Turbo Seals?


Doogie

New Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
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So bought my Turbo MB6 knowing it was smokey and was told by previous owner the seals were going. I'm just wondering is there an easy way of telling? I know the smoke can tell you but how do you tell if its the turbo seals and not the valve stem seals?

Cold start car doesn't smoke
De-acceleration doesn't smoke
Any acceleration and there is some blue smoke, the higher the revs the more smoke and then when in boost throws out a noticeable amount.

The smoke doesn't bother me and car pulls like a train so isn't causing any performance issues but in a week of ownership and 400miles put onto the car and I'm not gonna lie I have driven it hard in the 400miles it used about half the engine oil?

My concern is I don't want to go out and buy turbo seals and then notice the smoke is still there and then have to get the valve stem seals done so my question is, is there anyway of knowing for sure why the car is smoking and using some oil?

Any info would be great

Thanks

Chris
 
Stem seals usually cause smoke on start up mate as the oil passes the seal when hot and runs down the valve, if the valve is closed it will sit on the back until started or if its open it will run right into the cylinder and burn off on start up. This is the extreme worst case.

Most b series engines smoke due to worn rings. A cylinder leakage/leak down test and/or compression test will give you a good idea.

What turbo are you running?
 
Yeah I done a cold start earlier after the car being parked up all night and not a bit of smoke on start up or idle.

Its a Turbonetics T3/T4 Hybrid
 
I'd do a leakage test and see what it shows up. Turbonetics rebuild kit shouldn't be too expensive. Also worth looking at your breather set up. Are you running a catch can?
 
Leak down it, will tell you if the rings are shot.
Or pulled downpipe off and see if you can see any evidence of oil from the turbo
 
Yeah I've seen rebuild kits their not too expensive it will just annoy me getting it rebuilt and that's not the problem. Yeah have a custom rocker cover with catch can
 
I'm not a fan of hit and hope diagnostics either. What about the block? is it ported to the can as well?
 
hi guys just a quick one with catch cans, if the can has cotton filters on it these also block it will cause your turbo to smoke, take the filters off and dip them in petrol and see all the oils drain out of it, or change them for metal filters.

turbos mainly smoke due to oil pressure, most modern turbos including turbonetics the clean side has 2 seals and the dirty side has 1 seal, its always easier to leak past the 1 seal and its better to burn of the oil than try to compress it
 
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