So after like 4-5 months of owning the Power Enterprise kit I've started getting some occasional smoke from the exhaust. I've had it thoroughly investigated and was told that the engine was perfectly fine, and that the problem was caused by oil backing up in the oil lines to and from the turbos. Eventually that backed up oil, according to Ted at Scott Performance, may have caused the seals in the turbos to leak.

So it looks like I'll need to spend about 600-700 to repair the turbos or have Power Enterprise do it under warranty. Either way, though, Ted has been vigorous in telling me that because of the IHI turbos I may be seeing problems in the future even if I do the repair. He's trying to convince me to go the APS route. Do you guys think there's a good reason to shell out all that extra money and go APS or should I just fix the problem and stick with it ?

 

i'd just fix it - warrenty on the PE, go for it, IMO the APS kit is damn nice, but the PE is a great kit as well, why mess with it and the expense. It's not like it's going to be a massive difference in power or anything - just can't justify the cost

 

+1 I would just get it fixed (especially if its under warranty). Like already said, I couldn't justify the cost either, and the PE Kit is a great kit.

 

I would also fix it. What would cause the oil to back up?

 

Pick up a JWT oil pan spacer kit?

 

the Pe kit comes with a +1 qt finned/baffled oil pan... so no need to the jwt pan.


what did PE say? as for the oil lines being backed up.. were you routing them with extensive bends? hmm... mine seem to be ok... maybe ill get it up on the left to inspect when i pull one side to install my EGT...

 

It would have to be a return line issue but it would be the first I heard of with the PE kit. Unless it wasn't a backup issue at all and the turbo seals just failed..

 

bad check valve -- happened to me with my kit. lots of smoke at startup, goes away after 15 minutes or so.

 

You can do us all a favor and kill yourself..
Rami..

 

lol thanks, git-r-done.

I've notified PE of the issue: they are in the process of getting back to me about it. They think that a set of new fittings may solve the problem (restricters I suppose), but I don't think this is the case. I believe Ted already put in restricters into the oil line, but he thinks the seals are already gone.

The guys at PE are at SEMA right now, which means they'll take another week or two just to get back to me and tell me whether or not they will look at the turbos. I'd prefer to have the issue resolved in 2 weeks since I'm on vacation right now due to come back then. So the only real benefits of the APS are:

- the ability to have the car ready by the time I return
- iron cast manifolds (mine are stainless)
- nice Garretts with watercooling (mine's optional)

That's really about it. This is gonna cost me an additional $3,500 or more, depending on how much the PE kit is worth on the open market after I repair the turbos.

And cheston, with regards to extensive bends. I've had a reputable shop install it for me. They routed the lines according to instructions from PE. Apparently there might be a design flaw the way it came from the factory. In other words, according to Ted, the oil return line should have gone higher into the oil pan, because the gravity of the oil in the oil pan helped push the returning oil back up the line.

 

Wow. I have the feeling that I would seek the opinion of a mechanic that doesn't deal APS, in other words, someone who doesn't stand to make a lot of money by you buying a completly new turbo kit. I can tell you just from reading these 350Z forums that quite a few APS kits have had oil problems. I have heard the oil problems be blamed on a few different things, but I have never heard of someone recommending replacing the Turbo kit with another brand kit because of the oil leak.

I would hold this Ted at arms length and find another shop to determine what the problem is.

 

Maybe I am wrong, but the oil returns to the top of the oilpan just like the APS. I swear the APS oil pan is almost an exact copy of the PE oil pan.

 

I understand this but he's the only one who was able to figure out my problem. Nobody in Jersey could do it, that's why I eventually wound up at his door.

The other reason this is so ironic is cause I've already went through this before with the Greddy kit, lol. The PE dealer told me exactly the same thing "The PE is the highest quality kit on the market, you won't have the kind of problems you're having with Greddy" blah blah blah. The APS would be my 3rd turbo kit, lol...

 

so did you learn from the last snow job?

 

Not sure I follow, Z boy

 

No mine's different. Mine doesn't go away after 15 minutes... the harder I run the turbos, the more smoke there is. Also Ted said when he pinched the oil feed line to the turbos the smoke goes away completely.

BTW APS kits can have the same kind of problem, that's why the APS site has a warning about running with too much oil in the pan. If you do that the oil will start getting backed up and leak back into the turbos, creating smoke.

Also, no smoke with cats on the car.

 

i mean someone convinced you to go from greddy to pe, only to have the same results, per your statement. now, someone else is trying to convince you yet again to do the same thing and promising different results, again. If it were me, i'd be thinking "yeah, i've heard that one before". know what i mean?

 

Yeah well not only am I thinking that, but I've openly told this to the mechanic. His response is that he feels bad for me, hehehe...

Unfortunately that doesn't help me too much =O

 

i think, like most people are saying, the repair is the smart way to go at this point. good luck either way.

 

If it was me I would just get the current turbos repaired, under warranty if possible, I would also think about getting them modified for more performance as they are being pulled apart (high-flowed, port matched, larger turbine, larger compressor etc) and I would definately get whoever is working on the car to run some water cooling lines to the IHI turbos. If they need some ideas get them to route it like the APS kit (if Ted's doing the work he should know how APS have done it ) and make sure they use heat shielding to protect the lines if required. The turbos are designed for water cooling so I dont know why PE doesnt supply the kit with the parts required to enable it.