Guinader

iTrader: (1)

ok, so you my question is in regards to those who have had a Turbo maxima (or any turbo vehicle for that matter.


my mother has a Saab 2002 (95) model, the turbo in it blew up ( I removed my self and the shaft was broken or something as the exhaust fin was completely loose)

So I bought a new turbo, installed everything the way I believe is supposed to be (looks correct), lubricated, (removed the ignition switch) turned the engine to fill the oil lines, started the car...

Now from this point on is the problem.

First of all, those who have had a turbo blow up on you will know about the gigantic cloud of white smoke that comes out of your muffler, correct? thats how I first figured it was the turbo.

My question is simple, once you have Installed the NEW turbo, and you turn your car back on...SHOULD you still see white smoke coming out of the muffler, (residue from before)????

here is what happened when I turned the car on.

...I turned the car on, (with ignition relay on) takes a few seconds but car starts up, then I see a little "hesitation" in the boost gauge, and it goes from vacuum to bottom of small boost so (0 ~ 1- 2PSI), like something made car accelerate, then it goes down again.
after a few seconds I felt like something didn't look right and I turn the car off, ( I don't want to blow up a brand new turbo), I get out of the car and there is white smoke all on the back from the muffler.

I felt it was just residue, so i do the ignition thingy a few time more, (make sure I definably had oil up in there), and start car again...again more white smoke, and I have a feeling I heard some noise in the engine bay, soo I got really scared and shut engine off and haven't touched the car since ( 1 day now)

So anyone with blown turbo experiences and replacement experiences???
I tried asking at Saab central... but that place sucks no responses, no one really knows anythings apparently. ( they all bought a really expensive car and just take it to the dealership to fix things when needed.

(if anyone is a saab expert here, I already know about the sump, will be doing that next weekend)

maxgtr2000

iTrader: (29)

I would say make sure oil is going to the turbo by removing power to the fuel pump so the engine cranks and doesn't start. Once you verify oil is getting to the turbo then it is okay to start all the way. The smoke that comes out may just be residue from when the other one blew. If you are just starting it up and not driving it you may have smoke for a while. Driving it will get rid of the residue in the exhaust.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

If you coated the exhaust with oil when the old turbo broke you could see oil smoke coming out the back still until that oil residue burns off. Did it smell like oil smoke?

abci30

iTrader: (11)

The white smoke is most likely from a bunch of oil still left in the exhaust from the blown turbo. I helped a friend replace a turbo with a broken shaft in a Volvo and it smoked for a little while afterwords because there probably was oil that puddled in the exhaust that needs to burn off.

Guinader

iTrader: (1)

hum... so after about 20 minutes idle... smoke looked mostly normal.... then i decided to go around the block of my house.... and then more smoke came out, not as much as when the turbo was broken, but a little more then usual... (left a trace of smoke) but this time i noticed it was not pure white, it was also grayish... (carbon deposits??? oil burned left carbon deposits???)...

did a total of 3 laps around the block with about 10 min parked in my driveway... making sure everything looked ok.... and every time still had smoke coming out...

So now I'm going to wait till night time, (less traffic) and go in the highway... its one of those make it or break it times...

going in the highway will definably clear anything it is still there, or there is something wrong with the car, and I will most likely break something else or the brand new turbo... who knows....

I'll post a new msg here later today (2 - 5 hours from now) 5pm here now.

P.S. up until a few minutes ago, there was not smoke coming out of the engine bay which is a good sign, but just as I was about to close the engine I saw some smoke coming out of the back of the engine (near the firewall)

Guinader

iTrader: (1)

ok, so here is what happen, and Tuesday I'm taking the car to the dealer to do a 98$ diagnostic, which I think it is worth it, to definably know what is wrong with the car.

car is running fine, been going to school and other places no problem.

what I noticed is, if I press the gas (force engine or turbo, my car does smoke, so from what I gather here is what is going on with the car.

Some how, something on the engine block looks broken, (head gasket, o-rings....) but it is so small that if I drive the car with no boost, just lightly pressing the gas, and no turbo pressure, the engine runs fine, and no oil is burned. but if any turbo pressure is put on the car, the engine gets too much stress, this "unknown broken seal" opens up and lots of oil enter the engine and burns off (that's why smoke only shows under hard acceleration).

And the turbo broke the first time, because the engine ran out of oil, and the turbo ran without oil, and broke. ( some dude helping me when the engine had just stopped working told me I had no oil in the engine, and I had added 3 or 4 quarts of oil in the engine then)
so oil is still burning I'm sure, just don't know where... and that's why Saab deal will find the answer on Tue.

streetzlegend

iTrader: (8)

If the engine ran without oil, perhaps the problem is at the engine and not the turbo. say the engine is fine, and new turbo is fine, but you have oil everywhere from the old turbo. It will take about a week depending on your driving to burn off all the oil. When I finish putting in my new motor, i thought something was leaking cuz there was crazy smoke for a couple of days, week later it was gone. it was just oil that was left on the manifolds.

Now another possibility is that, the white smoke might not be oil, but coolant. Does it smell sweet, hows the coolant level? Its possible that when the car goes into boost the head gasket leaks, on my 3.0 everytime boost went near 10psi it would pop radiator hoses and leak coolant everywhere because the head gasket was leaking at that boost level (but it didnt smoke at all since the leak was from combustion into cooalnt passages).

If the car ran without oil, then there must be some internal damage man, piston rings could be cracked or damaged making oil go into the combustion and causing the smoke.

One thing you should check, to verify if its the turbo or the engine. Check the charge pipe (piping going from turbo into the intake manifold) and see if there is oil in that pipe.

Guinader

iTrader: (1)

this charge pipe, I know exactly which one you are talking about... what am i supposed to look for it in it? should there be oil? or be dry?

I took today to saab, they told me 3 things.

1) the transmission house into the radiator is roten and craked leaking. ( maybe thats some of the oil i see smoke coming from)

2) oil line going into turbo is leaking, I never replaced the copper rings... so i will just buy new pipe and rings and replace that one, not hard at all.
this is what they said it must be leaking oil and producing smoke.

3) air charge bypass (the thingy that makes the turbo pressure relax, whistle thingy)


all in all parts will end up at about $200

But good news, they told me the engine is fine and the turbo is fine... and that I did a good job... (just not on the oil line, lol)

thanks for all the comments, still no one has replied at my thread at the saab central place....