[Mk2] [Turbo] heavy smoker

[jeffandal]

running out of ideas , hopefully some one here will be able to help.
car starts first turn of the key everytime then smokes like a trooper and wont hold any revs .
all 4 sparkpugs are black and sooty which led me to think my problem must be something they all have in common ?
so far i have changed ;
spark plugs
dizzy cap and rotor arm
ht leads
o2 sensor
turbo
intercooler and pipework
stripped and cleaned throttle body
any suggestions very welcome
thanks

[Ryan S]

running out of ideas , hopefully some one here will be able to help.
car starts first turn of the key everytime then smokes like a trooper and wont hold any revs .
all 4 sparkpugs are black and sooty which led me to think my problem must be something they all have in common ?
so far i have changed ;
spark plugs
dizzy cap and rotor arm
ht leads
o2 sensor
turbo
intercooler and pipework
stripped and cleaned throttle body
any suggestions very welcome
thanks

valve stem seals??? don't thimk it's a common problem but they could go on any motor i suppose.

[nikaiyo]

What colour is the smoke? Blue/Grey or Black?

Black spark plugs would suggest you are over fueling, are you showing any error codes?

[jeffandal]

running a power fc so no error codes
smoke is a blue-ish colour
i thought it could be over fueling as it does smell of unburt fuel when its running , unsure how to cheak this though ?

[Quigonjay]

should be more black smoke than blue if it is overfuelling that is the problem, i would get the map checked
what version of the power fc is it?
also, does it use any oil? (oil is what causes the bkue smaoke)
Jay

[jeffandal]

hi jay, thanks for your time
smoke is alot darker than out of my 2-stroke bike so i dont think its oil
its never used any oil but i change the oil every 2k so prob wouldnt notice?
power fc says its version 3.12b
done a sensor check on it and everything seems ok
the problem seems to be affecting all cylinders equally so im hoping its something someone here has come across before but like i said im out of ideas so am willing to try anything
jeff

[bobhatton]

I would try the standard ECU if you still have it.

Bob

[jeffandal]

cheers bob,
unfortunatly dont have the standard ecu , but you have just given me an idea !
because of the power fc i dont have an air flow meter fitted before the turbo, would be interested to find out where the ecu takes its reading from
jeff

[Quigonjay]

I would try the standard ECU if you still have it.

Bob

+1
need a bit more info though
did the car come with the power fc?
has it ever run properply with it?
by what version i mean there are specific versions for rev1, 2 and 3
i cant remember the specifics but there is an AP engineering version and a d-jetro version (for rev1/2) and a different version for rev3+
they can be adapted to fit with the use of various sensors/re pinning etc but thinking maybe its not the correct one?
there have also been 1 or 2 (i would still say isolated cases at this point) incidents with power fc's failing
hth
Jay

[jeffandal]

hi jay
car came with power fc fitted and has run faultlessly for the 3 years ive owned it ,power fc says 3S GTE3 when it starts up, dont know if thats a model number ? the car is a rev 1/2 i believe but its fitted with ct 20 and an apexi ebc, is there anyway of checking a boost controller as i appear to be getting lots of fuel and not much air ?
cheers
jeff

[Quigonjay]

cheers bob,
unfortunatly dont have the standard ecu , but you have just given me an idea !
because of the power fc i dont have an air flow meter fitted before the turbo, would be interested to find out where the ecu takes its reading from
jeff

ah, probably wouldnt work with the stock ecu then anyway

[alanmr2turbo]

if your car is left for some time and started and you get blue smoke then its the valve stem seals.

if its blue smoke all the time its your piston rings shot

Blue smoke = burning oil
black smoke = over fueling
white smoke = water/steam

[jeffandal]

hi,
thanks for the info, thats something i hadnt thought about , i have got blue-ish smoke all the time ! although it affects all cylinders ? not done a compression test yet but what are the chances of all the piston rings failing at exactly the same time ?
jeff

[alanmr2turbo]

its will smoke all the time even if just 1 cylinder ring has gone

[Quigonjay]

hi jay
car came with power fc fitted and has run faultlessly for the 3 years ive owned it ,power fc says 3S GTE3 when it starts up, dont know if thats a model number ? the car is a rev 1/2 i believe but its fitted with ct 20 and an apexi ebc, is there anyway of checking a boost controller as i appear to be getting lots of fuel and not much air ?
cheers
jeff

ok, and it just started doing this suddenly one day?
or was a progressive fault?
i suspect you will say suddenly so that suggests something went pop (boost hose/pipe popped off or split, something stopped working - ebc/ecu.., or maybe a sensor failed - o2 sensor for example)
persoanlly i would start with checking all the boost hoses and pipes
hth
Jay

[jeffandal]

thanks guys
hope its not shot rings ! yep it started suddenly , all 4 plugs are running the same - black soot, which leads me to think its something common to all 4 cylinders , i have replaced all the boost hoses, turbo has been rebuilt , would my boost guage indicate a leak or malfunctioning ebc ? hope there is a practical way of checking as new a new ebc is £200 ! and i dont even want to think what a new ecu would cost .
jeff

[Quigonjay]

little confused now, you seem a little unsure as to wether the colour of the smoke is blue (oil related) or black (fuel related), you do say it doesnt use any oil though
if the plugs are just sooty and not oily and the smoke isnt blue i wouldnt be too worried about the engine just yet
never heard of the one of the apexi ebc's failing before, anyways, it should only affect the car under load if it was that, not while just reving it
have you checked for a spark?

[jeffandal]

cheers , i didnt realise that ebc would only work under load, nice one ! thats one more thing eliminated !
yep checked spark, changed plugs , ht leads , dizzy cap and rotor arm twice.
sorry about being vague on the colour of the smoke but i have to sit in the car to start it and its not to obvious from there , big smell of fuel though.

[Quigonjay]

well you only need 3 things to make the engine at least fire up, compression, fuel and a spark
you say you have a spark, it seems we have fuel and as it starts first time and revs ok i'd say we have compression too so think we can rule out the above + the ebc for now
do you have the hand commander? i believe there is a way of checking the sensors

[turbo]

i would say its the pistons rings as well from what u are saying