing to the line at the throttle body. Follow that down and you will find the vacuum modulator. Make sure there is a T check valve down on the modulator with one side of the 3 open.

Hope this helps! ;)

That's the one I checked.  There is a screw plugging the open line but it is all clean and dry.

I think I have officially ruled out the vacuum modulator and now I'm leaning towards the water seal at the turbo.  Anyone point me to where that monster is?