Car smoking when it’s near/at WOT & higher RPM

So this morning I was coming into the office and on an open stretch of highway I shifted into 4th gear at approximately 60 mph and applied roughly 80% throttle, car accelerated great but the whole time I was shooting out what appeared to be white smoke out of the exhaust (enough to cover the highway behind me)

This has happened pretty much since I boosted the car a few months back and when I was at the drag strip about three weeks ago the guy I was racing said the smoke had a blue tint to it…as I was pulling away from him.

Now, the temperature levels are perfectly normal (same as they were when I was NA) and at idle or normal driving I’m not have any smoking issues. Also, under load the AFR is in the 11’s and 12’s

Any idea what this may be? I was thinking maybe its blow-by? Not sure though…

I’m running a pretty simple setup, PowerLab GT35R, HKS exhaust, ProEFI; car does have nearly 100k on it though, stock motor, stock clutch, etc.

 

does it smoke more when you let off the throttle after a hard pull? or just during pulls?

 

It smoke a lot under heavy throttle and after you let off the throttle it takes a few seconds to clear up. So…to answer your question I guess just under acceleration BUT it still smokes for a few seconds immediately after you let off the throttle.

 

mine does the same thing on my first wot pull but stops after that and its just a puff not something that engulfs the entire lane.

 

Sounds like you got some blowby or maybe even a turbo seal. Have you done a compression test lately? Install a catch can, if that doesn't help then it might be time to rebuild the turbos.

 

i'd do a leakdown. rings might be toast

 

Thanks for all the replies so far guys, I appreciate the input!

Yeah, mine’s a full out smoke screen, lol… poor guy in a C5 Corvette was behind me with his roof down, lulz… but I’m just wondering what it is. My brother’s car does the same thing pretty much ever since it was boosted too, about 20k boosted miles on it now, same setup as me too.

The turbo is pretty much brand new; it’s a Garrett GT35R out of a PowerLab turbo kit roughly 2k miles on it so far.

I’m hoping it’s not the rings… I’ll be looking into a leak down test. About that through, if the rings were blown wouldn’t it smoke at idle too?

 

Mine did that too after new turbos were put in.....high rpm smoke (but especially when I let off due to a oil sump tank that builds pressure)..

Catch can solved my problems....make sure your turbo is draining oil properly!!!!

Tom

 

Smoke screen could come in handy...

 

Cool, I’m going to try a catch can first; I’m looking at either the Greddy or Mishimoto catch can right now. Also, need to look into routing all the hoses to and fro the catch can now…

 

The bad is your your piston rings are shot and that is all the oil that is getting past them and burning off at high (and a lesser degree low) RPM. The not so bad is you are possibly running pretty rich and a tune might fix it.

 

if its odorless and very white and doesnt seem to affect performance is is a head/headgasket etc buringin coolant in your cylinders and is a sign of the death of an aluminum engine. If it iverheats, aluminum parts warp.

All other replies are valid if it appears to be more smoky and smell like total #ss. I would assume since you have a new turbo this may be the case, but thats the EASSIEST way to tell what fluid is buring out the back... and usually when it starts smoking antifreeze.. it doesnt stop. It will be continuous.

Just my 2 cents.

 

First u have to figure what the actual color is bc different colors leads to different outcome.
If it is true white, then it's ure headgasket so I would check ure temps and ure overflow
Tank to see if it's milky r consuming a lot of coolant.

 

I’m pretty sure it’s not odorless and fortunately the engine temperature is always a hair below the halfway point…and again the car doesn’t smoke at idle or normal/conservative driving. I’ll try to get someone to record my car in action from behind and see for sure what color it is, lol…

 

thats weird, my Z's temperature gauge, even in 100+ degree weather, is always significantly lower than half way.

 

Well, it’s a little more than a "hair" below the halfway mark…It’s been the same since I bought the car a few years and 30some thousand miles ago.

 

This can happen when either the turbo seal(s) are going bad, or too much oil pressure is being applied to it. Which sounds like it might be your issue, high rpm = more oil pressure, more leak. Have you taken off the charge pipe coming out of the turbo to see if there is any oil in it, the same for exhaust outlet of the turbo?

Also check to see if your return line is not pinched or anything.

 

happend to my Z a month ago.

check the first the PCV Valve, or check (open up) the plenum if it has signs of excessive oil blow-bys.

In the end i had to rebuild my engine as my piston rings were busted.

 

I’m thinking it might just be running really, really rich; and if anything I might just be having some blow-by too. Trying to get it into the tuner this week sometime.

This weekend I parked the car in reverse, the next day I opened the garage, fired up the car and the exhaust left this behind:

 

Did you read my post in regards to turbo?