Coupe Smokey if left to idle

[Simseey]

Hi guys I'm brand new to this forum, I have a coupe 20 v turbo which I just love ! It has just started to smoke if I leave it to idle too long, it's not noticeable when I'm driving normally even at very slow traffic lights, but it's evident if I allow it to stand idling.
It has been suggested that it could be an oil seal in the turbocharger ?
This is not noisy or down on power, has anyone had a similar problem ?
Any suggestions welcome

1998 year with 75000 genuine miles on the clock
Basically a really good sound car

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi guys I'm brand new to this forum, I have a coupe 20 v turbo which I just love ! It has just started to smoke if I leave it to idle too long, it's not noticeable when I'm driving normally even at very slow traffic lights, but it's evident if I allow it to stand idling.
It has been suggested that it could be an oil seal in the turbocharger ?
This is not noisy or down on power, has anyone had a similar problem ?
Any suggestions welcome

1998 year with 75000 genuine miles on the clock
Basically a really good sound car

hi, and welcome,

sounds a little unusual to me..,
so you leave it idling and it smokes,
if you go for a short gentle drive.. does the smoking settle until it idles for long.. ,
or is the smoke there constantly once warm..??


charlie

 

[steve20vt]

It's the first signs of the turbo seals going. Start looking to get it sorted in the near future.
They also go very quickly after a decat.

 

[Simseey]

Hi Charlie
It only smokes if you leave it to idle and only when you first touch the throttle, once it clears which is very quick it won't happen again unless I leave it to idle for three or four minutes again
Then one cloud of smoke and nothing more

Kevin

 

[Simseey]

Hi Steve

Turbo seals have been mentioned in other peoples posts
What would you recommend bench strip and replace them ourselves or is it a must to have it professionally repaired

Thanks for posting guys

Kevin

 

[NigelO]

Doing the seals yourself will be cheapest, but the chance of the turbo lasting long afterwards is pretty slim.

The turbo spins at over 100,000rpm and if its not perfectly balanced, it will destroy its bearings very quickly - the only way to balance the shaft and compressor / turbine assembly is to have it done professionally

The alternative is a decent secondhand unit, but be very careful, otherwise you run the risk of spending on something thats no better than the unit you already have

Does the car have a decat pipe?

Personally, whenever a Coupe owner asks about a replacement turbo AND they are going to hang onto the car, I usually recommend they take a deep breath and shell out for a roller-bearing turbo - £800 to £1000, but they will handle much more abuse than a journal bearing unit and they will last longer - mine lasted for nearly 150,000 miles and some of it was at over 2 bar of boost. If you treat it better than I did, there's a good chance it will last longer than the rest of the car

 

[steve20vt]

Yeah its an expense. But a necessary one.
There's a place in Blackpool that can supply all the parts to rebuild. And they can balance the shaft up for you and post it back if you want to do the diy thing. But personally I'd replace it with a hybrid from one of the well known coupe specialists.

 

[TommyN9]

Picked mine up last week and it just started to do this. As said left to idle it's alright until you touch the throttle but then it clears until it's left to idle for a couple of mins and press the throttle again. No smoke on start up but just had a mate follow me and he said it smokes occasionally. Previous owner had engine replaced for a brand new one 6k ago but looking through the receipts no turbo and he told me it was the original turbo just coming upto 74k.

I think I'm gonna replace it with the garret GT28RS (around that I think) but does anyone know if it fits onto the standard manifold or if you need a different manifold? (Sorry to hijack the thread abit but it might help deciding on what turbo to get)

 

[NigelO]

I think I'm gonna replace it with the garret GT28RS (around that I think) but does anyone know if it fits onto the standard manifold or if you need a different manifold?

GT28RS will fit the OE manifold - may need a slight tweak to the oil feed pipe

 

[TommyN9]

GT28RS will fit the OE manifold - may need a slight tweak to the oil feed pipe

Mint might order myself one of those then! any good recommended garret dealers? Cause I don't think you can order from garret direct. I might be wrong though

 

[NigelO]

any good recommended garret dealers?

Yes - speak to Matt Waterman at Turbo Dynamics - tell him Nigel Ogram sent you - 01202 487497

Matt is superb - he gave me lots of advice when I was upgrading my turbo

Your biggest choice will be whether you go for a 0.86AR turbine housing or a 0.64AR - latter will give you an earlier spool-up, but a bit less power

FWIW, I've always gone for the 0.64AR housings, as I hate going too laggy (my GT3071 spools at about 3,500rpm, which is as late as I'd want it)

 

[TommyN9]

Cheers I'll do that as soon as. Excellent advice as I don't want to much lag

 

[steve20vt]

You will need to either change the downpipe or get a converter outlet for the turbo as the stock turbo is a V band clamp and the gt28 has a five bolt flange on the outlet.

There are other things to consider when going up to the rs. Fuelling and mapping for starters. Front mounted intercooler and other supporting mods for reliability.

The engine can make up to 350bhp going down this route.

 

[TommyN9]

Cheers, I was going to do it anyway but not this soon. Seeing as it's seals are going though i may as well do the lot now!

 

[steve20vt]

good man. don't forget the clutch too

 

[Simseey]

Thanks for your post
No it does not have a decat pipe, everything is entirely standard, happy to keep it that way to be fair it has plenty of excitement in it for my liking.
I was quite keen to strip and repair it with the help of my father who is a retired engineer, but reading some of the posts I'm going to explore prices on a professional repair.
Thanks for the advice
This forum is excellent