Hey everyone...

I have had several issues with my turbonectics turbo kit. Nothing during the install, nothing with the tuning. It all seems to fall on the the turbo itself. After partial or full throttle let off, the car seems to smoke real bad (gray or black smoke). We have done several things.
First the turbo was sent back to TB HQ for a rebuild because it was leaking oil. They said it overheated and seals were leaking. We got it back and it immediately smoked worse than before it was sent off. It dumped a ton of oil into the downpipe, with none sitting on the intake side. It was sent back to TB HQ and they found scorring and a leak they overlooked or caused...no one knows.
Secondly, we have it back again and it is still smoking. Put a restrictor in the oil line (Shop recommeded since TB kit doesnt come with one). Just vented the pcv and it cleared up a little bit. But now we are at a loss with what to do next. Oil Catch can?

My question is has anyone had this issue before and FOUND a solution? The shop believes it to be the turbo again, but TB HQ is trying to say its the car. We ran the car without the turbo in and the motor itself doesnt smoke at all.

Its been over 2.5 months of this and I am frustrated and I am hoping you guys will help me out. Thank you in advance guys...

 

Where does your oil return drain, oil pan spacer or tapped on the upper oil pan?

 

Have you cleaned out the IC, piping and plenum? Is it possible leaks on the compressor side are still pooled somewhere? Black color is odd... AFR is ok?

 

The oil return line is a strait shot, with no curves upwards from what we were talking about today at the shop. The guys were running down all their troubleshooting with me which included discussing the oil return lines.

As for all the "cold" side of the turbo, it is clean and has been double checked again after the second try with this turbo. The black color has gone away and we are left with a blueish smoke. The guys at my shop insist its the turbo as they have tried the normal tricks to fix this and when the car ran without the turbo inline, there was no smoke coming from the motor side. The downpipe is what was coated with oil, and we have ran it around trying to eliminate residual residue.

 

Drove it again yesterday with the PCV hose off and it cleared up a little and but is smoking like it did when I first had issues with it. White-blueish smoke.

 

Maybe it's time to give it to a 3rd party rebuild shop like forced performance or blouch?

 

I assume you are talking about the turbo? I have thought about it. My shop has several issues with Turbonectics turbos over the years. Some turbos being bad right out of the box to having to send the turbo back to them 4 times for a proper rebuild.

I already paid for the rebuild. The second rebuild was on them. This one will be as well in my book.

 

I had a problem like this with my jwt kit. Turns out, as it was told to me, that the vq has a slight bit of blow by. My solution was a new set of pistons and rings. That seemed to work for me.

 

That is the next step. we talked about it in detail yesterday and they even showed me on an motor in the shop what you are talking about. I am thinking that could be the issue as well, and I will be willing to do the install. They are just dead set that its the turbo based on their experience and the crappy rebuild job they did first time.

btw, what pistons and rings did you go with and how much did you pay to have it install? (for future reference)

 

I actually had the whole engine rebuilt so it was costly. pistons and rings would be around $700 depending on the deal you get. since your tearing into it though, you mine as well just redo everything while your in there.

 

Hi is the turbo a ballbearing center?
I had the same sort of problem with a garret turbo it turned out it had to much oil pressure at the turbo.

 

What is your exhaust set-up? Is there is a chance that residual oil or oil vapor could stuck be in your muffler(s)?