I removed the passenger turbo because I got tons of white smoke at idle (oil burnt smell).

What I discovered doesn't make me happy, the exhaust track is completely fully covered with oil cooked, that's not the rear turbo seal which leaks (perhaps it leaks also) but the oil comes from the cylinders !!

I haven't removed the exhaust manifold yet (full of oil cooked).

On the pics, don't take care of the oily crap outside of the turbo, it's ATF fluid residue, a power steering problem solved.

Last time I removed all the spark plugs, the left and right ones didn't look different but all were covered with oil deposit.

Only the passenger tail pipe smoked like the hell at idle (no H pipe). I changed the PCVs 2 months ago, the old ones were st

uck.

 

BUT I ran the car a lot of time at idle the last 8 months because the car stands in my garage and I had several others troubles to solve, then it means the amount of oil sucked could be higher than normal driving. The back of the plenum had oil as a lot of Zs (on each side).

I put new spark plugs 2 months ago, I will check if one is more oily than the others to identify cylinder failure.

 

Can it be the driver side front turbo seal which leaks oil, the oil is sucked by combustion chamber and cooks the passenger exhaust manifold ??

Last time I checked, I had no blowby gas (through oil cap), then it cannot be valves stem seals. It may be worn rings ..... I didn't performed a compression test, and cannot do it now (a lot of stuff removed)

 

In fact I bought the car last August and when I got it, there was no smoke. Since September, I didn't drive the car, I fixed some other problems (power steering rack leaking ...), the car stands in my garage but I ran it a lot at idle (I consumed almost one full tank at idle !) to diagnose it with consult and so on and to try to be sure about the source of the smoke.

One time, when I accelerated gently from idle, my ear on the engine, I heard a slight scraping noise around the battery, I thought it was a turbo wheel scraping the housing.

Now, I can tell the turbo wheel doesn't touch the housing but there's some axial play, I can feel it with my fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could be malfunctioning PCV system.

What are the compression figures of the cylinders ?

 

-Eric

I cannot perform a compression test at the moment, the car is on jack stands, and too much stuff is removed (I know, I would have to do it before dismantling the turbo, the belts and so on).

 

I changed all the PCV hoses at the back + front of the engine + PCV valves with new ones 2 months ago, it didn't improve the situation. I may check quickly if some are blocked by applying air pressure. Is it a relevant test ?

 

Only the passenger tail pipe smokes like hell (remember, no H pipe) ...

Smoke is white/grey and thick and smells burnt oil.

 

What are the consequencies of running the car for long idling periods on the oil system (as I did it the last 8 months) ?

 

Exhaust manifold is really covered inside with thick oil deposit. I will remove it this week.

My passenger side exhaust was blowing smoke too but I managed to do a compression test and it was more likely (for me) leaking rings, but the PCV hoses and vavles did need changing too.

 

When I took the pistons out, I can see oil burn marks where oil has leaked past the rings. Is this an indication that the rings where worn? I think it does. Maybe you can see that.

Anyone has already got its exhaust manifold completely cooked/stuck/covered with dry oil deposit ??? That's not carbon deposit.

yes, I have seen it once, but that was caused by a hole in piston #6

I removed the exhaust manifold and the spark plugs (fitted 2 months ago) yesterday.

 

Both cylinders #1 and #3 are fine (exhaust ports show carbon deposit only)

Cylinder #5 is the one which leaks. The exhaust port is completely covered with oil.

I noticed the spark plug porcelain shows some oily trace on one side only.

If I put my finger in the exhaust port, it's more oily at the back of the engine, it would mean it's an exhaust valve which leaks ?

It didn't leak (as far as I remember, there was no smoke) 8 months ago and I ran the car at idle only since. What would it do leak an exhaust valve so quickly ?

If I look to the top of the piston through the spark plug hole, it doesn't seem to be so oily compared to the others one.

 

Another important fact : according to the state of the gasket (carbon deposit outside), the exhaust manifold had a leak on the cylinder #5 and the area all around the gasket is covered with some sprayed oil dirt. Could be a cause of an oil leak from the exhaust valves ?