Smoke Frustrations

[Aaronbrook37]

So my B6T bluish smoke machine is still causing me a great deal of frustration.

Re-surfaced block and head surface.
Brand spanking new head-gasket.
Brand spanking new valve stem seals.
Cleaned PCV valve.
Cleaned, sprayed, and tested fuel injectors.
Degreased and cleaned downpipe.

Test Results:

Conditions were dry motor and cold motor because it was in pieces at the time.

150/145/140/150 compression. Not bad for a factory service spec of 156psi from the factory service manual.
10-15% leak-down for all four: "good". Zero noise from the radiator, valves, and adjacent cylinders. Lots from the oil dipstick.

Symptoms currently:

Piston tops and spark plug electrodes are bone dry in all four cylinders.
Turbo manifold is soaked and dark in cylinder four only.
Oil return line from the turbo was badly split (like 2").
My PCV valve continues to clog itself frequently.

Thoughts and questions:

1) Rings have never been that good, but they should be good enough to not cause such ridiculous amounts of blue smoke, right?
2) Could it just be residual oil that needs to burn off with high heat and a long highway drive?
3) Possibly exhaust valve guides in cylinder four?

[Damkid]

If you're questioning the rings, how are the oil rings? Those wouldn't effect compression numbers but will effect oil burning

[bravekozak]

http://www.autoleak.com/Oil/Blue-Smoke-From-Exhaust.php?current=BlueSmoke&topic=Oil#Worn-Engine

[Flyin4stroke]

Smoke Frustrations

What condition is the turbo?

I fought with my old b6t to get it to not burn oil. I would just make sure you have good flow of oil away from the turbo. I just added a sump pump to my turbo setup and it smokes like a train without the pump. Once I put the pump on, dry as a bone. Clean the pcv with brake cleaner. Make sure it is not sticking.

[M3NTAL]

Hey Aaron if I have a set of rings laying around for a b6T I'll ship them to you with your manifold.

[M3NTAL]

If I can find them I send them as a late Christmas present

[Aaronbrook37]

If I can find them I send them as a late Christmas present

w00t w00t!

[Aaronbrook37]

October 2013: 120-135psi DRY 150-180psi WET.


November 2013: Complete top-end overhaul (Valve polishing, lapping, grinding, headgasket swap, valve stem seals change, and three-day piston bath with Seafoam.)


December 2013: 140-150psi DRY 180-210psi WET.


January 2014: Fix stuck BOV, clean PCV valve, seal valve cover baffles, and replace every single hose clamp and vacuum line.


This month, more smoke mitigation. Going to replace the turbo, clean out all of the intake/intercooler/exhaust parts, and then do another Seafoam piston bath before an oil change. Once the car is all buttoned up, I'll go for a steady highway cruise in 2nd and 3rd gears in the hopes that the load and heat will ensure a good seal on all of the fresh parts and also remove any lingering traces of oil from the muffler, resonator, and catalytic converter.

[Flyin4stroke]

Just rebuild the turbo it's cheap and easy. Make sure you do some research on how the oil drains away from the shaft.

[Aaronbrook37]

I have both a rebuild kit and a spare turbo, so it's easier to just swap it out with a rust-free Arizona one. Debating making a VF10/VJ11 hybrid because I have all of the parts just sitting in my garage actually...

[Aaronbrook37]

Piston bath is coming along well. There's still about half of the fluid left in each of the cylinders after two pretty cold days. I'm going to turn the engine over by hand a few revolutions to get everything moving around and ensure that the bath works as well as possible. Given I jumped 20 points from my last one, here's hoping this one will handle the rest. Turbo swap is also coming along slowly... I've been migrating all of the wastegate/oil/coolant hoses and parts from the old VJ11 to the new one. Once I get that bolted back on, I'll just need a fresh intake manifold that's coming from Florida before I put it all together again!

[Aaronbrook37]

Turbo and exhaust assembly are all finished, and the piston bath is all done too. Will check and update cold compression to see if there has been any improvement as soon as I can. Now I just have to wait for the new intake manifold to show up, fabricate an oil drain hose, and get the fuel injection system and vacuum lines all buttoned back up.

[kumalaba]

great progress

[Aaronbrook37]

Got it all back together. Cold start-up is still crazy amounts of smoke, and I'm noticing increasing amounts of moisture puddling under the tailpipe along with smoke even when warmed up. I highly doubt my brand new headgasket has blown again, but I will test compression soon. I'm beginning to think it might be something totally out of left field... like too much moisture/solvent in the oil, or a clogged air filter leading to incomplete combustion.

[dalebwilson]

Aaron:

I had lots of coolant and water in my exhaust system from a previous head gasket leak. It took a while to burn all that off. It will take some time to burn the solvents off as well. Did you change your oil before starting it up?