Exhaust Smoke after New Tune - Supercharged - :(

[Gopherboy6956]

Now, this is a story all about how, my life got flipped-turned upside down...

Kidding. But - Looking for some opinions on the situation I find myself in.

- Car is smoking out of the exhaust, seems to 'run' fine -

Vehicle Background -
I have a 2013 BRZ with 11k miles on it. 5k of them have been supercharged with Vortech.
Up until last week, I was running the Perrin stock tune for Vortech, ~235hp @ the wheels. Super rich, of course.

5 track days thus far, 2 Supercharged. 10 or to total AutoX. No previous issues.

I added a header this year, and got setup for a protune a few hours from my house (Minneapolis). Went down to tune and made 275hp by basically just leaning out the tune to a safe level, didn't push it at all with the tune.

While tuning, i had a smaller S/C pulley that we tried, but on 91 octane, i didn't make any more power with the small additional boost (9psi vs 11psi), so we reinstalled the stock Vortech pulley.

Got it done, drove car back home 4ish hours no problems.

Went driving the next day, filled up with gas, and shortly thereafter got a misfire at idle and low throttle. Did some logging, and even pulled a DTC for misfire in Cylinder 4. (P0304 Cycl 4 Misfire Detected)

So, spoke to my tuner, and he wanted to see some more logs of it. We went out two days later (had not driven the car since) and it fired up, no misfire. Drove around to warm up the car, still drove no misfire. So, we did some interstate on ramp Full Throttle Pulls, and logged those. No issues.

Then, we stopped to flash a new map from my tuner (removed 5% fuel on WOT, it was a bit rich) and as soon as I fired up the car i noticed smoke coming from the exhaust. It was very prominent, so I drove it about a half mile, pulled over, and reloaded the original pro tune. No change. Decided to drive it straight home, about 8 miles. Smoked the whole way, but less when i was cruising, more when accelerating from a stop.

Now, i can't say for sure if I think it's oil smoke or coolant smoke, i have no obvious signs for either. However, here are two videos i took. First one is right after we noticed smoke. 2nd in later in my garage idling.

Since, i've pulled the intake tube from the S/C to look at the Throttle body - no oil in there (was thinking maybe it was the S/C leaking oil). It was dry.

Looked at my Radium Catch cans - they were all normal.

So now i've started pulling plugs. (OH MY GOD). I have 1 out so far (Driverside, front - assuming that's #1) and it looks perfect:



So, I am going to attempt to pull #4 and see what it looks like. Then do a compression test as well.

Beyond that, i'm 100% out of ideas. The car has been flawless up to this point, so i'm just at a loss for what could be wrong at 11k.

Any ideas?

Thank You!

[GotBRZ1691]

Gaskets somewhere is a possibility. Have you checked your oil to see if its got frothy foam on the dipstick?

I'm just throwing this out there based on my previous ownership of Subies. I had to replace head gaskets on my past two. One at 100k miles the other at 45k miles. Both EJs but gaskets have been troublesome for a lot of their engines.

[Gopherboy6956]

Originally Posted by GotBRZ1691

Gaskets somewhere is a possibility. Have you checked your oil to see if its got frothy foam on the dipstick?

I'm just throwing this out there based on my previous ownership of Subies. I had to replace head gaskets on my past two. One at 100k miles the other at 45k miles. Both EJs but gaskets have been troublesome for a lot of their engines.

I checked the oil level with the dipstick last night, and it appeared both normal in level and in color / viscosity. After I check out the plugs, I plan on dumping the oil and having a look at that as well.

Thanks!

[lithiumion]

Where there is smoke there is fire, and if it's coming from a fa20 soon you will be fired up about your smoked #4 rod bearing... Rip 2013s

[GotBRZ1691]

Originally Posted by lithiumion

Where there is smoke there is fire, and if it's coming from a fa20 soon you will be fired up about your smoked #4 rod bearing... Rip 2013s

This seems most likely.

[Gopherboy6956]

Originally Posted by GotBRZ1691

This seems most likely.

Think so?

With the exception of my squeak (90% sure it's the belt, not sure why though yet - new one on the way) the engine sounds normal, no knocking or running rough.

I'll post a video when it uploads.

As for the 'RIP 2013's' is there something specific in the '13s not in the 14s or 15s? Like, If a guy was gonna pull the motor, you'd upgrade that part?

[FirestormFRS]

Video's aren't long enough, but it appears to be steam not smoke. Does it smell like oil burning? The smell is distinct if you've been around cars at all you'd know. I'd guess a head gasket just from the short videos.

To my knowledge there is no difference in the 13, 14, or 15 fa20 other than build experience. #4 rod bearings have failed on a few here on the forums. Dealers claim they're out of oil when they do.

I've had 0 issues with mine and it was bought before they officially went on sale, can't get a much earlier build date than that.

[Gopherboy6956]

Here's the video of the engine at idle -

The idle one did look more like steam, i agree. At this point i've committed to pulling the plugs (can't get new ones until tuesday, arg) but then if any look bad, i'll do a compression test too.

it REALLY smelled like oil in the first, outdoor video. But the more I look into it, I feel like it could be head gasket too. So idk. Time will tell i guess as i dig into it. Thanks for the feedback.

Also - fun fact, dealership headgasket labor time is 17.1 hours. Holy Hell, that's like 2G.

[GotBRZ1691]

Yeah head gaskets are no joke. Luckily my last impreza had the lifetime warranty so all I had to pay was a 100 deductable

[Gopherboy6956]

Originally Posted by GotBRZ1691

Yeah head gaskets are no joke. Luckily my last impreza had the lifetime warranty so all I had to pay was a 100 deductable

Warranties tend to evaporate when you are Supercharged and tuned lol.

I know the service manager at our local Subaru dealership, and he's like "i'd never get away with it"

LoL

[GotBRZ1691]

Is that time quoted to replace both gaskets? Or just one side?

[Gopherboy6956]

Both. One side was 14.5 hrs

[GotMunchies?]

Is the super charger water or oil cooled?

I saw you checked the oil for coolant contamination but have you checked coolant for oil? Pop the radiator cap and look for foam?

[Gopherboy6956]

Originally Posted by GotMunchies?

Is the super charger water or oil cooled?

I saw you checked the oil for coolant contamination but have you checked coolant for oil? Pop the radiator cap and look for foam?

I have not done that yet - I will give it a look tonight.

The Supercharger is self-contained unit, with it's own oil. The dipstick reads normal there.

Thanks!