Smoking and Turbo Seals

[TD]

Mine is Nov 07 build, was noticeable early on in it's life (April 08 Dyno Day in Brisbane) but then "went away" for a while. Now at 27,000km, and it's an issue. I have people back off from the back of my car in traffic, was also sitting at idle in a cloud of my own smoke the other week. Heading to my dealer the next couple of weeks to see if it's worthy of a warranty replacement.

Car is stock except for SRI/CAI.

---------- Post added at 07:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:26 PM ----------

I am wondering if anyone noticed coolant or oil being consumed prior to the turbo seal failure becoming an evident fault?

I have a feeling I could be going through coolant, normal running temps have been noticeably higher (on the Scangauge) over the last 6 weeks or so , which has coincided with the increased symptoms. Must admit I haven't even looked at the oil yet.

[kmh001]

Do a google search on the chemical composition of engine coolant. There are all sorts of things in it that would produce a noxious odour when combusted ie burning plastic smell, but none of these things are sampled during an emissions test.

[Wardski]

Do a google search on the chemical composition of engine coolant. There are all sorts of things in it that would produce a noxious odour when combusted ie burning plastic smell, but none of these things are sampled during an emissions test.

For those with dodgy aftermarket exhausts, beware. If not installed with expansion in mind, that plastic burning smell could be your exhaust touching something. I've measured my CES system, and it grows almost 15mm in length from cold -> hot...

[2XS]

The emissions thing.....Why would you put 2 cats in? To meet new emissions laws. Any sign of dropped emissions would result in Mazda flagging the car to be checked (stock or not) If you fit an AM exhaust you'll probably get only 1 cat, hence the newly aquirred smoke issues.

The turbo seals.....If they were as fragile as people say, it might happen. But they spin up to 100,000rpm. Any sign of failure would result very with a very quick failure. I've had this problem with other cars (just not the MPS, yet.) Mine failed becuase of repeated 30+ psi (read abuse). You'd have to be brutal in fitting an exhaust to damage the seals. CES have a unique "tongue" on their split dump pipe, which is fed into the housing, hence the careful nature in fitting.

Try changing the oil to a different grade, the fact that some of you have changed the gearbox oil (for the "wong wong" noise) leads me to believe the engine oil could be the same.

If your car is smoking only slightly have it checked by a professional, if its not the turbo, it could be a number of things. Restricted air filters will result in the engine/turbo working harder to draw the air and will most likely suck oil from the rocker cover, this is why most stock turbo cars with over 7 psi of boost have catch cans fitted. Repeated use of dirty air filters and high boost pressure will cause the oil consumption too.

What do the "smoking" cars use in the way of fluids? Oil? Coolant? Both? Something else?

[Wardski]

...Try changing the oil to a different grade, the fact that some of you have changed the gearbox oil (for the "wong wong" noise) leads me to believe the engine oil could be the same.

I fully agree with you mate.

I've had no "smokin" or other issues with the top of the range fully Synth Castrol Edge Sport 0W-40 which is a good start. Best oil i've ever used to be honest, and I highly recommend it. If you've been using 50/50 synth/mineral oil and changing every 10,000km, then stop right there. Changing every 10,000km is absolutely insane for a performance vehicle, and as a result, you'll have a lot of carbon deposits which will give you grief at around the 40,000km mark (thats only frigging 4 oil changes in 40,000km!). Every day joes out there forget that carbon build-up in oil prevents the heat escaping, and as a result not only do you get more wear, but a much hotter motor. The added friction from the carbon also heats up your piston heads, which transfers the heat to the rods also.

Ok, now im off topic.........

I've been using the Castrol Edge Sport stuff since it was released, and when I changed over from 50/50 synth/mineral (the stock Mazda $hit) I did 2 quick changes initially to "flush" (@ every 2000km) and after that I went back to 4000-5000km changes. Doing this gets reduces the carbon deposits left over from the 50/50 oil real quick. After I dropped the last lot of oil @ approx 4000km, it still looked like new (hardly any carbon deposits - eg. darkening of the oil)

I also HIGHLY recommend that if you've flashed or piggied your MPS to get more grunt, then you'll wanting to be changing fluids to the high performance stuff and changing more frequently (say every 3000-5000km) to reduce wear & tear, which will extend the life of an upgraded 2.3ltr motor.

[teedee]

Good post Ward

very good suggestions

I think I will change oil as I have been changing every 5000 but using what Mazda put in.

I like the idea of flushing the system

[Wardski]

Good post Ward

very good suggestions

I think I will change oil as I have been changing every 5000 but using what Mazda put in.

I like the idea of flushing the system

For my intermediate oil changes, I was doing it myself, but for $60 (and I supply the oil) I've had APC in underwood do the oil change & filter for me (and tighten the chassis while they're draining the oil)

Makes sense really. Whats $120 every 5000km when you could be doing far more damage to a $16k motor.

[duglet]

I have always changed my oil at 5000kms...and my car is really stock.

I have now completed over 80000kms and no problems.

Mazda do the service every 10K...and i do the 5K myself inbetween...i have told Mazda this..as they always ask me why my oil is so clean.

I use the same stuff as Wardski...and find it to be the best around.

As said...if you cant do it yourself....then pay the $50 or so...its worth it in the long run.

Happy Motoring
duglet

[Taz]

I am sorry for steering off the main topic but I have a couple of questions regarding the oil change;

What do you guys recommend for people who are doing less than 10,000kms between service interval? So we change our oil every three months or so?

Also, I have been using Motul 8100xcess 5W40 since the first oil change, not sure if this is a good enough oil for our engine.

Thanks guys. Very informative thread, by the way!!

[shakespeare]

Hey Taz,
There was some discussion awhile back on oil changes here

Intermittent Servicing

In relation to turbo seals, I spoke to my Mazda dealer when I was having my diff bolts done and they have had 2 cases of a stock MPS 3 and 6 coming in smoking and needing the turbo seals fixed. He advised me that if I was concerned I could always take out a years extended warranty prior to my factory warranty expiring, about $400 or so.
Cheers
Chris