Dear Forum Members,
I am back in front of you hoping to be pointed in the right direction as you did in the past with my other 850R, which is running great. Again thank you for your help!
Earlier this month, we purchased a 1996 850R with 184,000 miles on it. I was made aware of most issues by the previous owner knowing the list could have additional items.

The known:

The previous owner removed the catalytic converter and installed a straight pipe. Both oxygen sensor are installed an operating properly, PCV system serviced 10k miles earlier. Turbo was not spooling properly and turbo gauge barely entered the boost area. speedometer working the first 10 minutes of driving, then no. the scan tool was reading three codes: P0422, -P0102 AND P0245. light blue smoke present at each start. other issues were cosmetics and not important.

Car was driven to our location, about 30 miles, and parked in the garage.*
we performed a compression test on all five cylinders. all five readings were above 180 psi the first round, pictures attached. we actually ran the test twice as a result cylinder two and four were closer to 186. Our other R runs great and the pressure reading is in the 170s.
We replaced the turbo with a rebuilt one. the turbo was professionally balanced and I installed it on the car. The turbo was professionally bench tested for proper operation prior installation.

All the vacuum hoses were replaced, TCV replaced, new timing belt, new water pump, new spark plugs, new*oil*and filter, 10W30 Mobil one synthetic oil, new Mass Air flow Sensor, new oil cooler lines, radiator hoses, new coolant. codes cleared, no DTC.

the work was completed last Saturday afternoon. We then started the car, drove it very gently, no boost and city driving. car was performing very well, better response, turbo clearly spooling, all good!

Last Monday, the car after starting was idling at 600 rpm instead than 850.
suddenly the entire car was shacking, no engine light on at all. we turned it off. timing belt in place, coolant level normal no*signs*of oil in the coolant.

we turned the car off, waited a couple of minutes and then started back up, shacking was gone, idling still rough, an extreme amount of blue smoke out of the tail pipe.
we turned it off and stopped. timing belt fine, no codes, no oil light,*

We then checked the engine oil, the stick was barely wet. no oil in the street No leaks anywhere under the car. I will run a pressure test again on Wednesday.

meanwhile, am I looking at another valve issue? any help/suggestion is greatly appreciated!

We are moving forward with replacing the valve stem seals.

thank you!


******

 

Valve stem seal would not be that bad. Something has gone wrong with the turbo.

 

thank you rspi, I will check the turbo as well.

 

Are you guys (OP and rspi) assuming the misfire (600 rpm idle) is being caused by an oil fouled spark plug? If so why not pull the plugs and see if they're wet with oil?

Other than that I can't see how a "turbo problem" could cause a rough idle..?

OP: who was your turbo rebuild professional? And no codes?

 

No, I'm not concerned with the low idle or misfire at this time, the massive smoke is concerning me. If the turbo has taken a dump already, it will really affect the idle and performance.

 

Even with the turbine locked up in the turbo the car will still idle. What probably happened here is introducing Synthetic oil to an older engine. This is a no no. Synthetic oil is more slippery and can make its way past seals that did not have a problem before. My guess is you experienced a misfire caused by an ECU freak out and the valve stem seals are causing the smoke issue.

 

I thought I read that the head was rebuilt and new valve stem seals had been replaced once. I guess he can reset the ECU and see if that helps. Make it relearn the system.

 

Sorry for the long delay on getting back to you All. I am on mobile the pc still showing server error when I try to get n the forum. Anyway, valve cover is off waiting for the schley 91400A valve spring compressor. I checked the turbo again and no sign of malfunction. It spins freely no shaft play. It was rebuilt buy a shop here in kent wa. Very happy with the service. Among other things the cam shaft sensor plug disintegrated in my hand, cam seal leaking will replace all four anyway. I will upload some puctures as soon as I can log on from the pc. Thank you so much for your patience, advice and time, deeply appreciated. Andrea

 

Finally back on the forum from a pc. we did rebuilt the head, valves, seals new head gasket, new camshafts seals and sensor, new turbo hoses. checked the turbo again and could not find anything wrong with it. car is running great the blue smoke is gone completely.

the speedometer works intermittently and it idled very low a couple of times 400/600, no codes. I am changing the speed sensor tomorrow and see if it makes a difference.

Thank you all!! A.

 

here is the pressure reading

 

Great compression numbers.

So what is going on now?

 

ok new speed senor installed. speedometer works fines....car is fine at idle speed however as soon as press on the gas starts to misfire. no smoke, no CEL. I still connected the scanner to make sure, no codes.

checked the turbo again while I was replacing the sensor, did not see anything wrong. It spins freely, all the vacuum hoses checked out fine.

oh well...restarting with checking the spark plugs, injectors, etc.

 

I guess you need to check to make sure all of the intake tubes are on properly, no cracks in the hoses or intercooler. Also make sure all of the vacuum lines are connected in the proper order, especially on the turbo.