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Time for a new engine?

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Old 04-14-2008, 05:32 AM
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Exclamation Time for a new engine?

This happened shortly right after the oil feed line from Flyin Miata sprouted a leak.
It's a FM voodoo2 kit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLWgNKebNwo

My guess is either a piston ring, or maybe a oil seal in the turbo?
I ran a compression test, got about 135 on each cylinder.
The motor doesnt knock or make any loud noises, but it acts like it is running on 3 cylinders (shakey).
It doesnt really smoke until you put load on the motor.
The intake tract is full of oil, I haven't taken the intercooler off yet, but I am sure it's got a **** ton of oil accumulated in it.

Time for a new motor?
Or could it be the turbo's oil seals?

Think FM will feel any obligation to repair the turbo (If that's the problem) for sending me a faulty oil feed line? Is that just wishful thinking?

Last edited by nicacus; 04-14-2008 at 05:38 AM. Reason: video embed
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Old 04-14-2008, 06:54 AM
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It does sound like its on three pistons.

I cant really tell whats wrong with a car on video unless its so obvious.
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Old 04-14-2008, 06:56 AM
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Just start with the basics. Wires, plugs, coil pack, etc.... In experience when i see white smoke i would think turbo seal.
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Old 04-14-2008, 08:07 AM
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I wouldn't count on FM replacing the turbo unless you can prove it (the line) was faulty. They could easily say it was an error on the installer and not the part itself.
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Old 04-14-2008, 09:06 AM
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subaru swap?
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Old 04-14-2008, 09:17 AM
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Originally Posted by nicacus
The intake tract is full of oil, I haven't taken the intercooler off yet, but I am sure it's got a **** ton of oil accumulated in it.

Time for a new motor?
Or could it be the turbo's oil seals?

Think FM will feel any obligation to repair the turbo (If that's the problem) for sending me a faulty oil feed line? Is that just wishful thinking?
How was the line faulty?

you're most likely blowing oil through the crankcase through the rings, sounds like something in there is seriously damaged. Was the compression check done with the throttle WOT?
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Old 04-14-2008, 09:25 AM
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Originally Posted by nicacus

Think FM will feel any obligation to repair the turbo (If that's the problem) for sending me a faulty oil feed line? Is that just wishful thinking?
Call them and see what they will do. Can't hurt...

How many miles since the install?
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Old 04-14-2008, 12:22 PM
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Give us a call, we'll help you troubleshoot so we can figure what the problem is. Once we've got that figured out, we can figure out how to fix it.
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Old 04-14-2008, 04:20 PM
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The throttle was wide open when I did the tests. it hasnt been more than 1000 miles, I havent driven it since early november.
The line was leaking from the crimp.

Here are some more pics.

PICT0196.jpg

PICT0197.jpg

PICT0198.jpg

PICT0200.jpg

PICT0201.jpg

PICT0203.jpg

PICT0202.jpg

as you can see there is oil all over the place, when it's running you can see it bubbling out of the down pipe and actuator arm.

Keith I will call you guys as soon as I am with my unlimited long distance phone..
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Old 04-14-2008, 04:24 PM
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the oil is most likely entering the intake from the crankcase breather....which means a few things, one is easy, the pcv is no sealing in boost, but alas, you motor sounds like ***, so i assume you have major blow-by from failed rings/ringlands.
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Old 04-14-2008, 04:25 PM
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I forgot to mention I disconnected the line from the valve cover to see if oil was blowing out.. not a drop, the oil on the dipstick is crystal clear, there aren't any metal flakes as far as I can tell..

Could that mean the oil is coming from the inside of the turbo?
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Old 04-14-2008, 05:00 PM
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ive had that problem before my engine went out on me, when you drive the car at full throttle does the oil guage jump around very badly and not stay steady ? thats how i knew it was my rings.......

also take the intake off of your turbo and crank the car ( if you can ) and see if oil is comming out of the turbo, you may have blown the seals on both sides of the turbo.....

done that aswell.... mine was cause from all the pressure from blow by going through the crank and into the oil feed line.......
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Old 04-14-2008, 05:04 PM
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Originally Posted by 01TurboMiata
ive had that problem before my engine went out on me, when you drive the car at full throttle does the oil guage jump around very badly and not stay steady ? thats how i knew it was my rings.......

also take the intake off of your turbo and crank the car ( if you can ) and see if oil is comming out of the turbo, you may have blown the seals on both sides of the turbo.....

done that aswell.... mine was cause from all the pressure from blow by going through the crank and into the oil feed line.......
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Old 04-14-2008, 06:25 PM
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You think it could be this:

Turbo seals somehow went bad so a lot of oil went into the intake tract and maybe coated the spark plug so that it has a difficult or impossible time firing that one cylinder?

Just shooting ridiculus idea's out of my ***. If that is the cause then the only thing that needs to be done is clean up the oil, rebuild that turbo, and change the spark plugs. Prolly wishful thinking......
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Old 04-14-2008, 06:33 PM
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Looking at the pictures, I agree. The oil is probably fouling your plugs, thus the terrible idle. Call that a symptom, not a cause. Looks like bad seals in the turbo.

An oil gauge will often work as a knock sensor, actually. If you're setting the pressure jump around, it means you are in the process of damaging your engine.
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Old 04-14-2008, 07:36 PM
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One comment from Bill - there's supposed to be a 90 degree fitting on the top of the turbo for the oil feed. One was included with the kit. The way it's installed right now, there's a lot of stress on the line.

His estimate is either a bad PCV (that's a lot of oil for a PCV in my opinion, but it could happen) or you have hurt rings. Excessive oil in the cylinders will hide a ring problem.

Is that a piece of a PCV valve in the bypass valve outlet?
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Old 04-14-2008, 08:48 PM
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My guess would be the leaky oil supply line starved the turbo and pooched it's bearings/seals. How's the shaft play?
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Old 04-15-2008, 03:54 AM
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The PCV valve is brand new.
The way the oil line is run there is no stress on it whatsoever???
The turbine shaft doesnt have any play at all.
The turbine will coast for a couple seconds if you spin it
I found the cause of the poor idle:
oily plugs...

IMG_7246.jpg


I have no idea how this happened, but I have a feeling it was the cause of the suby noise.

IMG_7242.jpg

Here's a video of it running now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmBeCkzgo6o

It sounds perfectly normal now, it wasn't smoking at all after I changed the plugs, so i took it for s short drive down the street. It feels as powerful as it ever did. I got it to boost up to about 5 psi ( I didnt dare go higher) without any problems.

So now the only problem is the mass amount of smoke.
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Old 04-15-2008, 03:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Keith@FM
.

Is that a piece of a PCV valve in the bypass valve outlet?
Nope there is/was nothing but oil in it.
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Old 04-15-2008, 09:21 AM
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It may be running better now that you have all four spark plugs, but again there is only three ways you are getting oil in chamber like that....blow-by, failed pcv, failed turbo seals. I highly doubt the turbo, you say the pcv is fine, and the compression test suggest your rings cannot hold compression like they should (especially when saturated with oil).
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