White smoke at startup and oil dripping from turbos

[behindthen0thing]

Hey guys to make this as simple as possible.

When the car sits for a while like over night, or hours, when I start up the car, and idle a bit and give it a few revs it will blow a cloud of white smoke then it doesn't smoke again after that until sitting again.

I looked down at the turbos and had my mechanic look as well and he says there seems to be oil coming from the v band clamps of both turbos.

He thinks the turbos are bad, other people have said that the oil might be coming from the engine exhaust. I'm not sure what to think yet.
He said he's never seen valve stem seals go bad on the s55.
I haven't really had any oil consumption.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this?

[1000hp]

Originally Posted by behindthen0thing

Hey guys to make this as simple as possible.

When the car sits for a while like over night, or hours, when I start up the car, and idle a bit and give it a few revs it will blow a cloud of white smoke then it doesn't smoke again after that until sitting again.

I looked down at the turbos and had my mechanic look as well and he says there seems to be oil coming from the v band clamps of both turbos.

He thinks the turbos are bad, other people have said that the oil might be coming from the engine exhaust. I'm not sure what to think yet.
He said he's never seen valve stem seals go bad on the s55.
I haven't really had any oil consumption.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this?

Sounds like he's right.

If it's oil smoke (blueish-white or light blue), and it smokes only at startup, and there is oil dripping from the turbos, the turbos' seals are probably blown.

Typically if you have oil smoke at startup only and it's not coming from the turbo(s), it's caused by oil leaking into the cylinders overnight or while the car sits for a while. When that happens, usually due to leaking valve guides or valve stem seals, the oil usually pools up in the combustion chambers and burns off when you start the car.

I think it's highly unlikely that oil leaking into the cylinders would make its way all the way through the manifold, through the turbine housing, and drip out the back end. If it was leaking that heavily into/out of the cylinder, you would have more than one puff of smoke at startup.


If it's white smoke (usually coolant) and definitely not oil smoke, and there is definitely oil leaking from the turbos, you probably have two separate problems.

[Tdog86]

White steam is normal on all cars if it's cold and there is built up condensation in the exhaust after sitting, people some times assume this is white smoke. Now if you worried check your engine coolant and charge cooler coolant as one could be leaking and going into the combustion chamber. Problem with these cars is the air to water intercooler will leak coolant into the intake. White smoke with a blue tinge means your burning oil. Does the car smell like it's burning oil in the beginning? Is both the turbos leaking on the exhaust side? The turbos could have bad oil sealing rings and is letting it seep out the shaft of exhaust turbine into the exhaust housing.

[1000hp]

Originally Posted by Tdog86

White smoke is normal on all cars if it's cold and there is built up condensation in the exhaust after sitting.

That would be steam, not smoke.

Smoke is never normal.

[behindthen0thing]

Thanks for the replies so far gentleman.

I can assure you the smoke is oil because of the smell, which is unmistakable. It hangs in the air forever until the wind blows it away.

Plus there's literally oil dripping off both turbos all over the steering rack, down pipes and the floor pan.

I was going to have the lines and o rings changed but my mechanic said that once he got a look it was obvious that the oil was coming from the clamp that holds the two turbo halves together.

I agree about the stem seals most likely not causing oil to make it into the turbos without burning up first.

I tried to get good photos but my camera can't focus very well in low light and close distance.

[behindthen0thing]

Also I know the difference between the morning steam and condensation that is similar to smoke in appearance and this is not it. This is oil smoke

[behindthen0thing]

Originally Posted by 1000hp

Sounds like he's right.

If it's oil smoke (blueish-white or light blue), and it smokes only at startup, and there is oil dripping from the turbos, the turbos' seals are probably blown.

Typically if you have oil smoke at startup only and it's not coming from the turbo(s), it's caused by oil leaking into the cylinders overnight or while the car sits for a while. When that happens, usually due to leaking valve guides or valve stem seals, the oil usually pools up in the combustion chambers and burns off when you start the car.

I think it's highly unlikely that oil leaking into the cylinders would make its way all the way through the manifold, through the turbine housing, and drip out the back end. If it was leaking that heavily into/out of the cylinder, you would have more than one puff of smoke at startup.


If it's white smoke (usually coolant) and definitely not oil smoke, and there is definitely oil leaking from the turbos, you probably have two separate problems.

To be clear there is no oil dripping out the back end, just from the turbos

[1000hp]

Originally Posted by behindthen0thing

To be clear there is no oil dripping out the back end, just from the turbos

Gotcha. When you said V-band I thought you meant the downpipe v-band.
Between the two halves is where the bearing lives.

Sounds like it's time for upgraded turbos. If that's not in the budget you can have them rebuilt.

[behindthen0thing]

Originally Posted by 1000hp

Gotcha. When you said V-band I thought you meant the downpipe v-band.
Between the two halves is where the bearing lives.

Sounds like it's time for upgraded turbos. If that's not in the budget you can have them rebuilt.

I'll post more details on here when I get it resolved. I will be unable up continue this for the next month though because I have a bit of traveling to do.

If anybody else has seen anything like this please let me know before I spend money unnecessarily or on the wrong fix

[BoostinLI]

Originally Posted by behindthen0thing

I'll post more details on here when I get it resolved. I will be unable up continue this for the next month though because I have a bit of traveling to do.

If anybody else has seen anything like this please let me know before I spend money unnecessarily or on the wrong fix

Did you end up fixing the problem?

[behindthen0thing]

Originally Posted by cesarlcase

Did you end up fixing the problem?

yeah had turbos overhauled