So....me and another w-body member were trying to jump-start the dead TSTE with the TGP.  Well, the TSTE wouldn't stay running once it struggled to start up, so we gave up after about 10 minutes of letting it charge a bit, and then trying to keep it running.  But when I walked back to the TGP, I noticed it was puffing away bluish-white smoke out the exhaust quite heavily.  Needless to say, I was shocked.  I stepped on the gas, and it let bellows of smoke out.  You could smell burnt oil.  I'm like wtf??  I drove it around the back streets for a few minutes, and could clearly see and smell the smoke coming out behind me.  I brought it back and parked it thinking "great, THAT'S all I need right now."  When I walked behind it after parking the TGP, I noticed the smoke had decreased quite a bit.  I drove away with the other member following me in his car, and I noticed I didn't see anymore smoke, even when I got on it a bit.  When we got to our destination, I asked him if he saw anything, and he said it didn't even let out a whiff of smoke.  It hasn't done it since (which was Saturday).  So now I'm a bit confused as to what the hell happened.  And yes, it has a new oil return line (bought from TGPilot).  So....is this something serious?  What could have happened?  This was a shock because it's been accelerating very well on several occasions these last couple weeks.

How old and what brand is the O2 sensor?  I remember when mine failed, and had the bad xover, it used to smoke intermittently.  Could always be a failed oil return line as well.  Not a knock against Kenny, unless he's the one that made it.  Never know, take it off and take a look, also check the O2.  I think those are a couple of good first steps. 

Is it the original turbo? Maybe the seals are going bad in it.

Quote from: R Dubya on October 05, 2006, 11:09:20 AM
How old and what brand is the O2 sensor?  I remember when mine failed, and had the bad xover, it used to smoke intermittently.  Could always be a failed oil return line as well.  Not a knock against Kenny, unless he's the one that made it.  Never know, take it off and take a look, also check the O2.  I think those are a couple of good first steps. 

I don't know how old the O2 sensor is, but it doesn't look original.  Looks like the Bosch one in my TSTE.  I know the x-over is toast, too, but what would those have to do with oil getting into my exhaust?  :confused:  As for Kenny's oil return line....maybe it failed, but I highly doubt it.  It was pretty heavy-duty, good quality stuff.

Quote from: 93luminaz34 on October 05, 2006, 02:32:10 PM
Is it the original turbo? Maybe the seals are going bad in it.

This is what I'm afraid of. :icon_sad:  I don't know why else it would smoke that badly for 10 - 15 minutes, and then not so much as a trace of it for the entire following week.  I've got a spare turbo, and a crossover needs to go on anyway, so I guess it won't be TOO bad in that sense.  I'd still rather not mess with it right now.

I would look at the 02 sensor and see if oil is on the sensor. The way it sounds...at least the way you are describing...is you have valve seals that are seaping and it is sitting on the top of the piston. Burning away and then you have no smoke after some run time. It quite possibly could be a turbo seal from sitting...but what you are describing sounds like valve stem seals.

That oil return line you have is the highest rated resistance to oil of all lines I researched. I doubt it...but you never know. Is it kinked? I doubt that too as stiff as it is.

sounds just like what happend to me with my oil return line, i would get blue smoke randomly and it would go away for days and then come back for a while

I have the same line as RareGMFan on both the TGP and the TSTE. They went on those cars long before I decided to sell them to folks who wanted them. No issues here.

Quote from: TGPilot on October 05, 2006, 07:33:08 PMIt quite possibly could be a turbo seal from sitting...but what you are describing sounds like valve stem seals.

i'd have to agree.  my Cutlass would smoke intermitently at idle but it would always go away immediately after i started driving.  it would never smoke while i was driving, not even WOT.  i'm almost positive it was the oil seal in the turbo because i could see oil coming out from the flange between the turbine and downpipe :icon_eek:  it definately wasn't the oil return line because i have a new one from ATPturbo.com in the car.

you could remove the turbo and see if there are signs of oil just after the turbine but it sounds to me that your problem is likely valve seals.

yep another turbo bites the dust.

Quote from: TurboSedan on October 07, 2006, 05:15:34 PM

Quote from: TGPilot on October 05, 2006, 07:33:08 PMIt quite possibly could be a turbo seal from sitting...but what you are describing sounds like valve stem seals.

i'd have to agree.  my Cutlass would smoke intermitently at idle but it would always go away immediately after i started driving.  it would never smoke while i was driving, not even WOT.

Well that's the thing that's disturbing me.  It's sat at idle for long periods multiple times, and never done this before.  This was smoking pretty heavily, even after 2-3 minutes of driving gently and hard.  Then it just kinda' went away on it's own after I parked it again.  Still no sign of any smoke since then.  It's funny, I was just thinking "wow, it hasn't accelerated/boosted this hard since I bought it."  Maybe that extra power/boost is finishing off the already tired seal?

maybe the valve seals were just dried out a little from not being driven for awhile there.  makes sense to me :dunno:  i wouldn't blame the turbo just yet.

btw, have you checked plugs yet?  if valve seals are the culprit then you'll likely see oil contamination.  if the turbo is the problem the plugs will probably look fine.

I will have to check the plugs.  Maybe I worded that odd, but the TGP has been my daily driver for months, so it's gotten plenty of excercise.  It's the TSTE that we were trying to get running (unsuccesfully) that hasn't run in some time.  I meant for the week or so prior to this event, the TGP had moments of very hard acceleration (kept up with a 2002ish Mustang GT on a short run :icon_mrgreen: ), so I was shocked to see that a couple days later.  Still hasn't done it since, so I'm not TOO worried about it just yet.

right on! yea its obvious when the turbo is shot you can wiggle the shaft and it moves.