User Tag List

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 35

Thread: Smoking at Idle

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Wyong
    Posts
    1,423
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default Smoking at Idle

    Ok...some history...

    Catless DP installed a few months ago, and now my car will now occasionally smoke pretty bad after a few minutes at idle- has anyone else had this problem in AUS?

    I have read the US forums where there is a fair bit of talk about it, and as best I can work out they put different (thinker) oil in the car and it fixed the smoking issue (something about reduced backflow with larger exhaust).

    Anyone have this issue and what did you do to fix it?

    thanks,
    Peter
    Quote:
    Nuliaj: Hatches are only really half a car anyway.
    shinslinger66: And you forgot to add that they are also a girls car!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Logan & Gold Coast
    Posts
    2

    Default

    Hi Peter - here's a post that I made on ozmazdaclub.com in July 2008:

    "Had my car in at Oldmac Mazda in Springwood a few months back to investigate an increasing amount of white smoke on start up and at full throttle. They reset the ECU, tested hot and cold and said everything was fine. I wasnt convinced. Over the past few weeks there has been white smoke billowing out of the exhaust if the car is idled for more than about 3 mins. Not the best look in freeway traffic jams. I wasnt sure if it was the turbo seals or the PCV.
    Mazda had the car for 3 days this week to rectify. When I dropped the car of on tuesday I had a squiz at the service invoice. 'Replacement turbo now in stock. Replace turbo on vehicle'. Got it back yesterday - it was confirmed the problem was a 'rear turbo seal failure'. They also replaced the cat in the dump pipe cause they couldnt get the oxygen sensor out. Probably for the best as I presume it would have been choked with oil. I asked my service guy how many MPS3's they've fitted replacement turbos to - mines the 3rd just at that dealership.
    I know there are a heap of MS3's in the states that have had turbo's replaced with an updated unit. I hope the updated version is the one that Mazda Australia is fitting.."

    Since the new turbo was fitted there's been no smoking issues. The car had a 3" cat-back on it when I took it in for investigation and the service guys didnt even mention the mod (I was a bit worried they were going to void the warranty because I modified the exhaust). I believe that a few MPS guys have had turbos replaced under warranty even with an aftermarket dump pipe fitted so hopefully you'll be able to get it sorted

    Good luck
    Paul.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    SKYE MELBOURNE
    Age
    45
    Posts
    24

    Default

    hi just a reply to last post if they replaced turbo due to vehicle producing white smoke it is possible the turbo was leaking coolant into the exhaust system as oil will burn and release a blue/grey colour smoke and coolant or brake fluid will release a white smoke take it to ur dealer and if it is white smoke they should know what they r looking for

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Sydney
    Age
    49
    Posts
    1,834

    Default

    Sounds exactly like mine is doing, the infamous rear turbo seal, its on the exhaust side of the turbo, and you will be experiencing a thick, dirty white smoke, assuming its the same seal as mine is suffering, its the coolant breaching the seal and leaking into the turbine housing.

    The problem lies with the reduced back pressure from aftermarket exhausts the most tangible theory I have read is that due to the seals being a floating type, this means they seat relative to the position of the shaft, if there is uneven pressure on either side of the shaft it favours the side with less pressure and this causes the seal to move from its position slightly, the problem gets worse the hotter the turbo gets.

    Try this short term solution, so far this works on mine and I have read of similar results from others, when you stop at a set of lights (or when the car would typically smoke) hold the revs up to the 1250-1500 mark (1000-1250 with the AC on) and you shouldn't see any smoke, this is because you are balancing the pressure within the turbo with the greater airflow, the only real long term solution is a replacement turbo if your warranty will cover it, failing that PG do an exchange on a reworked stock unit with improved cfm, seals & bearings for a fair price, although you probably wont see much change from 1.5-2k all said and done.
    Otherwise the other solution that has worked for others in the US is to fit an inlet pipe e.g RPMC, Darkstar, these seem to balance the pressure differences in the turbo and allow the seal to seat itself properly again.

    There is a fair bit of documentation on mazdaspeedforums.org regarding the faulty seals and inlet pipes.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Perth, WA
    Age
    52
    Posts
    6,388

    Default

    Hey Peter, was flicking through this the other day and there is a whole "smoking" diagnosis section in the Mazdaspeed 6 Technical Training Manual, it may help? http://www.ugnius.lt/mazda/
    Chris

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Brisbane
    Age
    47
    Posts
    3,387

    Default

    Hi Chris,

    Good link there - I'll alert duglet to it and see if we can add the files to the site, prob as a sticky in the same location as the 3 MPS/Mazdaspeed 3 manual.

    Cheers,
    Dan

  7. #7

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan_3MPS View Post
    Hi Chris,

    Good link there - I'll alert duglet to it and see if we can add the files to the site, prob as a sticky in the same location as the 3 MPS/Mazdaspeed 3 manual.

    Cheers,
    Dan
    Files are being uploaded to the server as we speak.

    I will post the links for d/l or browsing.

    Happy Motoring
    duglet

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Wyong
    Posts
    1,423
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default

    Thank you all- and I will check that manual out tonight.

    cheers,
    Peter

  9. #9

    Default

    Manuals are located in the Tech Talk part of forum as stickys.

    Tech Talk

    Happy Motoring
    duglet

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    GoldCoast
    Posts
    302

    Default

    Yep,

    Had my turbo replaced with same symptoms.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Narellan, NSW
    Age
    36
    Posts
    624

    Default

    Mine was smoking ever-so-slightly under very light throttle and cruising around after fitting the Cp-e turbo-back system. Changing from Castrol Edge 5w30 to Royal Purple 10w40 has solved my problem completely. NO smoke at all now. Mine never smoked sitting at idle though, only light loads for some reason?? I think the 5w30 was just too thin for it.

  12. #12

    Default

    I have never heard of a MPS6 Turbo failure.

    There was a known problem with the MPS3's, but to the best of my knowledge the 6's run slightly different turbos and have never had a problem.

    Are you blowing white,black or blue smoke?

  13. #13

    Default

    Info from another forum for the speed6:

    K0422-882 was rated at 260hp for EU
    K0422-881 was rated at 270hp for Japan and USA

    This turbo was manufactured by BorgWarner Turbo Systems but it is a hybrid from three separate BW divisions. The CHRA (core assembly) was made in Germany (part number 5304 710 9901) the end housings by Turbo Energy which is a BW joint venture in India and the acutator / wastegate assembly came from Hitachi Warner Turbo Systems. The latter was a former JV but now discontinued.
    Is someone able to confirm the turbo on the 3? As for smoke on the 6, I've seen plumes of smoke on idle on a friends MPS6 in WA. It was like a James Bond smoke screen! I can also point you to have a look at:

    [YOUTUBE]hmA013CzxzM[/YOUTUBE]

    [YOUTUBE]fI5k7n7AtLI[/YOUTUBE]

    And the best one!
    [YOUTUBE]HiSzH1_J3q0[/YOUTUBE]
    Last edited by Nuliaj; 29-01-2009 at 01:33 AM.
    Nuliaj: Hatches are only really half a car anyway.
    shinslinger66: And you forgot to add that they are also a girls car!

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Brisbane
    Age
    49
    Posts
    494

    Default

    Oil catch can

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Sydney
    Age
    49
    Posts
    1,834

    Default

    The OCC is a band aid solution for the smoking turbos, and doesnt always rectify the issue, having said that I am still planning to do my OCC install just for the fun of it now that my turbo has been replaced, hopefully get it done this weekend.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Carindale
    Age
    37
    Posts
    2,043

    Default

    mine is blowin white smoke, duglet rekons turbo seals!!!
    my warranty is in tatters!! $$???

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Sydney
    Age
    49
    Posts
    1,834

    Default

    Hmmm, doesnt sound good, as mentioned the inlet pipe, and, or OCC has helped in a number of cases in the US.
    Is it happening at idle ?, or all the time, try doing as I mentioned in my earlier post by holding the car with some revs when it would normally smoke, i.e sitting in traffic, this would indicate the rooted seals. If this is the case and an OCC & inlet pipe dont solve the problem its time for a new turbo, and if warranty is gone you are looking at a bit of an expense, I would recommend either getting the stock one rebuilt locally, or a refurbished one from PG.
    Failing that you could always give Mazda a try, for what its worth, there is a service bulletin regarding the turbo seals, so they do recognise the issue.
    If you pushed hard enough you could probably get one replaced out of warranty because of this.

    Is the warranty in tatters due to mods or age, send me a PM if you dont want to post the specifics.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Brisbane
    Age
    49
    Posts
    494

    Default

    Well...I've just joined the white smoking mps6 club.

    I only noticed when the bloke behind me kept holding back in a traffic queue this morning.

    So I start up the car first thing in the morning, gently drive 1KM to the first local traffic jam and then sit in stop start (more stop than start) traffic for ten minutes, after about 5 the smoke becomes visible, more so under acceleration in first gear - BIIIG puff of white smoke.

    Then once around the roundabout and into flowing traffic the smioke is gone and everything is fine.

    I got to work (12KMs) and let it idle for 5 minutes - no smoke.

    "is this a case of the turbo seal not sealing properly until its warmed up properly?" or am i screwed?"
    Faster than swallowtails Passat...and it has a letterbox

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Sydney
    Age
    49
    Posts
    1,834

    Default

    Mine wouldn't smoke when it was cold, it would only do it when it was nice and toasty, I would drive about half way to work without any issues, then sit at a set of lights for a few minutes and sure enough out it came, like something out of a James Bond movie.

    Out of curiosity did you have the AC on, I found mine would smoke a lot worse with the AC off, the other time it was bad was when I would get home and leave it idling in the driveway for a few minutes and it would start, interstingly sometimes it wouldnt smoke, so I would give the throttle a quick stab let it idle for a few more minutes and it would usually start before long.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Brisbane
    Age
    49
    Posts
    494

    Default

    OK....so I did 150ks of Highway drining yesterday, 80-110Ks.

    And......this morning......no smoke.....

    ideas?

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •