Still smoking on startup - update

Car is '86 Turbo Z with an '88 intake, T2 turbo, '88/'89 air box with internal BOV.

I know it's not coming from the PCV system. There is no oil in the air feed line from the valve cover. But...

There is oil in the air feed to the turbo. I've decided that it's source is the hose from the tube/hose from the turbo to the BOV. I don't understand this at all.

I looked at the oil on my finger and it's dark which may mean that's it is new and not from when I filled when I changed the oil. I know there was some before I totally cleaned out the air feed hose to the valve cover as I could see it in the hose and in the air box which then was found on the little white filter inside which filters the air to the valve cover. Today I found no oil on that filter or the hose but there was some oil on the bottom of the air can.

I then pulled the hose which feeds the BOV at the bottom of the air box. I found there was evidence of oil in hose.

I think my next step will be to remove everything... hoses, air can, tubes/hoses from/to the turbo. I'll wash them including the BOV and blow out all water or whatever I use to wash these parts. I'll also wash the turbo. I may spray some carb/TB cleaner into the turbo to loosen up any oil that might be caught in the turbo. From there I'll insure there is no oil anywhere that might cause smoking and I'll let it sit to dry well. Next I'll put it back together and make a run till it's warmed up. If there's oil in the hoses or air box after this, then what? A turbo seal?

I seriously doubt the oil your seeing is the issue and if you don't have pools of oil in your turbo, cleaning it won't do anything, there is too much air flow going thru it to leave any puddles. My old engine was soo tired, it would literally send buckets of oil thru the engine, after putting a new engine in, never cleaned the turbo, no issues.

Any oil in the IC piping? TB entry?

Post up pics of your spark plugs? Compression test? Leakdown test?

Make sure your PCV system isn't clogged or blocked in some way. My old van smoked like crazy especially on decel...I thought for sure my turbo was toast but it turned out to be a blocked PCV.

If the turbo is ingesting oil, and you're getting oil from the BOV into the airbox... then your turbo is probably the culprit. Oil is getting past the seal behind the compressor, and entering your engine, BOV and IC. Check for oil at the TB and in the lower IC tank.

Thanks AZTurbo and to all who replied. I too suspect the turbo as the problem is only after the car has sat for a while. This 'while' could be 6 to 8 hours or weeks it doesn't matter. The amount of smoke is about the same regardless.

The PCV system is fine. I re-RTV'd the baffle and washed the hose from the VC to the air box. I cleaned the tiny filter which filters the air to the VC. I used to see oil there but no longer. I believe the reason I found oil in the VC hose at the beginning was due to filling the oil too fast. Some of it got into the hose which drained into the air box. I found oil soaking the filter and the tiny filter. This is no longer the case and the PCV valve is also new. I don't have an intercooler but will work on the car maybe next weekend. There are some things going on here at home which may not permit me to mess with this until then. Since it's not critical I'm not putting a priority on it, yet. But must get to the bottom of this problem. The BOV is a stock unit from the '88 or '89 air box. There seems to be oil in the hose from the output hose of the turbo to the TB. I haven't pulled the big hose yet but the hose which attaches to the BOV seems to have some oil in it. I'll pull all hoses, the air box etc. and wash everything. Then after cleaning everything I'll test run the car and see if the oil returns. I may be able to see where it's coming from after everything is clean.

Spark plugs look good and compression test is fine. I rebuilt this engine about 7,000 miles ago. It's not tired. :)

This problem ONLY happens when I first crank the engine after it has sat for a few hours. If I stop and then start it within a few hours, no problem at all. If the engine itself had a problem where too much pressure was pushing oil up into places where it shouldn't, wouldn't there be smoke all the time? There isn't any, not even under good boost and high acceleration.

It is hard to tell without pictures if the amount of oil you're seeing at the BOV is enough to make the car smoke.

The symptoms you describe sound more like valve stem seals to me. When the car sits, oil seeps past the valve guides and kind of pools in the cylinder. When you fire it up, it burns off but there isn't enough oil getting past the guide/seals while running to make a visible smoke trail. If the engine is totally fresh with only 7k miles, it's possible a seal simply lifted (it happens).

You might could have a blocking in the turbo oil drainback.

I would do as you've described: remove the hoses and clean everything free of oil - if for nothing else to ensure the oil doesn't ruin any of the parts (like the BOV). I would also remove the charge hose from the TB, and fire it up without anything attached and see if it smokes then. If it does, I'd let it all burn off, then leave the hose unattached and let it cool off for the rest of the day and then re-start it. If it smokes - then it's something in the engine. If it doesn't, it's something in the intake tract.

Was the valve stem seals changed?

The valve stems and seals were both changed in this head. Mike Holler built this head. I will wo as AZTurbo suggests and that is to clean everything, crank it and let the oil burn off but before I put the hoses back I'll let it sit. Then I'll crank it again. If it doesn't smoke but if I get oil out of the turbo I'll know it is the turbo. If it smokes without being connected to the turbo, I'll know it's not the turbo.

Turbo's rarely put oil into the intake side when blown. I've seen new engines burn oil, it happens. Your issue sounds like valve seals/guides or a turbo issue on the turbine side.

Please post pics of your spark plugs.

What are you looking for by looking at pictures of the plugs?

If the plugs are wet and black and sooty on the tips, then the oil is burning IN the engine. If they're tan, dry, normal looking - then the oil is burning in the exhaust and not in the combustion chamber.

You rebuilt the entire engine, or block. Snds like valve guides/seals.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 86tona

What are you looking for by looking at pictures of the plugs?

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Looking for signs of oil. No offence but I've seen alot of plugs that people said were normal yet I could tell they had issues, hence why we ask for pics, a dozen set of eyes is better than one, :eyebrows:

When you do it, make sure you've ran the engine to operating temp, otherwise if its still cold, the plug won't have burnt off the fuel etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by turbovanman

No offence but I've seen alot of plugs that people said were normal yet I could tell they had issues, hence why we ask for pics, a dozen set of eyes is better than one, :eyebrows:

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Reading plugs really is like reading tea leaves...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AZTurbo

Reading plugs really is like reading tea leaves...

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Yep, some can, some can't...........

Trannybuster... I rebult the entire engine. I did the lower end Mike did the head and the turbo.

Here's an article of my build.
http://www.allpar.com/fix/rebuild-engine.html

Here is a link to the articles where Mike did the head and the turbo.
http://www.allpar.com/fix/holler/

If you do look at these please let me know what you think.