Hello all,

Recently my car has been smoking from the exhaust. It appears to happen only at idle but goes away when the car is moving. The car does not smoke in boost at all, at least not visibly. But when it's idling, the smoke just keeps on coming. It does not smoke at cold idle, but does smoke at hot idle.

The problem started out pretty innocently, like a puff of smoke when idling, but now it's progressed so bad that PLUMES of smoke come out.

I did a compression test today, and got 168-160-160-168. This was on a warm engine (not cold, the coolant was @ operating temp, but not hot, as the spark plugs were easily handled right out of the engine).

The real troubling part is, there was water in cylinder 1. We had two compression testers, one was the rubber plug type that you force into the spark plug hole, and the other was the thread-in type. When using the push-in type, there was water dripping off the compression tester when removed from cylinder 1 the first time we did a compression test on it (measured 155psi). Cylinder 2 did not have water in it like cylinder 1 did. We did not use the push in tester on cylinder 3 or 4, so there's no telling if there was water in those, but there was no water on the threaded compression tester when removed from cylinder 1 (the 2nd time we did a compression test - read 168), or cylinders 3-4.

The coolant level in my reservoir tank has gone down by like 1/4 inch since i last checked a week or so back, but it has gotten a lot colder since I last checked and water contracts when cooled. Also I have a hole in my res tank and do corner hard often.

The water in the res tank and radiator are pink (distilled H20 + water wetter), and there are no bubbles or oil in the water. The oil from the dipstick looks like pure oil with no bubbles of water in it. When idling with the rad cap off, there are no bubbles in the water. The smoke is white during the day, but looks blue when it's night and there are headlights behind the car. I run mobil 1 15w50.

What do you guys think the problem is?

-Neel
Modified by AmoebAssassin at 2:56 PM 9/23/2006

do another compression test and see if there is water in cylinder 1 again. you might have a bad valve seal or turbo going out. Valve seals aren't too bad to replace just make sure you have atleast constant 70psi on the cylinder your working on and tdc on the valves you are replacing

Will do...does anyone else have any ideas?

pour a cap full of oil down each cylinder wall and redo compression.

1. if adding oil helps compression, piston rings may be worn or damaged.2. if pressure stays low, a valve may be sticking or seating improperly.3. if compression stays low in two cylinders that are next to each other. a. the cylinder head gasket may be leaking, or b. both cylinders may have valve component damage.

this is per the fsm so hope it helps.

Bump...need more suggestions/answers!

Its the turbo. Do you run SYnthetic because a synthetic will show turbo seals going out much faster than standard oil.

Yes I do run synthetic mobil1 15w50, but can a blown turbo blow water into cylinders? And why only cylinder 1?

im having a similar problem, but noticing no water in the cylinders

From what I gather...

Your compression test was 168-160-160-168

which is OK for a SR.

From my experience with various blwn HG SRs and blown HG on 4G63s, 9/10 times you are going to have bubbles and coolant shoot out of the rad filler neck if you have the cap off and start your engine.

So, it sounds like your turbo to me. When my T-25 went out, I was producing so much white smoke out the back that it filled up a city block when I got stuck for more than a minute or two. Once I started driving, it was fine again. Also, this happened when the engine was slightly warm. During cold starts, it would not occur until I drove it for a min or two.

I would take the hot pipe off and check to see if you have any oil sludge build up there. Also, take the intake pipe off and the compressor inlet pipe off and check for play in the turbo.

With that compression numbers and from what you are describing, Im pretty certain it's your turbo going out.

P.S. As for the water that you are describing... Im not sure how that got in there. But, if it was in fact coolant leaking into the combustion chamber (meaning you have a significant amount of leak), then your coolant would DEFINITELY be shooting out of the rad filler neck if the cap is off and your engine is on. I remember when I installed a HG on a 4G63, we didnt clean the head surface properly and there was VERYYY little metal shaving underneath. Even that little gap caused the coolant to shoot out of the radiator like a fountain.

BTW, did you disable injectors firing (not just the pump) when you did your compression test? It might explaing the "water" thing.

wouldn't you notice the diference between water and gas by the smell?

i'm going with the turbo as well. most of the time thick white smoke means a blown head gasket. but i would try the compression test again using the same tester on all 4 cylinders to ensure conistancy of results.

if they are all within 10, then i would start lookin around.

they make a leak down tester that hooks to your radiator, it puts pressue on the radiator, if you cylinders fill with fluid, blown head gasket. But with those numbers i'd say its a bad turbo.

If there actually is water/coolant in the cylinders, the only way it can get there is through the head gasket. So... take from that what you will. Also, ya might be having two different problems.

Kind of an older post but I used the search option to find this thread instead of openning a new one.

I'm still kind of new to SR motors and I wanted to do a compression test on all four cylinders. I just wanted to verify if 168-160-160-168 is the normal compression for cylinders 1-4 for stock black top SR20DET motors with a T25 Turbo. I just have a FMIC and Greddy BOV running at 5lbs. of boost. Other than that everything else is stock. All inputs welcomed, thanks guys.

hi there.. im new in this site.. and i need some help!! i have an sr20det . redtop.. my car is smoking too much! is white.. i check for oil on the radiator.. but theres nothing.. i took out the hot pipe.. no oil on it.. the turbine of the turbo.. play just little be.. i think is normal.. but.. im like 75% sure what is the turbo seals..my car runs good.. strong.. im runnin 10psi..and push good..but.. lot of smoke. how do a change the seals.. ? or any idea..may be is another thing.. also.. any one knows where can i rebuilt a turbo on MIAMI area ?thank u very much!

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Did you ever figure out what the problem was? im having the same issue..tons of smoke at idle but wont do it in boost..was it a blown turbo?

yes, if your smokin a lot at idle but none while driving, its your turbo for sure.

i think you probably have 2 different problems.

the water is def compression loss into your water jacket. I have a thunderbird that does the same thing and it does not have any noticeable steam coming out of the exhaust. since it is a car that i do not care about at all, every few months I run this block fix stuff through it and it reseals my headgasket.

take off your hot pipe and see if there is any oil sludge in there. that should answer the question regarding your turbo.

If comp.is good it have to be the turbo..I had the same problem with my s13 I checked the turbo and it had alot of play. I push and pull and I think it had to be close to half a inch of play so I took it off and put the t28 from my s14 and problem solved. I say do a leak down test better to rule out the HG for sure.

hey guys ive got an s13 sr and ive got some scoring on all four cylinder walls... my comp test comes out 165-160-165-167 also when i opened the motor signs of running lean and pinging on the bottom part of the head. no obvious piston dome damage or valve damage just the cylinder walls and bottom part of the head(which is lightly damaged) also ive an oil pump on its way out anyway what do you think the problem is? one thought is that i ran too lean and that caused the pinging and also led to higher than safe chamber temps which caused my rings to melt partially and score my walls... i think that my oil pump started to crap out and that cause the scoring... im getting the oil pumped replaced against the advise of my mechanic who says that i should just get another long block but seeing as i have a brand new oil pump laying around i figure id throw it in and hope that it buys some time for my head(being fully built as we speak) while i save cash for another long block. what do you guys think??