i went to the track tonight...not very impressed with my times...couldn't get much traction through 3rd gear--need to go back with some drag radials

running like 13.4@ 118 awwww

anyway, after the 3rd run, i started smoking...bad!

motor sounds the same, nothing irradic or different, except at idle, slight smoke (white) and with any rise in rpm's, it billows out smoke

i'm guessing/ hoping it is a turbo seal and i am leaking oil into the exhaust side of the turbo..any ideas/suggestions/thoughts??

i wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary...if i jacked my car up and looked at the external surfaces of the turbos, would that tell me anything? or would the blown seal be totally internal?

so, i'm guessing, the sequence of diagnostic events would be- compression check each cylinder to rule out piston ring failure--how likely would that be with arias pistons and their rings? shouldn't they hold up without a problem?

next event, after my compression check comes out ok (please, please, please)...pull off the turbos and examine--then if blown, send them out to get re-sealed--guessing the turn-around time for that would be send them out monday-- see them back friday (if i overnighted them both ways)

sharif: where did you have your turbos done at? cost? turn around time?
what were the symptoms leading up to the leaking? just lots of smoke???


THANKS

 

Headgasket??? Check the oil for signs of coolant....oil+coolant makes a milky looking mixture

 

HELL YEA U NEED DRAG RADIALS.. BUT THAT 11 SECOND I MEAN 10. XX SECOND o_O TIME SLIP IS JUST WAITING FOR U NEXT TIME U GO TO THE TRACK . Your Car will be up and running again(in mind conditio) in no time L8ter

 

lots of white smoke= blown head gasket or cracked sleave chek your coolant system and do leakdown test
does not look good
good luck

 

no, the oil looks fine, no signs of coolant in oil


i just switched to synthetic 4 days ago as well (just thought i'd add)

 

I get the same thing but only on start up in the early morning, then it goes away.

I'll be switching to synthetec next Thursday along with a spark plug change, and then off to the dyno...


I'm sure it's not too serious,

Best of luck !


Tasso-

 

thanks for the wishful thinking, but i put out tons of smoke...constantly (since last night)....hopefully just a seal on the turbo that is leaking oil into the exhaust....hopefully not a blown piston ring---

does anyone know the likelyness of an arias piston ring failing--anyone???

 

If you have a ring failure it should usually show up on the compression test. Hows the temp?? Any coolant overflow issues like Phunk and Gurgen had? Typically if you had a turbo seal/rings go bad you would have blue/white smoke (oil). If it's snow white then it is most likely coolant (headgasket). Typically a ring will not fail....it only happens if you have detonated and broken a ringland on a piston....thats what affects the ring and its oil scraping ability from the side of the bore.

 

I had the same thing happen to me when I went to the track. Now I get lots of smoke when I take off from a red light. I haven't gotten a compression test or a leak down test done yet since I am doing my buildup. But hopefully nothing really major happened to you or me. Good luck!

 

12.5 isn't bad. But you should be in 11's.

Sharif should be able to chime in on the turbo seal soon though.

 

To start with, pull the spark plugs and look... when the detonation blew out my engine, it happened at a point you would never think... 2200 rpm and 70% throttle. One look at the plugs will tell the story, IF that is you have a blown ring...

Too bad... sorry to hear this... good luck

 

Good advise, start withe plugs. If they are clean ,then move on to the compression check/leakdown, and TB piping. Look for signs of oil. If everything checks out OK, then remove the downpipes and check for oil on the exhuast housing of the turbo. There is no way to check that without removing the downpipes.

Hope it is nothing serious. On the phone, you mentioned the smoke was more greyiesh, which could just be fuel. Hoping for the best....Sharif.

SA

 

I thought detonation was known for occuring at points where there is high engine load and low rpm. Example, going up an incline at low rpm in 5th or 6th.

 

Related possiblity: https://my350z.com/forum/forced-induction/120434-awww-i-blew-a-headgasket.html

 

Detonation can occur anywhere, but has the highest likelyhood at the point of peak cylinder pressure, which is the trq peak...roughly 4500-5500rpm. This is why tuners will typically dial in the maximum timing retard in this area, and then gradually increase the timing as you approach redline, in order to keep EGT's down. Too much timing retard at high RPM can result in very high EGT's.

 

My money is on a blown head gasket. He's blow'n coolant like crazy.

 

If that's the case...then I would say we have pretty good empirical evidence that this gasket is not good for anything over 500 whp. If that's what it turns out to be, let's start a real discussion thread and present all the evidence...

Gurgen

 

If you've checked your oil and have no signs of coolant, then it could be as simple as the coolant pipe on the passenger side of the engine. When doing the TT install, its easy for the tech to misalign the gasket in such a way as to pinch it. Even a minor pinch will allow coolant to leak out and fall onto the turbo, creating a billowing white smoke. When it first happened to me, it scared the crap out of me. After all, it happened soon after my TT install and nothing will make your stomach churn more than smoke. Sure enough, the gasket was pinched and had to be replaced. Hope that helps.

G

 

thx for betting money on my disaster...

ok

so...i pulled the plugs...
passanger side cylinder furtherest forward and furthest back had the slightest bit of black/oil looking stuff-- i assumer a small amount is normal--did not apear/feel like liquid/wet oil...the rest of the plugs had some carbon deposits---but appear normal.... i assume the 2 plugs that looked a bit funky are normal--if a ring had blown--how likely for 2 cylinders to be effected(i'm sure it doesn't matter-anything is possible, righr?)

the oil, which i have checked several times--no milky color--no signs of coolant--so i doubt the blown head gasket theory---

no signs of oil on the intake piping

so...tomorrow- i will put it up on a lift at the shop and remove the downpipes and examine the turbo for signs of leaking seals---also, i assume the impeler will be a bit loose in feel if the seal is bye bye


i'm betting my money on the turbo seal going bad---the car still had the same exact feel and power when driving home from the track last night-- i assume the car would run different/ feel different/ gauges show something different if the problem was in the engine

please keep the feedback coming-- i'm curious---i will know for sure tomorrrow

THX
TODD

 

Todd, when you felt the plugs, was there any amount of oil theml? Any amount of oil is not normal. They should be totally dry. Carbon is normal.