Leaky valve stem seals

Post by **jblackburn** » 13 Sep 2011, 12:07

That's the usual test (with the engine warm of course). You can also put a glove over the dipstick/oil cap hole. It should not inflate.

rmorse · Post by **rmorse** » 13 Sep 2011, 12:31

Cool, I'll try that. I should have an old snowboarding glove lying around to test with.

(kidding)

Klausc · Post by **Klausc** » 13 Sep 2011, 12:34

When you replaced the oil separator, you did clean out the PTC nipple, correct?
I am not sure why anyone would let an engine idle for more than 5 minutes, that creates hot spots and is really bad for the engine.
Before you upgrade the turbo, you need to make sure you are at least at stage 0 and put in a larger diameter exhaust.

rmorse · Post by **rmorse** » 13 Sep 2011, 12:53

Klausc wrote:When you replaced the oil separator, you did clean out the PTC nipple, correct?
I am not sure why anyone would let an engine idle for more than 5 minutes, that creates hot spots and is really bad for the engine.
Before you upgrade the turbo, you need to make sure you are at least at stage 0 and put in a larger diameter exhaust.

Yep, I soaked it in brake cleaner. Lotta gunk came out.

As far as the idling, I can specifically remember three times when it happened. The first was due to an accident, the second was due to me teaching someone how to parallel park (we were set up with cones and she was pretty much staying in idle the whole time) and the third was just recently when Maryland/Virginia was hit with a large (for this area) earthquake and we evacuated work because there was a possibility of structural damage to the building. It took me about 45 minutes to get off of base.

EDIT: And IRT the stage 0, that's kinda why I did the PCV.....the only thing left to do to finish the stage 0+ is to install the koni yellows and ipd lowering springs on the car, with all new parts. LCA, volvo of course, HD spring seats, TKI endlinks, etc. When I go to upgrade the turbo, the car will probably already have an ARD tune with a full 3 inch exhaust by then.

Post by **jimmy57** » 13 Sep 2011, 14:12

Smoke color is not a reliable indicator. I agree burned through engine is almost always going to be blue. but so is burned in the catalytic converter. Not burned is whiter. I have replaced turbos that were faulty and loose enough to have compressor wheel screech on inlet housing. These would white smoke idling cold and be blue if you drive it a few miles. If they were profusely leaking then it would be white all the time.
I also agree that valve stem seals are more likely to give you start up blue smoke as the oil runs down intake guides and puddles in intake ports and cylinders.
If you have turbo intake side oil loss you will find a huge amount of oil on that car by taking off lower intercooler hose at the intercooler end (98 -2000 will have a puddle from the hole in bottom of intercooler).

rmorse · Post by **rmorse** » 14 Sep 2011, 06:47

Since this is my first ever turbo, mind throwing up a picture of where I should be looking for pooling oil?

Post by **boosted5cyl** » 14 Sep 2011, 07:26

Which pool do you mean? When its been sitting overnight? Bad news is that there isn't an easy way to see the oil, you would need to take off the inlet and or exhaust manifolds to take a peek. Good news however is that you dont need to do this, as the oil gets burned off when you start the motor. It might be gray, it might be blue (trying to guess where it is by color is an excercise in futility IMO, too many varaibles), but either way its likely to smell like oil when you start it..

For the intercooler pipe, there should be a large diameter hose, near the bottom of the radiator but larger that you can remove. Some oil residue in here is normal, but if theres a lot gushing out then you might be looking at a turbo rebuild, or a still clogged PCV.

Might be a good idea to get some degreaser and or brake cleaner and clean the oil off the externals of the turbo (when cold!!!).

rmorse · Post by **rmorse** » 14 Sep 2011, 07:51

boosted5cyl wrote:Which pool do you mean? When its been sitting overnight? Bad news is that there isn't an easy way to see the oil, you would need to take off the inlet and or exhaust manifolds to take a peek. Good news however is that you dont need to do this, as the oil gets burned off when you start the motor. It might be gray, it might be blue (trying to guess where it is by color is an excercise in futility IMO, too many varaibles), but either way its likely to smell like oil when you start it..

For the intercooler pipe, there should be a large diameter hose, near the bottom of the radiator but larger that you can remove. Some oil residue in here is normal, but if theres a lot gushing out then you might be looking at a turbo rebuild, or a still clogged PCV.

Might be a good idea to get some degreaser and or brake cleaner and clean the oil off the externals of the turbo (when cold!!!).

Will do. I was talking about the intercooler pipe. I don't think it's pooling overnight, as there isn't a smoke cloud (white or blue) when it starts. The ONLY time it smokes is when it has been sitting at long idles.

whoa · Post by **whoa** » 14 Sep 2011, 11:35

Blue smoke after long idle was definitely cured in my car by replacing valve stem seals. Video evidence here:

https://sites.google.com/site/incarvalv ... s/write-up

rmorse · Post by **rmorse** » 14 Sep 2011, 13:27

I've seen that before, nice write-up. Question! Did you have smoke on startup?

Leaky valve stem seals

Re: Leaky valve stem seals