Steamy Smokey 3sgte

[solitaire]

Hi guys, i did do a search, it seemed to mention blown headgasket/water getting in the compression chamber but i wanted to run my scenario past you...

Gen1 Sw20 recently had a 2nd hand ct20b off Al installed - car pulls really hard and drives really well, no sign of any problems other than the white smoke/steam.

When you turn the car on from cold there is not smoke/steam (i am not entirely sure what it is... i suspect steam). once the temp gauge gets to a quarter it starts occasionally letting out steam, say a small transparent cloud of steam every 15 seconds or so (is random), if you rev it the steam increases a little but it does spit out twice as much smoke if you are doing twice as many revs...

Once the temp gauge is up to half way (normal operating temp) it seems to go away. The only time i see it is if i give it stick at the lights, at thats only if i build up revs as i let the clutch out, or if i am reversing out of a car park or something... a bit of reving with little load... in fact that seems to be the theme... it doesnt seem to do it under load from what i can see.

It generaly only seems to do it at idle and does not do it all the time...

Any advice? sorry if i have gone a bit overboard with the description

[RomanV]

Is your coolant level dropping at all?

[solitaire]

Is your coolant level dropping at all?

It does not appear to be, i have been keeping a close eye on it since the turbo replacement... if it is dropping its not by much... as i am fairly sensitive to these things

[Anth_555]

could it be the seal in the turbo leaking oil ? my celica use to do it when you were at the light or stopped but never did it when i started it

[solitaire]

could it be the seal in the turbo leaking oil ? my celica use to do it when you were at the light or stopped but never did it when i started it

Well it could be, it started doing it when we swapped out the turbo... although i thought burnt oil was blue?

[MrOizo]

could it be the seal in the turbo leaking oil ? my celica use to do it when you were at the light or stopped but never did it when i started it

Well it could be, it started doing it when we swapped out the turbo... although i thought burnt oil was blue?

Thats if it went through the combustion cycle.
It could be leaking out the exhaust side...

What does the smoke smell like? are you able to take the down pipe off to have a look at the exhaust wheel?

[Lith]

could it be the seal in the turbo leaking oil ? my celica use to do it when you were at the light or stopped but never did it when i started it

Well it could be, it started doing it when we swapped out the turbo... although i thought burnt oil was blue?

Doesn't have to be blue, depends on where its burning. If you have oil leaking into the exhaust side of the turbo due to a stuffed seal then it can be white, you only get blue smoke if the oil has actually been combusted in the cylinder...

[Al]

That sounds really odd, because that turbo would have been lucky to have even 1500km on it I fried the first one, then replaced it with that, shortly after the cars radiator became blocked so was off the road for a wee while, then the cheap clutch disintegrated, it sat in the garage for a few months, car was repaired, parted out and turbo sold to you.

[solitaire]

....

Ah thanks for the history mate I was not trying to say i doubted what you sold me so apologies if it appeared that way... i was only mentioning what had been changed recently as i like to give the whole picture...

I would not be surprised if the engine was feeling a bit knackered - the car has been haunted since the day i got it

[Lith]

Steamyness definitely would make me worry about the headgasket

[solitaire]

Steamyness definitely would make me worry about the headgasket

These things can just fail over time yeah?

Its had its factory fuel cut since day one, although it was running a little lean originally

[solitaire]

Hi All, Went out and bought a compression tester and they are all between 140 & 150psi after about 4 cranks... according to the bgb its well within the limits, although not ideal (128-170psi)

I also noted the the spark plugs were slightly brown on the end (as per normal i believe - every used spark plug i have seen is like this)

When i fired the engine up to warm it prior to the compression test i noted a little water pooling at the end of the exhaust... looks like condensation as the war has not been driven for a few days...

While warming it up there was no steam/smoke (the smoke doesnt really have any odor... if anything smells kind of like a miniature steam train does) Its really random, it will just start smoking for 3 minutes when not under load... then stop again.

Only other time it will smoke is if i do a launch from the lights (3500rpm launch) but it doesnt always do it then either...

i know this is all vague as hell but any ideas?

edit: it also doesnt use any water (or so little i cant tell) and only uses a little oil (although i can tell the oil is leaking as it ends up on the driveway )

[andyztouring]

Sounds like a perfectly normal engine,every engine creates condensation (engine heating then cooling creates condensation) that has to go somewhere,shorter cold running causes more condesation,sometimes filling up the muffler with water.Sounds like you are needlessly worried about nothing.

[solitaire]

Hmm.... bit too much steam to be normal in my book... the good news is that the compression is fine though

[Akane]

If there's that much steam that you notice it when driving then it ain't normal. My money is still on the leaky head gasket that only leaks under load.

Time to do an Akane dude.

(Rip the car apart, let it sit idle for 6 months coz the MR is a PITA to work on and you lost interest, then finally put it back together because the local Honduh is hooning up and down your street and you want to show them what a real car look like).

[RedMist]

Umm... before you do an Akane you may wish to confirm you do have a BHG. A simple hydrocarbon test is quick and reasonably conclusive.

[solitaire]

Oh Right... cool how would i do that?

fyi... it does not smoke under load... it only smokes occasionally if you blip the throttle at idle... but it hasnt done it for a few days...