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Well I have no idea whats going on. the engine has a little over a thousand miles on it and now I have a big cloud when I first start the car. And the bitch is still leaking oil too. I'm either going to pull the engine in the summer to see whats up or sell this thing.

I had clouds of smoke at startup too recently and it was the #4 is bad. Do a compression test immediately. My rings are blown at the least but I think I might have a hole in my piston too. I'm not trying to scare you but I'd check the compression first thing just to have peace of mind.

Man, Mike that blows. no pun intended. Assuming the worst of course...

did you replace the valve seals? How long does it have to sit before it blows smoke?

Where is your oil leak?

valve seals would be my first suspicion. do a leakdown test.

Everything was replaced when it got rebuilt. The heads were rebuilt also. How do I do a compression test and what do I need for tools? Can I just go to pep boys and buy what I need? is a leakdown test different than a compression test?

How old are the seal of your turbo. Mine did the same, but the compression was good. The turbo was leaking after hard runs, and a cute smoke cloud was the result.

the turbo is new also, a little over 1000 miles on that too

All you need for a compression test is the gauge, you can get them at Discount, Autozone, whichever you like.

Pull all the plugs, pull the coilpack wire, and pull the fuel pump wire, so you won't have any spark or fuel. Block the throttle wide open, screw the tester in the cylinder, and crank it a few times. Do this for all cylinders.

If you don't reach at least 150psi by about 3 or 4 cranks, you've got a problem. If you've got a low cylinder, squirt oil in it and do the test again. If your compression goes up after that, you can bet money on having a bad piston ring. If the compression doesn't go up after that, you've got either: a blown headgasket, a fried exhaust valve, or you're waaaay off timing

Leakdown is different, from what I understand you put the cylinder at BDC and fill it with air. If you have any bubbles in the coolant from that, you have a crack in the cylinder wall.

ok I'll try that tomorrow night after work and let you know

Leak down will also better identify a valve issue.

Steve

Well I did the compression test and found all the cylinders to be at 152-154lbs. it took about 2 to 3 cranks before the gauge would read anything then it climped up in about 2 cranks or so to the above pressure. All the cylinders reacted the same way. I think the rings are good. I also just let it sit for a few on each cylinder just to see if the gauge would drop at all and it didn't. Dont know if that is even a test but hey. The other thing is that I did not get a puff of smoke when I started it today. I do know that when I did see the huge puff it had sat for about 2 days. I'm thinking its a leaky valve seal at this point but I'm not sure what to do about it, if anything. I will be pulling the motor in the spring to fix the oil leak so I guess I'll tackle the leaky valve seal then. Unless someone tells me its a bigger deal than I think it is. Then I'll start to worry.

Thanks

I would say it's no big deal. Mine is doing the same, has many leg turbo it seems. Changing the valve seal is a good job, you have to dissamble the head completely.

magicmike wrote:I also just let it sit for a few on each cylinder just to see if the gauge would drop at all and it didn't. Dont know if that is even a test but hey.

It's not really... It tests how well the check valve built into the compression tester works.

vrg3 wrote:

magicmike wrote:I also just let it sit for a few on each cylinder just to see if the gauge would drop at all and it didn't. Dont know if that is even a test but hey.

It's not really... It tests how well the check valve built into the compression tester works.

smart ass its cool, I'll let it slide

Well, I was offering some knowledge that I acquired recently... I didn't mean to be a smart ass. Sorry about that.

I'm sorry about the smoke on startup problem, but I don't have anything intelligent to say about it.

no need to apologize I am just playing around.