After experiencing a horrible bout with blow by and replacing a worn turbo ,The car still blew plumes of oil smoke when it wanted to (most of the time )Finally measured the oil pressure on the 84 t-type im working on , at the turbo , startup oil pressure was in excess of 65 psi . wot was almost 80 psi when i asked the owner about it he mentioned the kenny bell hi flow mod had been done to the oil pump on the car . we changed the oil to a thicker 10w40 and added a valve to the turbos oil feed to bring the pressure down to reasonable levels , before this that tiny 4n line flowed enough oil to lubricate a 5 inch journal bearing !!!!! and we wondered why the turbos seal was leaking lol . Bam no more oil smoke . I do not recommend any mods to the oil pump on a turbo engine as this is what can result if your decision was uninformed . WE will replace the oil pump next year with a new stock one , this years season is toast . Misguided engine modders beware , the buick is one fickle , unforgiving machine that rarely gives up anything without a fight , but runs like a true champion when right
Blue smoke making machine ,neighbourhood embarrasment
- Thread starter billy 420
- Start date
dr_frankenstein
Mad Scientist
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2008
isnt there a relief spring in the oil pump under that big screw on the side? i wonder if a stock spring would have dropped the pressure......
. Likely they used the 80lb spring and the KB booster plate.What is a stock spring? I only discovered the other day that Buick had two different springs, one for the turbo and one for NA. No info anywhere on what their respective pressures should be. But marketing literature from 1983 suggests that the turbo had a "high pressure" pump starting in 1981, and the same springs were used through 1987, whatever they were.
dr_frankenstein
Mad Scientist
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2008
OK a lower pressure spring.... sheesh. I know You know what I meant.... I was there with ya on that conversation....
But wouldn't you agree that changing this spring would be the easiest way?
Yeah, but when I installed a 60 lb spring the cold start pressure was pushing 70. This guy says this car was around 65, which sounds like a 60 lb spring.
The garden variety pump kit has two springs for these motors, one 40 lb and one 60 lb. I always assumed the 40 lb spring was "stock" but now I'm not so sure.
dr_frankenstein
Mad Scientist
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2008
Now that I re-read the post... why not lower the pressure with a thinner oil rather then a thicker one?
because i read extensively on how to rid this car of its blue smoke making ability , there were about 10 people on that forum that switched to thicker oil (10w40) and installed the valve . Everyone of them gave positive feedback for this method .I see no reason to use thinner oil (that seems to induce the smoking )especially if were replacing the oil pump and going back to something stock . there were other mods done to the oil pump besides the spring and gears , i believe they actually cut a slot inside the old pump (as per instructions in the kit ). If you have a bunch of oil leaks in your car do you switch to thinner oil ? does the leaking stop , no it gets worse . I did what i had to at the time to stop the blue smoke from billowing out of this thing since its late in the season here .This cars warranty was gone probably the minute it left the dealers lot , so why would i be concerned with using a little thicker oil? . As it stood ,The car was undriveable and an embarassment to the entire subdivision .It now runs and drives as it should . Sure lighter weight oil may have produced less oil pressure but it would have also found its way past the seals in the turbo easier imo
