Yikes! Puff o' smoke...

My old T16 used to do this. It isn't whitish smoke, honest, it's a healthy blue/grey, burning oil type smoke. It just looks white in the mirror.

You are burning oil, but a very small amount of it. It gets sucked in during overrun, builds up, then gets burnt off in one go when you floor it.

There are two things that cause a T16 to do this: leaky valve stem seals and leaky turbo seals. In most cases, it's the valve stem seals. As such, I'd do them first.

No, far from it. It will slowly, gradually smoke more, until you fix it. If I were you, I'd do nothing right now, and schedule the work in for next time you're doing some major work on the engine.

in article v%eWf.285880$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk, Al at snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote on 28/03/2006 19:11:

Sounds like blow-by gases building up in the crankcase and re-cycling when you boot it again. I wouldn't worry.

Do T16s have an oil separator in the crankcase, like T8s do? Might be worthwhile pulling the crankcase off and giving it a clean.

Paul

My 86 900T started doing that, a little puff at first and it went away. However, after time the smoke just started coming more frequently, until it was a health hazzard. it was the turbo. It died. the seals were all rotted and oil was bloing into the system. You could be at the beginning of the same thing, after all the car is nearly twenty years old. My dealer said that the turbos usally start to go after ten.

Jeremy

My guess is the seals in the turbo are wearing out. When you let off the gas after hard throttle you have a lot of vacuum in the intake side and the turbo is spinning fast, oil gets past the shaft seals.

My turbo has always whistled....is this a bad thing? :-((

I kinda liked the sound, it certainly doesn't screech and I was only able to reproduce the smoke once out of four or five attempts.(He said re-assuring himself)

If it's turbo repair time what's best option? New (gulp) turbo now before it gives up completely or a Turbo rebuild? OR cheapskate option, pull one off a scrapper? If I do this what should I be looking for? Please bear in mind that my mechanical knowledge is at enthusiastic amateur level, that's why Phil and Phil at Aeromotive do most of my mechanicals for me.

PING Paul Halliday, didn't you get your turbo rebuilt somewhere local to us?

(I preffered Grunffs valve seals idea....)

Al

A higher than usual whine is a sign of turbo death. I picked up a rebuilt unit for $300 US. Checkout your local auto shop, they might be able to order you a rebuilt one. Rebuilding one can be problematic. If there is any cracking of the housing, it shouldn't be rebuilt. At least with one that is a professionally redone, you will know that the unit has be inspected for any flaws (hopefully) in the housing.

The biggest issue in replacing the turbo isn't getting the replacement, it is getting the old one out. On mine, the mounting bolts had decayed and two snapped off on removal. That is where the large cost will be. It actually cost me more to have the new turbo installed than the turbo itself.

Jeremy

I was "thinking about it", since mine whistles. It whistles, rather than whines ... and I have heard a kippered turbo. It sounded like a helicopter! There _is_ a place in Birstall that does turbochargers, which I think Aeromotive use for their special turbos. Ask them about it :) Otherwise, I wouldn't expect to pay more than 350 UKP for a new (reconditioned) turbo unit.

in article snipped-for-privacy@t31g2000cwb.googlegroups.com, Paul Halliday at snipped-for-privacy@blueyonder.co.uk wrote on 29/03/2006 19:13:

Sorry - this is in reply to Al's last post. I have been experimenting with Google's groups whatsit and erm, this posted without reference to what I was posting in reply to :( Oh well ... Back to good old Entourage :)

The company are AR Turbo Engineering.

... And the Northern office for BTN Turbo: - See bottom of page.

Paul

The simple solution is to continue using plenty of revs in the gears of his

Yeah. Must try that one......

Hey ho, if the turbo goes boom I'll pull one off a scrapper if I can. Short of that, I'll break her myself, sell the parts on ebay and make enough money to buy another car. (Worth more in parts)

Thanks for the replies, I'm less worried than I was, but am making financial arrangements to face a major bill in the not too distant future.

Al