Calling all MS3 Owners with smoking Turbos...

[Kosh]

i don't know if anyone is still talking about back pressure as a cause for bad seals but doesn't just driving at half throttle lower back pressure?

Anyone have an illustration on how oil travels through the turbo? I don't know anything about turbo cooling but would like to know more if anyone has information.

Also to people with smoking turbos, do you all follow proper cool down procedures before turning your car off after running hard? Would that cause the seals to go bad?

 

[AutoXRacer]

i don't know if anyone is still talking about back pressure as a cause for bad seals but doesn't just driving at half throttle lower back pressure?

Anyone have an illustration on how oil travels through the turbo? I don't know anything about turbo cooling but would like to know more if anyone has information.

Also to people with smoking turbos, do you all follow proper cool down procedures before turning your car off after running hard? Would that cause the seals to go bad?

This was discussed earlier in the thread:

(attn)
I spoke with Jon from CP-E and he said that Hitachi-Warner (the manufacturer of our turbos) had a bad batch of turbos. He said that Hitachi is recalling these turbos which wound up on our cars.

He said its not a normal condition for our cars to smoke!!!

That would explain the new part number Mazda is using for the replacement turbos.

Seems like the turbo manufacturer had a bad batch of turbos...

 

[gr3y]

It doesn't always smoke though... you have to show it to the dealer when it's happening in most cases...

Mine only smokes on occasion... maybe once a week for 15 mins or so...

Yep, mine was smoking in my garage the other night after i washed it. At first i thought it was just some water boiling out of the exhaust, but it kept going for about 15 minutes.. i revved a lot, to see if it would go away, but it didn't. Went away later as I was driving it. It looked white, then again i'm kind of color blind. OEM exhaust, 07 model.

 

[Speedy3]

Anyone have an illustration on how oil travels through the turbo? I don't know anything about turbo cooling but would like to know more if anyone has information.

Look at this picture: Oil comes into the shaft area right above the left brass bearing with holes. It flows through the gaps in the shaft to case and the bearings "float" on the oil. This design was developed to get RPMs up to 165K.

 

[Kosh]

Look at this picture: Oil comes into the shaft area right above the left brass bearing with holes. It flows through the gaps in the shaft to case and the bearings "float" on the oil. This design was developed to get RPMs up to 165K.

Thanks for the pic and info. (nana)

 

[Jesse MS3GT]

How come you haven't gotten it fix if you only have an intake?

Too lazy to bring it in, also now that its winter I wont be driving it until spring. I plan on bringing it in, but like others have said it might not smoke while the dealer has it and they will simply state "cannot duplicate problem" and send me on my way.

I am RELIGIOUS when it comes to cool downs, I usually let my car sit for 1-3 minutes. I also let it idle for at least 1 minute before driving and I baby it until the engine warms all the way to operating temp.

 

[Ben Nast]

All I had was an intake and a bov so it wasnt too much of a hassle... Just makes the car lame though. I dont know if its still smoking, its been sitting in my garage this winter, I just take it out to run it to the dealer to get fixed lol.

So are you saying they wont warranty any future problems after they warranty your turbo?

 

[SloaneSloane]

After I got my DP installed My ms3 started smoking bad. I went to the dealer and after 2 weeks of driving good ol smokey they finally got the part in and installed it no problem. Its nice to drive my car without looking into my mirrors to see a huge cloud of smoke.

 

[jengajoe]

.

 

[AutoXRacer]

Is your downpipe still on or did your dealr make you go back to stock for the warranty work?

+1

 

[Speedy3]

When I did my ATP turbo inlet install, I noticed black oil residue inside the turbo. It looked like it was flung off the impeller blades. Could have been from the PCV since the stock, plastic inlet had some oil residue inside it as well. My car doesn't smoke, though I have stock cats.

 

[winniep]

Copied from my post on the "other" forum..........
Well, my 08 is now a freight train. It is smoking it up worse than Bob Marley. Whenever I read the posts of the turbo issue I never would have imagined how bad the smoke really is, but DAMN! It's like a chimney! CONSTANT smokage. I thought (was hoping anyway...) that my 08 would be immune to such things........ better check my MM again. I have the Corksport down/mid pipe and am waiting for the backordered catback. This is what worries me. The fact that the dealership will more than likely be a douche bag to me and try to do something stupid like cancel my warranty or something. I am going to have a sit down with the service manager before I even have them look at my car. Feel him out, and tell him that I ONLY have 3/4 of a turbo back and an intake. That's it. I will beg and plead with him not to turn me away, and if he denies my claim, then at least allow me to retain my warranty. If they give me too much flak over this, I will FLIP OUT! I will do everything short of getting a police officer to escort me out of the building. I WILL make a scene. I am unafraid to put my finger in peoples faces and get irrate in public. I will make sure as many customers as possible here me. There are several other hurtful steps I plan on taking, none of which are good for the dealer. I work for a dealership as well, although we do not cary the Mazda line of vehicles (a shame). I am also getting occasional fuel/boost cut (not really sure which one) with the addition of the exhaust, and that's at 70 degrees. No biggie. Hopefully Cobb will take care of that. I am going to print off page after page from the forums about the issue as well to take with me for my sit down. Is there a TSB on this btw?

 

[DFv2]

Wow sounds like you're willing to go the extra mile. With all of the strange pre-hostility, have you thought about maybe...returning the exhaust to stock and doing this the easy way?

 

[winniep]

Well, considering that the exhaust will not smoke after returning it to stock due to the masking action of the cats, how will I prove to the dealership that I am having a problem? Also, putting that DP on is a PITA! And as far as the "pre-hostility", I was just describing how bad it was smoking in an exciting and vivid manner. I was also playing the scenario out in my mind as far as how the dealership visit will go. Like I said, I will have a very civil sit down discussion with the service manager, ang try to get him to listen to reason. Feel him out so to speak on how he is about mods, if he had a good breakfast, having a good day etc.................... you know, make sure he isn't in the middle of a divorce or something. The better the mood, the better my chances. If this meeting doesn't work, then all I know to do is get a little more "stern" with him and remind him that I have been a returning customer for some time, yada yada yada. I hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[Tagkat]

People with the smoking turbos what's your build date? I have a 06 buildate on mine and getting ready to put the dp on it. With the racepipe I've had no probs.

 

[Jesse MS3GT]

2/15/07 is my build date...

 

[PLM_Man]

I guess you'd have to weigh out the pros/cons:

Scenario 1) If you leave the exhaust modded, then pro- you don't have to go thru the hassle of reinstalling the stock downpipe, but the con- if the service manager puts his foot down and denies warrantee work because of the DP, then you might be in for more headaches than the DP install while attempting to change their minds.

Scenario 2) con- you have to get them damn heat sheilds and O2 sensors back where they belong without buggering them up to the point where it was obvious someone had screwed with the exhaust system, but pro- you arrive at the dealership stock with little to no evidence of any modifications.

Now I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. If you go with 2), as far as proving to them that the exhaust is smoking, why not take a video of the car with your current set-up at idle with your license plate shown and the car clearly smoking and not looking like water vapor, and show the dealership. I can't imagine that the exhaust sound at idle with a DP can be differentiated from the stock DP with the stock catback over a video.

***
Also this might prove to be of some interest, though I haven't been able to confirm it for myself: thru research on another forum, it appears that there was a new part number issued for our turbos. The old number is L3K9 13 700F. The new one is rumored to be L3Y1 13 70Z. (Actually someone on this thread got the new part number on pg. 4). Apparently the old number has been deleted from Mazda dealerships p/n list. Again, I haven't confirmed this myself. I plan to install my TBE next month, so I'll check my part number then.

Now, you might ask yourself, "If I have the old part #, does this mean that my turbo is defective?" The answer, I think, is "No." A few months ago, CPE said that Warner released a batch of defective turbo's. Since everyones car isn't smoking and burning oil (or else we'd all need new turbos), I have a feeling that someone down the line either at Hitachi Warner or Mazda requested the part number be changed to completely eliminate the chances of a bad turbo being installed on any more vehicles. That, or the seals were redesigned on the new #, perhaps just with a different tolerance.
***

Basically what I'm trying to say is that if your car is smoking, and you have a picture of the old part number on your turbo or the dealership can verify the old # turbo is on there themselves, and the Mazda techs look up the part number for a replacement turbo and can only find the new #, then I think right there you have a valid case that something had gone wrong with some of the turbos because a replacement part number was created, not because your modified exhaust caused it to fail. But for the third time: I haven't looked into this myself to know if its 100% true. I've seen pics of the old part# and invoices with the new part#. Someone with a smoking turbo should check into this for it may eliminate a lot of unnecessary arguments over turbo warrantee work on a modified speed3.

 

[ericrapp]

Two questions please, has anyone done video on the exhaust smoke because, as has been described before the about color and odor, that a bad seal would create quite a bit of very noticable smoke. And there still is fear among drivers. We are getting closer to solving whats causing what. Fine post PLM. Did the second part # ever go into production line? Just wondered if " failure" was a design flaw or a manufacturing error, if design then i'll just use that as excuse to upgrade sooner than later

 

[ericrapp]

My build date in feb also Tagkat no smoke but tbe ins't installed yet.

 

[tru-boost]

if you really have a bad turbo puting the stock exhaust will not make the smoke go away. cats dont remove oil smoke, thats not their job. if you put the stock stuff on and your smoke stops your turbo is fine and you have a blow by issue.....just like i did with aftermarket exhaust.
how to tell..... does it only smoke at idle ??? then the turbo is fine.
does it smoke constantly, and more heavily when under heavy throttle ?
if so you have a bad turbo. people are so quick to blame the turbo and 90% the time that is not the case. i personally think you need a catch can and air check valve, and you'll be golden ! if i ever put a DP on my car again, i know thats what i will do.