Yay for Garrett turbos :giggle: Joe I wouldn't worry to much about driving it now that you know it's the turbo.... You can still daily it, I had a blown turbo for over 6 months and I drove it every day, I even took a 300 mile trip. You should be fine untill you buy a new one or decide to rebuild it.

Alright, I just pulled the turbo oil feed line off and stuck it in a normal sized soup can, turned the car on and right back off. The can was half full when I checked. I also did the same for the drain line and there was about the same amount of oil. It seems to me like that's a fuckload of oil going through the turbo at all times. I guess that's what the talk about a restrictor was for.

I just don't get this at all. Everything was ok until I changed the god damn oil! :vash:

So given the condition of the spark plugs, the turbo compressor blades, and the amount of oil going in and out of the turbo.......where do I stand? Is it safe to say that the turbo is the culprit?

What would you guys recommend my next step of action be?

And most importantly, should I keep driving the car? I'm not talking major trips, but just here and there driving. If you guys recommend I park it, hard as it is......I will. However, if its ok to keep driving it for the time being, that would be awesome. I would prefer to not drive it around smoking, but it beats not having a way to get around. :facepalm:

Where you stand:

Too much ignition advance, and your turbo is fucked.

Pull some timing out of that map and buy yourself a nice chinese turbo. Little to no downtime.

After learning a few things about tuning and looking at everyones spark tables the past few days, this table looks wacked to me....I mean its just all over the place with no rhyme or reason it seems. I think jeff has it right, retard your timing a bit, buy a cheap turbo and call it a day. Sorry to hear about the problems dude and I might add, you have king kong balls for doing this to a DD ;)

*Edit*
Here is my current table and the one :brain: showed me in another thread. They both seem to run great with no knock (As far as I can hear with the polski det cans) on my stock 1.6 at 18psi and 12psi

I have some time today to fuck around with the miata, so to make sure its the turbo that's the problem, I wanted to do a compression test.

From what I read there's different suggestions on compression testing.

Some guys say to unplug the coil pack, some say spark plugs. Someone might say to pull the injectors individually, or just from the loom from the ecu, then some others say to pull the fuse.

Can anyone just clarify exactly what I should unplug and leave plugged in when I do this. I've done compression tests down at the shop on the 454's in the trucks we have, but my boss was always with me and I was usually just helping him.

I want see what my numbers are to verify that replacing the turbo is the way to go. If the motor needs replaced or rebuilt, that's fine too. I just have the money right now and need to get this fucking car back on the road before I spend it.

I pulled the injector relay, as well as all the plugs. Floored the gas pedal and cranked it for 5 seconds (got the info off m.net).

#1 is 190psi
#2 is 190psi
#3 is 185psi
#4 is 180psi

So according to what I've read, the motor is ok.

Now I just need to get the adapter for the tester out of the head.

EDIT: Got the adapter out. It came off after I tested cyl #1 and I didnt notice that it did until I went to put the spark plug back in and something seemed off. I broke the tit off the end of the spark plug and screwed that into the adapter, then pushed down hard on the socket and got the adapter to loosen. Only then to see that I could of taken it out with a bigger socket. :facepalm: Didn't see that when it was down in the spark plug well.

you crank until they gauge no longer makes pressure. must be done when warmed,and then you need to add 1/2 teaspoon of oil in each and test again.

Is a wet test necessary?

I cranked it for 5-6 seconds for each cylinder.

I'm guessing that for what my readings were I should be ok?

Hopefully so, and now I can pray that replacing the turbo will fix the issue. :)

Hell, I'd say not only is a wet test necessary, but a leakdown might be in order too.

If you're in there, comletely eliminate a set of dead rings before you go about replacing the turbo.

This is how I burnt up my journal bearing turbo. I wont run one on a journal bearing turbo anymore. Especially when the thrust bearing components came out blue and gold from the heat.

I run a banjo fitting on the oil feed on the block, which has a small enough hole anyway, through a -3 line and she doesn't smoke no more.

I used a .040" restrictor on my JB T3 turbo, because a .060" would smoke. But it was a band-aid to cover up other problems the bad motor was creating. The turbo eventually ended up with bad shaft play and when I pulled the turbine it showed signs of uneven/under oiling.

My block had bad oil rings, and once I swapped in a good strong block, I could run without a restrictor at all on the turbo and still have yet to see a shisp of smoke anywhere.

Maybe today if I get some time I'll do another dry test and a wet one.

I don't have experience with a leak down test, so I'll have to search up on that.

I forgot to add, that after the car was warmed up and running (smoking like a bitch as well) I started pulling the spark plugs and when I took out the first one in cylinder #1 smoke was coming out from the plug well. If the car was just smoking a ton out the exhaust, would this be normal?

Don't pull your plugs out while it's running.:giggle:

All kidding aside, how much smoke came out?

Quite a bit.

That's somewhat suspicious. Maybe a leak down test isn't a bad idea. At least you'll have a better idea what condition your internals are in before making a final decision.

Like GI Joe says" Knowing is have the battle...and the other half is blowing the shit out of something".