Large puff of smoke.... Ikes!

[1quickturbosix]

Thats the thing. I cant just get it to start doing it. It did it to me last night sitting at a stop light again. I looked in the rear view mirror and POOOF a big ol ball of smoke spat out as I took off and then smoke screened for about a 1/8 mile. Then it quits. I just know they are gonna tell me they cant find anything wrong... then warranty will run out and it will THEN get worse... my luck!

 

[speed6r]

Take it to the dealer and tell them to leave the service ticket open regardless. If you continue to have that same problem after your warranty expires (within reasonable mileage), they may be legally liable to fix it under warranty.

Good Intel! I never thought of that! I too am having a similar prob. I have a test Pipe Fujita CAI and a HKS BOV. It smokes like a bastard when Idol. Also when "I get on it" I've been told there was "a lot of blue smoke". In addition to my above mentioned smoking. I went into a store the other day (for about 30 min) and when I came out there was a small puddle of oil under my car and a few drops underneath the car on the splash guard. I also was told it was a valve ring or some other turbo related issue. I was told to take off the closest hose to the inter-cooler and check for oil as well as pulling the plugs to check for a Black or "gunked up" plug. none of the above has been done yet. I figure i will go for a oil change and see if there is a problem with oil levels first, before I pull all my Mods off and head to the dealer. any additional intel or personal experiences would be appreciated!

 

[Blendercloud]

Good Intel! I never thought of that! I too am having a similar prob. I have a test Pipe Fujita CAI and a HKS BOV. It smokes like a bastard when Idol. Also when "I get on it" I've been told there was "a lot of blue smoke". In addition to my above mentioned smoking. I went into a store the other day (for about 30 min) and when I came out there was a small puddle of oil under my car and a few drops underneath the car on the splash guard. I also was told it was a valve ring or some other turbo related issue. I was told to take off the closest hose to the inter-cooler and check for oil as well as pulling the plugs to check for a Black or "gunked up" plug. none of the above has been done yet. I figure i will go for a oil change and see if there is a problem with oil levels first, before I pull all my Mods off and head to the dealer. any additional intel or personal experiences would be appreciated!

An oil catch can will probably prevent your car from spewing this stuff all over itself. However, it is just a band-aid and you would definitely want to figure out how to fix the problem instead of just treating the effects or symptoms.

Before you pull any of your mods, you should pull the underskirt off and get down there to look for oil deposits yourself. The intercooler feed hose is also a good place to check (as stated above).

 

[tunersteve]

My car started smoking in July of '08, but couldnt replicate it. Took it in in Sept '08 and still weren't able to replicate it. Finally removed all emissions mods (test pipe) and drove with it until I saw it smoke myself 3 or 4 times. Did the exact procedure that the TSB instructs to do, and got it to smoke every time. Took it to the dealer and it happened while he was filling out the claim and it got fixed.

 

[1quickturbosix]

Well my appt is set for Thursday and I now currently have 550 miles left of warranty, so Im sure they will try to bend me over and tell me nothing is wrong since I cant get it to smoke on purpose, just every once in a while as im driving. Ill keep everyone informed. If they wont fix it... look for a clean ms6 for sale...haha

 

[coyfish]

your going to sell ur speed on terms of a turbo??? Im sure you can find another stock turbo or Ken at PG could help you for well under 1 grand.

 

[LBV]

Some people have had luck with a thicker oil, 5W-40.

 

[1quickturbosix]

Yea... that will be my next option. I dont want to do it now before I take it and try to show them the problem.

 

[speed6r]

your going to sell ur speed on terms of a turbo??? Im sure you can find another stock turbo or Ken at PG could help you for well under 1 grand.

Word! I've seen stock Speed6 turbos on ebay for like $200. In my opinion once my warranty ends the Real Modding begins! I would be on the Garret website right now snooping around!

 

[tunersteve]

Word! I've seen stock Speed6 turbos on ebay for like $200. In my opinion once my warranty ends the Real Modding begins! I would be on the Garret website right now snooping around!

Yeah, but doing a GT series turbo correctly is more than you think. I'd go with a stock turbo (revision C model) or an upgraded one from PG.

 

[speed6r]

Yeah, but doing a GT series turbo correctly is more than you think. I'd go with a stock turbo (revision C model) or an upgraded one from PG.

I've herd a lot of bad things about PG. I hurd the customer service is seriously lacking. In fact other forums have entire threads bashing Protge Garage. Is there somewhere else you would recomend? have you had to swap out your turbo before?

 

[1quickturbosix]

I havent, I just bought the car in October. I just got laid off from the railroad so I had to put all modding to a stand still for a moment. Thats why If I can get this fixed for free.... im all about it. But if they try dicking me around and I have to pay for a new turbo,.....then make sure it wont have the same problem as im having now (cause thats what a lot of the ones on ebay are), have to install it and s***. Not worth it to me. Sell the car and on to the next thing.

 

[bova80]

I've herd a lot of bad things about PG. I hurd the customer service is seriously lacking. In fact other forums have entire threads bashing Protge Garage. Is there somewhere else you would recomend? have you had to swap out your turbo before?

PG is fine and their customer support is top notch, sometimes they get busy and do lack a bit in communication, but they will go to the ends of the earth to straighten things out and make sure everything is ok.

 

[1quickturbosix]

Yup... i agree. I had a small problem with PG where a set of plugs got lost in the mail, so really it wasnt even PG's fault, but PG bit the bullet and sent out a new set... no questions asked. The good news was that the first set they sent out got returned back to PG right as the second set arrived 2 me. Their customer service is pretty much the best thing since sliced bread.....

 

[tunersteve]

I've herd a lot of bad things about PG. I hurd the customer service is seriously lacking. In fact other forums have entire threads bashing Protge Garage. Is there somewhere else you would recomend? have you had to swap out your turbo before?

PG has their moments, it's not what they sell, it's the communication that seems to be a sticking point for those who have issues. I don't know of any other vendors that do turbo upgrades, so I think they're the best bet for that. You may also find a local shop that does the clip/upgrade as well.

I have not removed the turbo, but that doesn't look like a pleasant experience.

 

[bazooka joe]

just made my first rather large purchase from them and the communication couldn't have been better! got the product when i was told i would.

 

[1quickturbosix]

Well today is the day. Gotta take the beast in at 3pm. I was able to get it to smoke last night and caught it on video so hopefully it will do it again while im at the dealer!

 

[1quickturbosix]

I shouldnt say I was able to get it to do it.....it just did it, and I was in a parking lot waiting for a friend and noticed it in the rear view mirror.

 

[USAFVMI08]

I don't know if it's just me or what but I've been noticing that a lot of the cars that are smoking start doing it after the car has been modded. I'm not making any accusations whatsoever that the mods are causing it. My car is totally stock (minus a gutted airbox) and I've had no problems at all. I'm just really hoping that's not the case because I do want to do a couple things but hearing about all these cases and then seeing that the car has been modded has made me EXTEMELY gunshy to do anything.

Again, I'm not saying that mods are causing it and you shouldn't use them, I'm just saying it's an observation I'm making and wanted to know if this is the case.

 

[MShreve]

I don't know if it's just me or what but I've been noticing that a lot of the cars that are smoking start doing it after the car has been modded. I'm not making any accusations whatsoever that the mods are causing it. My car is totally stock (minus a gutted airbox) and I've had no problems at all. I'm just really hoping that's not the case because I do want to do a couple things but hearing about all these cases and then seeing that the car has been modded has made me EXTEMELY gunshy to do anything.

Again, I'm not saying that mods are causing it and you shouldn't use them, I'm just saying it's an observation I'm making and wanted to know if this is the case.

I think the smoking issue is mostly people that have removed one or both of their cats. The cats seem to hide the turbo seal problem pretty well. But as soon as you remove them you start seeing smoke.

Of course the dealership would probably tell you that the turbo is smoking because you removed the cat, but I think we all know differently.