Is it time to replace turbos?

[Shadow351]

I went to the store today and when i got off the freeway on my way home, I noticed a cloud of smoke and could smell burning oil as I stopped at a traffic light, then every time the turbos spooled on the rest of the drive home, it put out a cloud of smoke. I got home shut it off let it sit for a few minutes and started it back up and the smoke rolled like mad. I shut it off and checked the oil level and it was about a quart low, so I topped it off, and took it for a spin around the neighborhood and once again it would smoke whenever boost came up. Car does not appear to be dripping oil.

Does this sound like a turbo failure? Any other thoughts on what the cause might be? The Manual's diagnostic procedure requires removing the turbos so I want to see if there are easier things to check first.

If it does end up being a failed turbo, what is the best course of action? local dealer wants $700 ea + core, looks like wrecking yards want ~$400 each. Does anyone sell just a factory type replacement cartridge/rebuild kit? What options are there for aftermarket turbos that don't require a tune and won't stress things more then stock? The car has 218k miles on it, and I haven't replaced the turbos, but I've only owned it for about 2 years, I can't say weather they are original or not.

has anyone replaced the turbos on jack stands? Is it a huge PItA? Probably also a good time to do a PTU oil change at that time?

Thanks

 

[Johnbigdog]

A white smoke screen behind you does sound like a turbo failure if you're not getting misfires like a cylinder is consuming oil.

You could remove the flex pipes from the catalytic converters to see which turbo has failed. You could also remove the catalysts themselves to see which has oil on the turbine side.

If you had a problem with the p.c.v. system you would likely see it in the intake duct work to the throttle body.

If a cylinder was burning the oil you would see it on the plugs.

You will want to shop around on parts, make sure you get new turbo oil feed filters. They are internal to the feed line on the block side. This will make sure you dont starve your new turbo(s).

 

[bpd1151]

Besides the suggestions above, I'm curious if you're tuned, or knew of the car being tuned prior to your purchase?

I ask because when inspecting your turbos, check closely at the housings (particularly on the exhaust side) for evidence of cracking.

If housings are intact, there are rebuild kits available. Check the interwebz.

Good luck.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[SaveMelMac]

http://bnrsupercars.com/

Sell stock replacement and upgraded units. Used them in the past on other platforms. They are legit

 

[Shadow351]

No discernible misfires at this time. No tune that I know of, according to the Car Fax (which I know is only worth it's weight in...paper) it was company car before I bought it, I don't see a company tuning a car, but I'm sure there are some that do.

I know there is oil in the intake, it was there 30k ago when I did timing chains, I was on the understanding that some oil in the intake was normal. What is a 'reasonable' amount of oil in the intake? I just checked the PCV line (runs from the valve to the throttle body) and there is a small amount of liquid oil in it, so I might go ahead and throw a PCV valve at it as they are only a few bucks. It didn't seem like enough oil to cause the clouds I saw though. Plugs look a little carboned up but not excessively so (for as much smoke as it was blowing).

I may try dropping the front Cat tonight or tomorrow night. I can drive my F150 for now, but I need the car next Tuesday for a business trip, so I don't think there is time to ship the turbos out for a rebuild. There is a wrecking yard just south of town that has an ecoboost MKS listed but the have the turbo's listed as call for price, I might see if I can get them to cut me a deal on the pair if it is low mileage and I end up needing one.

Thanks

 

[Johnbigdog]

No discernible misfires at this time. No tune that I know of, according to the Car Fax (which I know is only worth it's weight in...paper) it was company car before I bought it, I don't see a company tuning a car, but I'm sure there are some that do.

I know there is oil in the intake, it was there 30k ago when I did timing chains, I was on the understanding that some oil in the intake was normal. What is a 'reasonable' amount of oil in the intake? I just checked the PCV line (runs from the valve to the throttle body) and there is a small amount of liquid oil in it, so I might go ahead and throw a PCV valve at it as they are only a few bucks. It didn't seem like enough oil to cause the clouds I saw though. Plugs look a little carboned up but not excessively so (for as much smoke as it was blowing).

I may try dropping the front Cat tonight or tomorrow night. I can drive my F150 for now, but I need the car next Tuesday for a business trip, so I don't think there is time to ship the turbos out for a rebuild. There is a wrecking yard just south of town that has an ecoboost MKS listed but the have the turbo's listed as call for price, I might see if I can get them to cut me a deal on the pair if it is low mileage and I end up needing one.

Thanks

From what you are describing, and what you are seeing, it sounds like a turbo. If there was oil in the intake or pcv system that was enough to cause the smoke you are seeing I dont think you would be questioning where its comming from.

If you remove one flex pipe at a time you may be able to tell what turbo it is weather or not the smoke come out from under the car, or from the exhaust. Just trying to think of easy stuff before removing the cats.

 

[Shadow351]

doesn't seem to be any liquid oil in the post cat down pipes, externally the rear turbo seems dry, but not the front. I pulled the intake plumbing off the front turbo, is this an excessive amount of oil? I don't know where else the oil would come from, the PCV is down stream. I was expecting to find a bunch of end play on the spindle, but there's not much. I pulled the front Cat, only see a little 'wet' on the turbine. Rear turbo doesn't seem to look as bad, but is of course, near impossible to see.

Is this definitive enough to call the front turbo?

 

[Shadow351]

Oh, almost forgot to check the oil drain lines for clogs, I will check tomorrow when i get home from work. I will also try to pull the rear cat to check it's turbine for oil.

 

[Shadow351]

The oil return line was not clogged, however it did conveniently break off inside the oil pan when I tried to remove it, which is nice. The super helpful manual just said "Remove the LH turbocharger oil return tube from the oil pan" but it doesn't say how, there were no fasteners and I don't see any trace of threads so I figured it just pulled out. Well looks like the oil pan is coming off now, and I don't think I'll be able to get it back together by Tuesday.

 

[Shadow351]

Well, I called that local wrecking yard, the car there had 100k miles on it and is there because the engine 'locked up' so I a little leery paying $300 a piece for turbos that were on an engine that locked up, don't know if it was due to lack of lubrication, or if the water pump dumped coolant into the oil, either way ima pass. I'm looking at either:
stock replacement cartridges: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-SHO-F...673219?hash=item1cc0241043:g:ZycAAOSw5oxb55sE
or
these upgraded ones: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-SHO-F...651634?hash=item1cc023bbf2:g:Bu8AAOSwckVb55Vt

I've seen this builder recommended on other threads, Anybody have experience with them? Has anyone used the upgraded ones? Do they require a tune? Will they provide a performance boost without a tune? how much more would the 4-8 lb 'boost increase' stress the engine?

Thanks

 

[SM105K]

https://www.tascaparts.com/auto-par...e/engine-cat/turbocharger-and-components-scat

If you are planning on keep the car for awhile......I would just buy straight and new from Tasca.

 

[luigisho]

If money is an issue I can see why even Tasca is a tough price point. $700 vs $1250 is tough if discretionary cash is tight.

 

[SM105K]

If money is an issue I can see why even Tasca is a tough price point. $700 vs $1250 is tough if discretionary cash is tight.

Super High Output.....from your wallet.

 

[luigisho]

Super High Output.....from your wallet.

100%. That's really the common bloodline between all versions of the SHO

 

[SM105K]

My 2nd Gen really got me too.....

I really want a 3rd Gen to really round out the abuse of my wallet.

 

[Shadow351]

I loked at Tasca, but they would probably end up costing more than my local dealer in the end.
Tasca is $632 + $50 shipping + $250 core (which has to be shipped back) where the LH turbo is In stock @ $695 at my local dealer and I can take the core when I pick it up so no paying return shipping. The RH are supposedly on Back order though, So I'd only be able to replace the LH now.

I just heard back from CRPerformance and they said the cartridges are on back order so dealer part looks like my only viable option at this point.

 

[jman1200]

I see you are ready to buy new turbos but yet haven't seen anyone saying yours need replacing...
I'd love to hear someone with the expertise, to analyze the pics shared in post #7 and give an opinion.
How else can you tell?

 

[Shadow351]

My uncle showed the photos to a buddy of his that builds Grand Nationals, He said that is too much oil in that front turbo, and we can't think of anyplace else the oil would be coming from, but I'm open to other items to check.

 

[jman1200]

Trying to learn here:

I believe you are referring to this pic:


I see a lot of oil in the compressed air outlet but I also see some in the inlet. If oil goes in it, it will go out, right? Wouldn't this pic suggest the oil is coming from somewhere else before the turbo? Was there any oil in the inlet piping?

 

[SM105K]

Trying to learn here:

I believe you are referring to this pic:
View attachment 12234

I see a lot of oil in the compressed air outlet but I also see some in the inlet. If oil goes in it will go out, right? Wouldn't this pic suggest the oil is coming from somewhere else before the turbo? Was there any oil in the inlet piping?

Honestly that looks like oil leaking past the seal into the compressor side and then it is pushed into the compressor side snout and into the IC.