turbo or valve stem oil seals?

bo!

Active Member
Oct 12, 2012
170
0
Would piston rings cause blue smoke on cold start after the car has been left for say 6 hours .?also it never smokes on start up if the car is parked on a gradient my drive slopes up and it never smokes when started up there .but otherwise it has ???.
 

wildrides

Active Member
Dec 27, 2013
396
1
no not piston rings ........... most likely valve stem oil seals or turbo hot side oil seal ring or over filling sump with oil ( when wrong length replacement dipstick plastic tube has been fitted in error it alters the correct reading of the oil level )
 

seatturbopower

Active Member
Aug 1, 2012
350
5
birmingham
I have a leon cupra 180 AUQ stage 1 .
the car is puffing blue smoke out of the exhaust .has done for around two years it used to do this occasionally on cold starts after being left over night .
but I recently put a 3" decat downpipe on the car and now the smoking has got considerably worse .but the symptoms have changed..it does not smoke on cold starts any more .the symptoms now are when the engine is hot !.it smokes on idle .also if I pull of from a set of trafic lights after long durations of idling if i touch the throttle il get a puff of blue smoke . It doesnt do this on overun .

turbo has gone mate mine did the same in how you explained there,with the new down pipe this makes the gases run more easier through out and even from the turbo,if you have leaky seals this will run down your down pipe and burn the smoke, change the turbo pal the problem wont go away,you can get a turbo on and off in a wkend or even sooner, its easy enough....just have time to look at what your working on.changed mine and all good now.after a while it will get worse,only until the turbo is off you realise how funked up the turbo is/was
 
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bo!

Active Member
Oct 12, 2012
170
0
Quick update .Still haven't changed turbo as I believe it may not be the problem.
since swaping back to the standard downpipe the car barely smoked at all.until last week I parked off the drive for a night the following morning started it up and I filled most of close I live in blue smoke.also the same day after being off boost say doing 30mph in 4th if I put my foot down id get blue smoke from the exhaust .also pulling off after waiting at traffic lights the same.but since parking on my drive over the last week nothing no smoke at all .:confused:.
i understand parking up overnight on a different gradient may allow oil to seep past a worn valve seal .but y then would it smoke when driving that day more??
 

wildrides

Active Member
Dec 27, 2013
396
1
Check sump to see if any oil left in it !

if okay then check PVC system valves . A valve stuck shut or open will allow oil mist into the combustion chamber via the PCV system . Main valve is located under intake manifold.

Check the secondary air pump is working ( pollution control system ) it should chime in on cold start .

Take turbo intake hose off ( on four post lift ) measure turbo shaft end float and side trust with micro guage to see if in tolerance still . If not recon turbo ( BB turbos ... face book or DIY from kit on ebay )
There is a small ring ( like a piston ring ) on the hot side end of turbo shaft that wears out and is often the culpret .
The reason you are not seeing much smoke generally is because you put the cat back on and it is doing its job removing the smoke most of the time . At some point it will become over whelmed with oil and block partially . This will presurise the crancase with exhaust gas and force oil down the valve quides and past the rings .

Turbo is still my favorite for source of problem .
 

bo!

Active Member
Oct 12, 2012
170
0
Thank you for the reply wildrides.
I have had the pcv valve replaced but didnyt fix it .I have also taken the tip off about a month or two ago there was some play in and out but barely any.and no side to side movement spoke to a couple turbo specialist and they said there should be some minor in and out play due to no oil pressure being on the turbo when the engine is off. The SAI is in good working order I had that changed last year due to my eml kept coming on.
Question is .
could it be the turbo after being left for 16hours I start it up cold and get a plume of blue smoke .this has only happened once since putting the cat back on when I parked it on a flat surface over night .other than that its been fine when I leave it on my drive but it slopes up wards .
 

wildrides

Active Member
Dec 27, 2013
396
1
You say your drive is sloping :- are you parking nose down hill or uphill ?

Try parking on the flat AFTER returning from a journey. Wait your normal parking duration of time and then restart and see if you get smoke . If you do it is likely valve stem oil seals .

From what you say it probably is not the turbo .
Do you have the standard PVC ventilation system in place or has an oil catch tank been fitted . If yes check that that the catch tank is not full of oil ( they need to be manually drained )
 

bo!

Active Member
Oct 12, 2012
170
0
I have a Standard pcv set up.
If the nose facing uphill on a slope of the drive I get no smoke .
If the nose is facing down hill on a slope on the drive it has smoked in the past.
And when the car is parked on the flat overnight in excess of 12hours I get smoke on cold start.
when it smoked last week after being parked on the flat overnight it was smoking most of the day of driving also.
but since then its been back on the drive nose facing uphill on the slope and no smoke when cold start or when driving .
 

wildrides

Active Member
Dec 27, 2013
396
1
It may be that the thrust bearing/seal on the coldside of the turbo is worn . This allows oil to leak into the pipework to the intercooler . It can collect in the pancake pipe or intercooler until it reaches a certain level when it gets blown into the engine and causes smoke ( normally blue )
You had some end to end play in the shaft which indicates wear in this area may be a problem .
Parking at a certain attitude may allow a large amount of oil settled in the pan pipe to drain at once into the intercooler .
Take the pipe work off behind front drivers wheel , remove pan pipe and see if the pan pipe contains oil .The inter cooler on a cupra is very small and it will soon start to blow oil into the engine if it collects there. Alternatively remove the throttle body and see if there is oil in the manifold plenum chamber bottom . When a turbo goes ka put normally these areas are coated completly in oil
 

bo!

Active Member
Oct 12, 2012
170
0
OK. so I took the pipework off behind drivers side there was a film of oil on the pipework but nothing to be concerned about also same amount in the pancake pipe.so I removed throttle body also but no oil in there either .so where to go next any ideas peeps.?
 

Cupra Ross

Breaks things............
May 15, 2005
1,380
1
Edinburgh, Scotland
OK. so I took the pipework off behind drivers side there was a film of oil on the pipework but nothing to be concerned about also same amount in the pancake pipe.so I removed throttle body also but no oil in there either .so where to go next any ideas peeps.?

Yes, you have a drippy injector. Get the car on VCDS/VAG-COM and log the fuel trims and injector duty cycle.
 

wildrides

Active Member
Dec 27, 2013
396
1
just remind us :-

What millage has the engine done

during its life what type of air filter has been fitted and for what proportion of total millage
1) stock filter
2)replacement high flow cotten filter
3) foam filter ( piper type )
4) other type ( describe )


You basically have four courses of action you can persue in my opinion :-

1) change Turbo
A brand new factory genuine Borg warner ko3s stock turbo is £575 plus vat from Backdraft motor sport . They are a Borg Warner dealer . Dont buy an ebay one they are knock offs . If it makes no difference you can sell your old one on ebay as a sound second hand to recover some costs. They are listed under :- engine then turbo on the site (not under turbo kits)
2) change valve stem seals
3) delete standard PVC and fit a catch can system
 
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seatturbopower

Active Member
Aug 1, 2012
350
5
birmingham
like I said change the turbo job done its one of them I managed to pick one up for £430 from aet turbos,changed it and no smoking ect.its not all that hard to fetch the turbo off.
to explain on where you park it ect and it sometimes smokes and doesn't the main problem is that it still smokes.....irrelevant of where its parked.
all my pvc is still in place and I replaced it all as well didn't solve problem,its just one of them