Yup..Clouds of White Smoke from my turbo

[Engineer420]

Yup..

I've joined the club of those out there that burned out their turbos. The car 27,000 + miles, drives and functions normally with no smokeing and matter of fact there isnt a noticable loss of a power drop off but when you sit at a red light for a few minutes..clouds of white smoke start to pour out of the tailpipe. The Service manager thinks its the turbo but says its the first speed that hes seen smoking like that..only some cx-7's.. I dont take the car to the track or dog it by any means so i kinda can't believe this same old bs keeps happening to me with this speed. im starting to feel like my car is 1/2 beast and 1/2 lemon since its at the dealer ever few months! Oh and i just love driving a POS bone stock rental car !

 

[808MP5]

bad turbo seals? too much oil pressure? frequent oil changes? my turbo use to smoke at every light also until i restricted the oil going into the turbo

 

[Circle9]

Would synthetics help the problem a little?

 

[1speed3]

in some cases a synthetic would help before they where blown but now you could try running 10 w 30 in it. I am running amsoil 10 w 30 in mine and it runs better then the day i bought it. It is a little thicker so it wont pass the turbo seals as easily. I work for subaru and that is what we use in all of the STI's so if amsoil is good enough for a 40,000 dollar car its good enough for mine lol. Hope this helps ur issue.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Most of the time, white smoke has been a turbo issue.

I did notice he has a Mazdaspeed Catback..

Does the manual say anything about allowing a heavier weight of oil?

 

[bgibb68]

wouldn't oil smoke come out black???

 

[robin2660]

wouldn't oil smoke come out black???

Blue-ish white. Also smells like oil!

 

[bgibb68]

got ya i know the smell of coolant.....my water pump busted on amy s10 and i almost lost all my coolant on a 2 hour trip.....smells worse than oil....but it didn't smoke that i rememeber

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru2F4A7jNtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmA013CzxzM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14OYY_wFSoI&feature=related

 

[desperado-c]

Most of the time, white smoke has been a turbo issue.

I did notice he has a Mazdaspeed Catback..

Does the manual say anything about allowing a heavier weight of oil?

Catback? How could that have anything to do with it? The CAI might since it increases power and changes fuel trims and possibly increases EGTs.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Any loss of back pressure has influenced some form of eventual turbo smoking. Do a search, you'll find plenty to read. From stock (defective), lightly modded (catback), to heavily modded (turboback).

And besides, what does your fuel trims have anything to do with oil seeping from the turbo seals?

 

[UHATEIT]

on the whole white smoke thing or from that thread about "smoking turbos" is this something you would CLEARLY see from inside the car if you were driving it? I have never let someone drive my car or watched it from the outside, so how would i knwo I am shooting smoke then, can it be seen from the inside if you look out the window or in the mirror? Also is it something you would see while stopped, or on the freeway at higher rpms? I just want to make sure i know it when I see it so i can go to the dealership for a fix asap.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Don't look for it. It's when you obsess or become paranoid for it that you'll see it.

If you're hangin out at a light and you see the exhaust start puffing for extended periods, then maybe you should be concerned.

MOST stock cars haven't had the issues. MOST exhaust modifications have resulted in smoking turbos eventually.

 

[wisniaPl]

try 5w-40 oil some people claim that it helps

 

[UHATEIT]

Don't look for it. It's when you obsess or become paranoid for it that you'll see it.

If you're hangin out at a light and you see the exhaust start puffing for extended periods, then maybe you should be concerned.

MOST stock cars haven't had the issues. MOST exhaust modifications have resulted in smoking turbos eventually.

i have a testpipe installed, both resonators cut out and the muffler also cut out, basically straight pipe from the downpipe back. the stock downpipe is still in there, but i do also have lots of other mods as well. I was told that the testpipe wouldn't cause a problem tho, i was thinking the exhaust system or turbo needed a certain amount of backpressure but not familiar with what affects that has on the turbo. I just hope those basic mods dont cause the turbo to mess up since the dealerwould void a warranty if the problem was caused as a result of the mods. tho i dont see how the stuff I have done would cause any turbo issues right?

 

[Engineer420]

on the whole white smoke thing or from that thread about "smoking turbos" is this something you would CLEARLY see from inside the car if you were driving it? I have never let someone drive my car or watched it from the outside, so how would i knwo I am shooting smoke then, can it be seen from the inside if you look out the window or in the mirror? Also is it something you would see while stopped, or on the freeway at higher rpms? I just want to make sure i know it when I see it so i can go to the dealership for a fix asap.

Mine only smoked after sitting for a few minutes at idle..them bamm..clouds of white smoke will pour out and keep pouring out.. but then if you drive it the smoke stops. Then the returns when you stop and idle. If it happens to you it wont be long before you notice..

 

[UHATEIT]

Mine only smoked after sitting for a few minutes at idle..them bamm..clouds of white smoke will pour out and keep pouring out.. but then if you drive it the smoke stops. Then the returns when you stop and idle. If it happens to you it wont be long before you notice..

so you can only see ths smoke while stopped at idle, can it be seen from the inside of the car, like in the rearview? I just didnt want to put the car parked and turn it on and sit outside and wait to see if anything happens. I dont have any smoke but worried when or if it comes i know what to look for.

also is you car a 2007 mdoel? i had heard it is more prone to the smoking issue

 

[Engineer420]

for sure it can be seen in the sideview and and rear view..like im talking its a lot smoke and constant ..enough that when I first saw it I s*** my pants and wasnt sure if I should even drive it home. mine is an early 2007

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Don't be fooled guys, this isn't a 07 versus 08 issue either.

Our turbos rely on certain amounts of backpressure to keep the turbo properly lubricated. Something like "floating oil bearing seals" I read somewhere.

It's almost a promise that exhaust mods will cause this issue. And the original poster's modification of a Mazdaspeed Cat-Back is cause for concern that it's a guarantee it'll happen no matter what you do to the exhaust.

 

[mattj3636]

remember boys! free flowing exhaust = tune!