Hi guy's, I just finished my single turbo conversion running a H1E Holset turbo on my FD3. All seems to be okay except for a random smoking issue. The car is fine when you start it and happily idles and drives around perfect.. But if you leave the car sat idling for like 10mins then eventually the rpm will dip very slighty and a few seconds later smoke starts bellowing out of the exhaust. If you rev it up hard for a bit or start driving again so the turbo kicks in it clears straight away and is fine again until you stop and sit idling for a long period of time again then it does exactly the same thing. Can anyone suggest what this is? Is it a dodgy turbo oil seal or am I running too large an oil restrictor in my Holset.. Currently I think its about .08" maybe 0.1" for the most.

Let me know your thoughts.
Thank you
Lee

 

First, do you have a sufficient oil drain for the turbo? On mine i do have a restrictor but i cant remember what size hole i drilled, these holsets do love oil though.

 

Hi there, I checked the restrictor today and it's just over 32mm (0.08") The drain from the turbo is the max ID it can be going back into the stock 13B front oil return stub. That's where the return is limited - at the engine. I think my tube has a slightly bigger ID than that.. It's 5/8" rubber hose onto a thin wall 5/8" OD Hose tail from the turbo.

Cheers
Lee

 

If you verified that it is not in fact your motor that is smoking, then check your oil return line, make sure it is not kinked. Then make sure you PCV is vented. If all those are ok, its safe to say that your turbo seals are gone. That just happened to me as well on a turbo that I bought "in good condition" off a forum member....

 

Hi there, I have just changed to a smaller restrictor to try that.. 0.06" down from about 0.08" or so.
Tuner reckons the engine is fine as it doesn't smoke normally.. Just once in a while if you leave it sat idling for ages then it just suddenly starts smoking. Not one single puff on the dyno?!
I would assume the same applies to the turbo seals? If they were going it would just smoke all the time? Although it is a second hand unit.. but it seems to have very little shaft play and be in good knick?

What's the PCV by the way I can't remember? Everything pipe work wise for the breather or oil injection if it's something to do with this has been put back in factory equivalent places..

We will see..

Cheers
Lee

 

Not all the time, your turbo could not smoke all the time but still be on it's way out.