Car runs fine, just changed drive belt and a bunch of o-rings. Now im seeing smoke coming out of exhaust after using turbo and taking my foot off gas. That is the only time smoke coming out of exhaust. Its not very heavey but i notice it through back window.

Matt

 

What color is the smoke? It sounds like you might be burning something..

 

It seems to be white, but wispy, no heavey thick smoke. I recently did oil return line o-ring, would this be that?

 

Hi Matt,

Assuming the smoke is bluish, the oil is burning.

In general, the smoke is:

Blue: Engine oil
Dark gray: A/F mixture too rich, poor maintenance or malfunction in the emissions control
White: Normal water vapour or coolant seepage into the combustion chamber
Green: Get out and RUN! (just kidding)

Someone else had the same problem, and it seems to be turbine/compressor oil seal that is allowing oil to enter the intake manifold. Haynes manual is useless in turbocharger servicing, and I'm not sure about Chilton. If you can get a factory manual or have enough confidence, you can disassemble the device at your own risk and inspect what's wrong. If you wouldn't want the risk, have a visit to a dealer/shops that specialise in Swedish/European makes.

Cheers,


JPN

 

Yeah its blue smoke, dammit.....When the turbo is racing the blue smoke is less, seems more when turbo is barely on.

I hate to say it, but is it harmful to car? Is anything bad going to happen? Could it be put off for a bit?

Matt

 

Could i pick up a oil leak stopper and add to oil, would be of any assistance?

Matt

 

Hi Matt,

The repair can be deferred a bit, but the sooner the better. It may foul up the spark plugs, etc but nothing imminent would happen. However, much oil is not supposed to enter the combustion chamber, so if I were you, I would repair it within the next 1 month or so at the latest.

I wouldn't use any oiladditive, I would keep an eye on the oil level on a daily basis until repair has been done. If next oil change is due soon, I would go with synthetic.

Again, make sure not to let the oil level drop below MIN mark.


JPN

[IMG]local://upfiles/6892/8050995ED6A94A2FA5D45CB259C7EA85.jpg[/IMG]

 

Thanks for info. Yeah the additives look like a bad idea with a turbo. We are going to go with some oil dye in a few weeks, once it becomes nicer and see what we can find. Its very frustrating[sm=boohoo.gif].

Matt

PS- Turns out the oil cap was loose and didnt fit as snuggly as it should, switched it with oil cap from the our 240 volvo, seems much better fit, and no more oil leak .

 

I seem to have a similar issue on my 09 C30. I started a separate thread. No way will I try the repair on my own. If I do pull the turbo out of the car, I will ship it to a good turbo shop and have it tested and rebuilt. You can get your turbo rebuilt for a fraction of the price of a new OEM one.

I only seem to get the puff of blue smoke on moderate accelerations.

 

check your PCV system as well. you could be sucking in oil through the PCV oil separator.

 

I replaced the oil separator box a couple of years ago with new gaskets and a new diaphragm. There were no signs of clogged hoses or ports at that time. Will the glove test over the oil fill opening be a good test with the engine running? If it inflates, there is a problem. Does this test apply to the 2009 C30?

 

the glove test is looking for positive crank case pressure vs neutral or a slight vacuum. If anything, I'd suspect you may find too much vacuum which would pull oil into the intake through the separator. A better check would be to inspect the inside intake tube to the throttle body/MAF for any residue or to inspect the oil separator. If its like the one on my VW, there's a check valve that can get sticky in the separator so I'd also google around if that's a common issue in Volvos. Since you've already serviced this a couple of years ago, I wouldn't expect to find anything amiss (which points back to the turbo seals, piston rings, valve seals or possibly a head gasket as suspects).

 

I can look at my old oil separator box for any additional valves. I think just the rubber diaphragm can break or you can get clogging.

Checking the air intake to the throttle body sounds like the next logical place to check and will be much easier than removing the turbocharger which is cast into the exhaust manifold.

Has anyone ever used this company for a turbo rebuild? So far they are the only turbo shop I have found in the USA that can do an oil leak test on the unit in their shop.
ttps://www.compturbotechnology.com/

 

I'm assuming they bench test the turbo? If I were to go to the effort of pulling out the turbo for testing, I'd just go and have it rebuilt so its good for the rest of the car's life. Plus if you are sporty, you can see if they can install bigger compressor/impeller wheels for more responsiveness. (bigger as in more air flow, not physical size).

 

I am hoping this will solve most of my oil consumption issue. They can rebuild and upgrade to increase air flow. They also told me they can bench test the turbo to check for oil leaks. Not sure if that will require special tuning of the ECM. I like the idea of upgrading the turbo.

I also have a cracked oil pan that has been repaired with epoxy. That is holding for now but it still allows a slow seepage of oil. I plan to replace the oil pan while I am pulling the turbo.

 

More observations: So I am just cruising along say at 60 mph. Each time I give the gas just a little extra push, I get a puff of blue smoke. I can do that 3-4 times in a row and I get a new puff of blue smoke each time.

Does this seem like failing turbo seals?

 

how much oil is the car consuming (ie how many miles before you need to add a quart?). I'm wondering if you are just seeing soot from unburnt fuel from the transition to WOT. I've seen plenty of cars push some dark exhaust when the driver floors it to pass a car...

 

I am adding a quart about every 800-1000 miles. This is definitely not just dark exhaust. I am not even coming close to flooring it. Just little accelerations when cruising along produce a new puff of blue smoke. I am going to pull of the down pipe from the turbo and take a look on the compressed air side and also look in the throttle body for oil residue.

 

yep, that oil has to be going somewhere - ie pushing past the rings, the turbo seals or past the oil separator (PCV "flame trap"). If the intake looks clean then testing the turbo seems to be a reasonable next step since fixing the rings is a major job. If it were pushing past the rings, I'd also suspect there may be some residue on the plugs so as another simple test you can install fresh plugs and see how they tarnish. Consuming a quart every 1000 won't kill the engine (provided you don't run dry) but over time may lead to a build up in the catalytic converter.

 

New observation

Cruising down the road at 60mph. I push the pedal hard and get it up to about 90 and let off. No puff of smoke.

My semi educated guess is that the puffing occurs under boost but with the waste gate closed. Waste gate opens under harder acceleration and the oil seal in the turbo hold. Is this plausible?