1996 850R White smoke/ Dipstick

Ebarn1g · Post by **Ebarn1g** » 04 Nov 2014, 20:14

Hey guys. I guess this is my first on the forum but let me just say that the help so far has been fantastic. I recently purchased my 850r for super cheap due to it having some issues. One of which being 0 psi in cyl four. The car also had a lot of white smoke starting after a minute or two of running. So I figured a valve was toast in cyl four so I pulled the head. I installed 2 new exhaust valves in cyl 4 (one was toast), did the valve stem seals, water pump, timing belt, and all related tensioner a and gaskets. I also cleaned my ptc and pcv. I ended up pulling the turbo as we'll due to excessive shaft play. The replacement has much less play and seems to be in good condition.

So now I am stuck...

The car is back together, 150psi on all 5 cold, but I am still getting a ton of white smoke at idle as we'll as under load... There is also still smoke coming out of the dip stick tube. Not sure if the turbo is bad? The ptc? Pcv?

Any help is very much appreciated. I would like to get this car on the road soon.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 04 Nov 2014, 21:59

The PTC is pretty simple, either the hole is open or it isn't. It really doesn't matter if the heater is working or not. Cleaning the PCV is hit or miss in most cases. I don't even try to clean the pieces, I just replace them and be done with it. When you cleaned things did you get the passage from the elbow off of the oil trap down into the sump really clean? That passage being open is very important and it is tough to clean.

White smoke doesn't sound like a turbo problem, I would expect blue smoke since the oil seal between the cartridge and hot side would really be the only source of heavy smoke.

How much have you driven the car since the top end work? If you haven't put several hundred miles on it you might be burning off residual crap that collected in the exhaust system which can take several hundred miles of spirited driving to get rid of.

Other than the smoke, how well does it run?

...Lee

Ebarn1g · Post by **Ebarn1g** » 05 Nov 2014, 04:55

Thanks for the input, Lee.

When cleaning the PCV drain to the sump I am pretty sure I got it all. It wasn't all that clogged to begin with, maybe 1/3 of the hole was blocked.

I also agree that the turbo seal being blown would result in blue smoke.

I have a feeling that the exhaust being clogged could be the exhaust smoking culprit. When I got it running and after I burped the coolant, I revved the engine to a quick 3000rpm, this resulted in a couple ounces of water shooting out. This car clearly sat for an extended period of time.

EDIT- There are no check engine lights, no sputtering, and other than the smoke the car runs great.

Any ideas?

Post by **Ben850** » 05 Nov 2014, 05:14

I am confident that you might be aware that white smoke in the exhaust indicates water introduced to the combustion chamber. Head gasket not done correctly?

It is not the final answer. Being turbo, water can also be introduced at the turbo itself by way of its own coolant lines.
The area of the turbocharger, and the catalytic converter will be happy to turn the slightest bit of coolant into steam.
Check the turbo impeller for movement by grasping through the intake area. It might let you know.

Ebarn1g · Post by **Ebarn1g** » 05 Nov 2014, 05:50

When I put the turbo in, it didn't have much shaft play to speak of. I'm thinking the head gasket is ok due to the compression being good.

Ebarn1g · Post by **Ebarn1g** » 05 Nov 2014, 16:50

Hey guys,

Great update! As soon as I got in from work I pulled the car in. First thing was to unbolt the down pipe and see if the smoke was gone. And it was! Seems the white smoke was coming from all the water in the exhaust and who knows what in the cat. Going to get a new turbo back exhaust and PCV service parts.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 05 Nov 2014, 19:04

Ben850 wrote:I am confident that you might be aware that white smoke in the exhaust indicates water introduced to the combustion chamber. Head gasket not done correctly?

It is not the final answer. Being turbo, water can also be introduced at the turbo itself by way of its own coolant lines.
The area of the turbocharger, and the catalytic converter will be happy to turn the slightest bit of coolant into steam.
Check the turbo impeller for movement by grasping through the intake area. It might let you know.

A coolant breach in the turbo itself is highly unlikely. There are no seals in the coolant chamber, only passages in the casting and the only way to get coolant into the oil or the exhaust is if the casting cracks.

...Lee

Post by **Ben850** » 06 Nov 2014, 20:57

Ozark Lee wrote:
Ben850 wrote:I am confident that you might be aware that white smoke in the exhaust indicates water introduced to the combustion chamber. Head gasket not done correctly?

It is not the final answer. Being turbo, water can also be introduced at the turbo itself by way of its own coolant lines.
The area of the turbocharger, and the catalytic converter will be happy to turn the slightest bit of coolant into steam.
Check the turbo impeller for movement by grasping through the intake area. It might let you know.
A coolant breach in the turbo itself is highly unlikely. There are no seals in the coolant chamber, only passages in the casting and the only way to get coolant into the oil or the exhaust is if the casting cracks.

...Lee

That makes sense Lee. It was a thought.