So we just finished the install of the Inline stage 1 kit. She started up just fine and drove without any issues. After only 1 hour of driving with minimal boost, it started smoking out of the exhaust while sitting at idle. The smoke was coming out in burst of smoke but then goes away after a min or two. I know the first thing that comes to mind is the turbo seals but the turbo ran for no more than 15 miles before it started doing this. There are times where this is no smoke at all but when it comes out, its very noticeable and embarrassing lol.

Now, with that being said, my oil return line is tapped into the highest part of the oil pan because I didnt want to touch the girdle. The only thing I noticed while under the car, was the fitting that came out of the oil pan was slightly tilted down. Im pretty sure it might be an issue with drain back but I cant be too certain cause I dont know the flow characteristics of the oil. So the real question is, can you blow turbo seals in 15 miles??

Notes - Motor runs great, in and out of boost. Compression is perfect.

 

Is the motor stock and how many miles are on it? Could be valve seals maybe. Inline pro taps the oil pan on all their s2000 builds, so I wouldn't see why that would be a problem.

 

The motor is 100% stock and there is 78K miles. Last week before the install the car NEVER smoked or did anything funny. If you tap the oil pan you pretty much have no choice but to have that bung tilted down because of how the side of the pan is shaped.

 

Journal or ball bearing turbo?

 

Inline taps theirs to the right of the front sideof the oil pan. To the right of the crank pulley. That's where I put mine.

 

Hmm, i did mine on the side of the oil pan where the turbo is so its a straight shot to the pan. Here is a pretty accurate picture of how it looks.

 

I bet it's the turbocharger.

They are known to smoke right out of the box, and honestly there's no way to know until you install it and start it up. Some do and some don't. I went thru 2 turbos to get one good one that didn't smoke. Hopefully they will warranty the turbo, if they are a reputable company that stands behind their product.

If you are smoking from the exhaust, you are burning fluid of some kind...

Easiest way to tell if it's the turbocharger is to drive the car some, get it warmed up and then take it back home and pull off the downpipe. If you see oil in the downpipe, the turbo is your culprit. If you see any coolant in the downpipe, you have much bigger issues (blown HG or cooling system failure/leaks)

 

In the later part of the day I beat the car a little much out of irritation and hoping that maybe because its a fresh turbo things may get better... who knows. But in the last hour of my driving there was no smoke. Maybe my oil level reached a point to where the return line had no more issue? I will continue to drive and see whats up. I can assure that there is no coolant issue. If there is, I have no idea how that would happen when the car didnt see more than 1 psi.

 

Journal

 

Are you running a -4 or -3 oil feed line? You want a -3 line and a -4 is too much oil for a JB turbo. I'd say that having the return line into the pan the way it is, is going to cause oil backup problems, especially if you are using a -4 feed line.