Greetings from Camaro V6 .com
I acquired a second-hand custom turbo kit for my 3.8 V6 camaro, based on a stock 86/87 turbo, and performed the install myself back in the end of the summer. I have had smoke issues right from the start -- smokes out the exhaust (white to blueish), only until the car has warmed up and dropped from the startup 65 psi to a warm 30 to 40 psi.
As far as I know, the drain is decently large (1/2" line), above the oil line (checked this), and otherwise good.
Feed is a 3/8 line with a 1/16" hole restrictor (set screw tapped into a brass fitting). Was initially no restrictor, then went with a 1/16 (1/64? i forget, smallest I had) which slightly improved the problem, though still smokes SERIOUSLY until warmup. Switched to 5-30 from 10-30, no difference. Both dino.
Car is not a daily driver, as I'm down at school. I can tell you that the turbo works -- I went from a 15.3 @ 89 to a 14.3 @ 98 on a slipping clutch and 2.3's all around on 7 psi. So that's the good news.
Was getting overly curious about my smoke problems, so I pulled the focker out. Didn't disassemble it past the center section and wheels, but here's what I found. Cold side was bone dry as it should be -- no oil getting into intake. Hot side wheel was soaking in oil, absolutely SOAKING. Lots of extra oil sitting in the housing. Just everywhere. So, oiling problems, even after the restrictor. Seems that it's just getting out of the center section past the shaft seal (?) into the wheel, then being heated by the exhaust into smoke, and blowing out of the tailpipes. BTW, spins freely with no noticible movement.
Of course, that's not cool. I'm stumped -- I have a restrictor from the smallest drill bit I could muster -- 1/16 (or was it 1/64 geez it's late at night I forget -- the smallest that came in a set of 16 or so). I'm worried about restricting it any more, I mean i've got to be choking the oil at this point. Or so I figured -- I did a cup test, ran the oil feed into a standard beer red cup for a few seconds and it filled it 1/2 way. Gotta be waaaay to much oil for my poor turbo. Most folks I talk to say "DAMN, you can't send 60 psi to a turbo!", but I don't really have other ideas about oil feeds. Don't you guys do the same thing -- send it all the pressure available? I figure that I need some sorta pressure-reducing valve, or to pipe feed oil directly to the return line (around the turbo). Or I need a new (bigger
) turbo. Please offer any suggestions here, through e-mail rbeas@umd.edu, or PM if you like. I'm stumped on this! I searched and found a few "it still smokes" posts, so I know it can be a problem.
Help appreciated,
-Rob
PS: After all of this, I'd give my left nut for a self-contained center section, like on the Aerocharger, etc.
I acquired a second-hand custom turbo kit for my 3.8 V6 camaro, based on a stock 86/87 turbo, and performed the install myself back in the end of the summer. I have had smoke issues right from the start -- smokes out the exhaust (white to blueish), only until the car has warmed up and dropped from the startup 65 psi to a warm 30 to 40 psi.
As far as I know, the drain is decently large (1/2" line), above the oil line (checked this), and otherwise good.
Feed is a 3/8 line with a 1/16" hole restrictor (set screw tapped into a brass fitting). Was initially no restrictor, then went with a 1/16 (1/64? i forget, smallest I had) which slightly improved the problem, though still smokes SERIOUSLY until warmup. Switched to 5-30 from 10-30, no difference. Both dino.
Car is not a daily driver, as I'm down at school. I can tell you that the turbo works -- I went from a 15.3 @ 89 to a 14.3 @ 98 on a slipping clutch and 2.3's all around on 7 psi. So that's the good news.
Was getting overly curious about my smoke problems, so I pulled the focker out. Didn't disassemble it past the center section and wheels, but here's what I found. Cold side was bone dry as it should be -- no oil getting into intake. Hot side wheel was soaking in oil, absolutely SOAKING. Lots of extra oil sitting in the housing. Just everywhere. So, oiling problems, even after the restrictor. Seems that it's just getting out of the center section past the shaft seal (?) into the wheel, then being heated by the exhaust into smoke, and blowing out of the tailpipes. BTW, spins freely with no noticible movement.
Of course, that's not cool. I'm stumped -- I have a restrictor from the smallest drill bit I could muster -- 1/16 (or was it 1/64 geez it's late at night I forget -- the smallest that came in a set of 16 or so). I'm worried about restricting it any more, I mean i've got to be choking the oil at this point. Or so I figured -- I did a cup test, ran the oil feed into a standard beer red cup for a few seconds and it filled it 1/2 way. Gotta be waaaay to much oil for my poor turbo. Most folks I talk to say "DAMN, you can't send 60 psi to a turbo!", but I don't really have other ideas about oil feeds. Don't you guys do the same thing -- send it all the pressure available? I figure that I need some sorta pressure-reducing valve, or to pipe feed oil directly to the return line (around the turbo). Or I need a new (bigger
) turbo. Please offer any suggestions here, through e-mail rbeas@umd.edu, or PM if you like. I'm stumped on this! I searched and found a few "it still smokes" posts, so I know it can be a problem.Help appreciated,
-Rob
PS: After all of this, I'd give my left nut for a self-contained center section, like on the Aerocharger, etc.
