WRX STi V6 Smoke?

[pauly12]

Hi there

Im realitively new on here. i recently bought a v6 Sti RA WRX and as of this morning it has begun to smoke excessively when it starts from cold. the smoke is white and for the first few seconds when started it really pours out then near stops. The car still creates boost and pulls the same, it just when it starts and is concerning me. i would appreciate and thoughts on the cause... i have also just replaced the oil on friday 3 days ago, with castrol edge 5w-30. my hunch is that it is most likely the turbo.

Thanks

Paul

[Guest]

whitesmoke usually mean your turbos on its way out.

what mods have you got,also how many ks on engine/is it the factory turbo?

[Guest]

Oil smoke is generally blue. white? normally condensation... does it go away after 12kms or so? Also a big MAYBE could be oil on your spark plugs. That blows ALOT of white smoke? upload a vid or?

[Guest]

lol most videos you watch on youtube.subaru with white smoke 95% all have blown turbos or about to.

but yeh upload a video

[pauly12]

ill take a video when its light outside tomorrow morning and post it up. its running a vf28. standard ej207 engine. has a full straight through exhaust and stainless steel tuned length headers. and its running 18psi controlled by a gizzmo ibc-r. and also has a K&N air element in the factory airbox. just started it up again earlier and it blew a puff of white smoke then stopped completely. I really appreciate you guys trying to help me find the source .

[Guest]

no worries ,yeh i video will help and im sure a mastermind off here will be able to tell you your issue.hopefully its something small and nothing extreme

'touchwood

[Sequence]

Time to sell.... Im looking for the exact same car...

[Ninja8)]

fark its hard diagnosing sh!t over the net...

from what i have gathered from the information being provided.. it could be a turbo seal problem as stated already, piston rings on their way out (but white smoke will continue being emitted), CONDENSATION FROM A COLD START!!

sorry im not myself today :-\

[pauly12]

i can confirm that it is not condensation as this smoke is much thicker than condensation and smells of oil. i am going to remove the intercooler now and see if there is any oil in the intake tract. And ill do a compression test also and ill post the results up when im done.

[WRXONP]

I would say its turbo but I will ask a few questions to see what you answer with . I have blowen many turbos on various cars and it does white smoke . . Very thick white smoke . . This normally indicates its the exhaust side seal thats leaking excessively . . But normally by this stage the intake seal will be leaking too . . . When you pull the inter cooler . See how much oil is in the inter cooler and intake pipe . A small amount of oil is all right but a puddle indicates a leak . Also if your up to it pull the down pipe off and see if there is oil in there . . . . Also a note . Piston rings wont smoke on idle . They will smoke on wide open throttle . . Valve seals and turbo seals will leak on idle and decel... . If you where to drive the car will it smoke and while giving it boost will the smoke clear ? Then do it again on idle and decel ? ? But from what ive seen so far I would say its the turbo . . A compression test wont really tell you much any way the real way to test if the rings or valves are leaking is a cylinder leakage test . . Um thats about all I can say at this point hope fully it helps you out

[pauly12]

hi there guys, just had everything apart. and ive taken some photos that will hopefully speak better than i can. its appearing that it looks to be the turbo. as for the questions from WRXONP, There was some oil in the pipe and intercooler enough to question if it was too much but not what i would call excessive. Unfortunately my exhaust is in one piece and i wasn't game enough to attempt removing the whole exhaust tonight. My car is definitely smoking on idle which im assuming rules out rings. i then once got it back together, ran it round the block twice. it smoked when i just very lightly accelerated to about 50. or atleast there was small white clouds visible in the rear view. when i accelerated heavily on boost the smoke cleared then didnt appear to become visible again after i boosted it.

[Pappu1]

Most likely turbo seals bro

U cud just drive and save up in the meantime and get it rebuilt

Or a new turb

I have heard good things abt either but really turns to how much u Wana spend

Over time a busted seal gets worse

I have heard that thicker oil helps slow the deaths but I have never tried and so can only leave that to someone who has indeed trid it

[Sequence]

You could sell the car to me? I can provide a replace meant.

[pauly12]

the images i promised....

[WRXONP]

see if it does the same tomorrow. looks to be turbo seals . my exhaust use to be 1piece . the trick is to have the car up high as on axle stands and when by self i use trolley under the down pipe and holding the muffler end Wheel it out lol after you un bolt it all.

[pauly12]

i think im going to make the assumption that my turbo oil seal is gone. anyone know of a vf22 they wanna part with. i have a apexi power fc thats going to get tuned next month so a vf22 will probably be a good addition. or could anyone give me any idea about the cost of trying to fix my vf28? is it possible to replace the oil seals on my vf28 or rebuild it? as far as i was aware you cannot rebuild BB turbos?

[Sequence]

Get a VF29, Thats what Type Ra's have. There nicer than a VF22.

[pauly12]

if i was to consider replacing my turbo with a vf29 i would just get mine fixed i think. theres no benefit to moving to a vf29. a vf28 and vf 29 both flow 425cfm of air at 18psi. the vf22 flows 490cfm a significant improvement. im just frustrated as to the fact i was under the impression that these IHI turbos were apparently strong.

[Sequence]

Theres nothing wrong with the turbo's its what you try and push through them, If you run stock boost they will be fine, If you go over you take risks, The VF29 is a low pressure high flow compared to the VF22.

[ADIKT]

The oil seals in my vf30 appear to be leaking a lil bit too.. Occasionally when i start her up i get a puff of white oily smelling smoke but then clears up.. Ive got a mint vf30 coming up from funkytown in wellington soon. So hopefully when i swap them over this gets rid of that problem and i wont have to open the engine up to replace some expensive things lol

[WRXONP]

imo vf22 is just a laggy mess . i run a vf23 and the mid range is great also so is the top end . and oil seals are just a wear and tear thing. with old age they leak . my 23s been rebuilt and i boost 20 Pound daily no problem

[Pappu1]

Oh no no another wht turbo is better thread Hahah

I will go right ahead and say vf22 has the largest cfm rating

But seriously tho any of them will be fine 23,28,30 etc

The 22 has bit more lag but flows bit more too than the others

So really comes down to what u want out of the car and perhPs what u can find as a replacement

Hmmm I have heard of SM rebuilding 28 ......?

Is that an upgrade

[vorigan]

 pappu said:

Oh no no another wht turbo is better thread Hahah

I will go right ahead and say vf22 has the largest cfm rating

But seriously tho any of them will be fine 23,28,30 etc

The 22 has bit more lag but flows bit more too than the others

So really comes down to what u want out of the car and perhPs what u can find as a replacement

Hmmm I have heard of SM rebuilding 28 ......?

Is that an upgrade

the best turbo is what you want it to be

rebuild vf's? na cant be done even thou i did over 50 last year but dont take my word for it i dont know shit

[funkytown]

 vorigan said:

the best turbo is what you want it to be

rebuild vf's? na cant be done even thou i did over 50 last year but dont take my word for it i dont know s***

seriously steve W T F..

a member is trying to throw business your way and with out anyone else saying a word you manage to come across like a complete twat. your forum etiquette is way off the mark.

Also FWIW - i think your work rebuilding to factory spec is totally a-grade stuff.

[vorigan]

FUNKYTOWN !!!!!!!!

seriously steve W T F..

a member is trying to throw business your way and with out anyone else saying a word you manage to come across like a complete twat. your forum etiquette is way off the mark.

Also FWIW - i think your work rebuilding to factory spec is totally a-grade stuff.

I wont take over this thread but based on you and ya mates you wonder why i answer that way?

Dont be a hypercrite Jon read your past posts any praise from you means nothing go kiss someone else's butt and eat s*** ya tosser >

Ive never ever been on forums but to help not chase work,thanks to speacial people like you and your mates i wonder why i dont anymore.

So thanks to drop kicks like yourself and ya mates others miss out on PROVEN info.

As for above yes you can rebuild vf's replace seals and many other things etc etc i do many per year

You cant pin point what the smoking issue is without seeing in real life,

White on start up from cold normaly moisture,blue oil burnt inside engine, white after 10mins plus running turbine leakage.

OIL SEALS DONT JUST BLOW !!!

LEAKAGE IS THE END RESULT OF OTHER THINGS GONE WRONG.

Take your car to nearest turbo shop as such and let them have a look before you turn spanner based on unsure advise on forums, im sure theres many turbo shops around that'll repair the turbo if needed.