Blue Smoke

[TonyP]

So the mrs calls me the morning reporting smoke coming out of the engine as she was reversing up the drive. I told her to turn it off and not to drive it till I could take a look...

So I get home, have a look inside the engine bay and nothing obvious and the coolant looks fine no milkiness on the oil cap. I hook up the computer and scan for error codes, nadda.

So I start the engine and no smoke in the engine bay, but on test driving it I can see blue smoke. Not the worst I have seen but clearly not right.

On parking you can smell oil burning and the oil cap smells the same

Took a video whilst gently revving the engine.

120k miles, 2005 LC4...

Any ideas, hoping it's not a engine out job

 

[Shayne]

My immediate thought is check the turbo

 

[TonyP]

How and what would I check? No idea on turbo's (well really no idea at all )

 

[TonyP]

Power seems ok, pulls fine, so would that still be turbo related?

 

[Shayne]

I can only suggest you look at turbo seal failure on youtube

 

[Shayne]

Power seems ok, pulls fine, so would that still be turbo related?

Yeah the turbo will work fine but its letting oil be drawn into your intake

 

[Towpack]

The vid doesnt seem to work for me but I would also go for the turbo as the culprit. Check the turbo outlet pipe (and also the oil breather pipe) for exccesive oil. Not sure of the engine layout in a 120 but if the engine can be run with the turbo outlet pipe disconnected (as in a 80) and asmoke check done this could help to rule the turbo in or out.

 

[Shayne]

Whip the intercooler off , it will be wet with oil

 

[TonyP]

Thanks, taking off the intercooler is not beyond my skills so will try that first....

 

[Shayne]

I swapped the turbo in my 1KZ which is in the same place i believe , its not a complicated job just time consuming having to remove all sorts just to get to it .
Once its out it can only go back in the same way so you can't exactly do it wrong .

 

[TonyP]

Thoughts on the stitched pics?

 

[stumog]

See if you can wiggle the shaft in the turbo

 

[TonyP]

Link to video
https://buka.smugmug.com/Other/Temp/i-73FmzZB/A

 

[StarCruiser]

Nothing in those photos looks out of the ordinary to me Tony. Looks pretty good in actual fact.

 

[Shayne]

The only other place it could come from is the crank which would suggest , given it came on quick , a cracked piston ring causing serious blowby . Unlikely in a cruiser me thinks .

 

[TonyP]

Talking to the mrs, I now have a fuller story. On startup, there was a bang of sorts followed by lots of white smoke. She turned off the engine and then started t a few ins later. This time no white smoke, but decided to call me, which I then advised to not drive it.

Got to the spindle on the turbo (air side) and I can feel some play side to side, probably around 0.5mm. Having not tested a good one, I suspect this one is now fubar'd.

I'll take it out completely over the next few days and see what it's like the other side.....

Now to find a replacement, suspect this is not going to be a cheap fix

 

[TonyP]

Well finally goet the turbo out, what a cock of a job....

I can defo feel some movement on the blades side to side, so will get a refurb unit....

Also there is a discolouration on the case where the blades run, not sure if they are hitting the when spinning

 

[Towpack]

You will get some side to side play on most turbos but you really need to measure it with a dial gauge as per the FSM to see if it’s in spec. What feels like 0.5mm could actually be much less. Axial play is also just as important. Now it’s out however might as well get it checked over.

 

[TonyP]

Oh and a OEM turbo from Toyota even with club discount still comes in at £2700... That's not happeneing. Managed to find a remanufactured one for £327:
http://www.londonturbos.co.uk/17201-30100turbo.html

 

[StarCruiser]

Did you establish where the oil was coming from to cause the smoke, by disconnecting the inlet ducting as suggested, between turbo and engine?