Exhaust Smoke after New Tune - Supercharged - :(

[GotMunchies?]

Originally Posted by Gopherboy6956

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!

Gotcha. Does it use horrifically expensive, "TRACTOR FLUID," like my friend's Vortech supercharged BMW?

[Gopherboy6956]

Originally Posted by GotMunchies?

Gotcha. Does it use horrifically expensive, "TRACTOR FLUID," like my friend's Vortech supercharged BMW?

You know it does. Little red bottles of awesome.
http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/page.php?id=30162

If i do pull the engine in all this, i might look at running it off of engine oil going forward. I know that's an option with these blowers.

[GotMunchies?]

Originally Posted by Gopherboy6956

You know it does. Little red bottles of awesome.
http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/page.php?id=30162

If i do pull the engine in all this, i might look at running it off of engine oil going forward. I know that's an option with these blowers.

I was helping my friend tinker on his car and we checked the supercharger reservoir to discover it almost bone dry. Haven't been able to track down a leak so we think the blower is drinking the oil. When he told me how much a bottle cost I couldn't stop laughing.

... in that really nervous, "that seems like it must be a joke but I'm not sure," kind of way.


Good luck with the troubleshooting!

[extrashaky]

Did you do the paper towel test? In the old days mechanics would put a paper towel over the exhaust of a smoking car to catch some of whatever was coming out. If it's steam, it will condense in the paper towel and leave it wet. If it's fuel or oil, it will leave soot.

You said you checked the oil for discoloration, but modern oils have such good detergent packages in them that it's not always easy to tell by looking that you have coolant contamination. In old oils, the moisture would emulsify in the oil and make it look milky. In new oils, the detergents bond with the moisture rather than leaving it in suspension, so that it doesn't necessarily change color dramatically. If you're worried about contamination, the only reliable way to know is to pull an oil sample (hot) and send it off for analysis at a company like Blackstone. That costs $25, and they'll send you the sample collection kit for free.

If coolant is leaking into the combustion chamber (which would be necessary for it to come out the tail pipe), you also may get combustion gases leaking the other direction into the coolant. There is a $50 test kit you can buy to test your cooling system for the presence of exhaust gases. Some mechanics have them and will often do the test for free.

Seems like the first thing you need to verify is what exactly is coming out of your tailpipe. That will help you figure out where to look.

[Gopherboy6956]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Did you do the paper towel test? In the old days mechanics would put a paper towel over the exhaust of a smoking car to catch some of whatever was coming out. If it's steam, it will condense in the paper towel and leave it wet. If it's fuel or oil, it will leave soot.

You said you checked the oil for discoloration, but modern oils have such good detergent packages in them that it's not always easy to tell by looking that you have coolant contamination. In old oils, the moisture would emulsify in the oil and make it look milky. In new oils, the detergents bond with the moisture rather than leaving it in suspension, so that it doesn't necessarily change color dramatically. If you're worried about contamination, the only reliable way to know is to pull an oil sample (hot) and send it off for analysis at a company like Blackstone. That costs $25, and they'll send you the sample collection kit for free.

If coolant is leaking into the combustion chamber (which would be necessary for it to come out the tail pipe), you also may get combustion gases leaking the other direction into the coolant. There is a $50 test kit you can buy to test your cooling system for the presence of exhaust gases. Some mechanics have them and will often do the test for free.

Seems like the first thing you need to verify is what exactly is coming out of your tailpipe. That will help you figure out where to look.

Well i did some digging last night and have an update - I'll type it up here over lunch.

[Gopherboy6956]

Update - It's Oil! Cylinder 1.

I removed both plugs on 2 & 4, and they were dry and normal. That seems odd to me because I was getting a misfire on cyl 4. DTC.

Anyways, i decided to move over to the passenger side and pull 1 and 3, but to do that I needed to remove the overpipe and header. I've been doing this from the bottom instead of the top, which i think is easier - less stuff to remove.

Anyways, i get the header down and i see this:



which pretty much ends the oil / coolant debate.

I took a look at the engine side and saw this:



and then looking a little further at the valve:



It's definitely wet oil. after doing that I ran out of time and didn't get 1 & 3 plugs out, but i will tonight and i'll do a compression test as well.

But, either way the engine is coming out soon, and i'll either get a new short block and replace mine, or if it's a head issue i'll just fix whatever is broken.

[FirestormFRS]

That sucks!

[Gopherboy6956]

Update #2 - This is the plug from Cyl 1. Hmmmmmmm. So, now i'm pulling the engine to figure more out. Will keep things updated as i go.

[BlueSky]

Crazy
What's the hours on the motor pull?

[Gopherboy6956]

Originally Posted by BlueSky

Crazy
What's the hours on the motor pull?

As far as how long it's taken?

I suppose i really only have about 3 or 4 into it SO FAR. But that is by no means in any hurry. Definitely going slow on it. If I had to start from scratch and do it on a stock engine, it'd be maybe 4 hours total. I also had to remove my Vortech unit and a bunch of stuff related to that on mine. There really are very few connections that need to be removed.

I'm estimating that i'll have 6 or 7 hours into it before the engine is on the stand.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Gopherboy6956

As far as how long it's taken?

I suppose i really only have about 3 or 4 into it SO FAR. But that is by no means in any hurry. Definitely going slow on it. If I had to start from scratch and do it on a stock engine, it'd be maybe 4 hours total. I also had to remove my Vortech unit and a bunch of stuff related to that on mine. There really are very few connections that need to be removed.

I'm estimating that i'll have 6 or 7 hours into it before the engine is on the stand.

Just rereading the thread
So this was a 11k miles and a vortech supercharger after around 5 of those
and then this happen after how many miles?

[Gopherboy6956]

Originally Posted by BlueSky

Just rereading the thread
So this was a 11k miles and a vortech supercharger after around 5 of those
and then this happen after how many miles?

Car has 11,3xx miles on it

Added Vortech at around 7000 miles - ran all summer, track days, etc on perrin e-tune that came with the kit. Then put it away for the winter.

Took it out for spring in March, and at about 10,500 i added the header

at 11k i had it pro-tuned, which took me from 234 to 275whp by leaning our the tune.

A few days later at about 11250, started getting the misfire, and shortly thereafter it started smoking.

And, here we are.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Gopherboy6956

Car has 11,3xx miles on it

Added Vortech at around 7000 miles - ran all summer, track days, etc on perrin e-tune that came with the kit. Then put it away for the winter.

Took it out for spring in March, and at about 10,500 i added the header

at 11k i had it pro-tuned, which took me from 234 to 275whp by leaning our the tune.

A few days later at about 11250, started getting the misfire, and shortly thereafter it started smoking.

And, here we are.

Did you get a good deal on the car, or were you just planning on pulling the motor for a rebuild anyway?

[Gopherboy6956]

Originally Posted by BlueSky

Did you get a good deal on the car, or were you just planning on pulling the motor for a rebuild anyway?

I bought the car brand new in 2013.

Decided to S/C it last year, and then just started having issues with it this year. Depending on the issue, i'll either get a new stock shortblock, or repair whatever the damage is.

I don't have a ton of time to do a built engine, as I have 1 month until GRIDLIFE.