05 Baja EJ255 Turbo Manual - Exhaust Smoke

[AwayFromTx]

Hey y'all,

I'm having an issue with a LOT of blue-grey exhaust smoke. At Idle smokes a little, enough to dissipate within a car-legnth or two, but under load becomes a fog machine. Seeing plumes as far back as about 500 feet behind me when accelerating. I do not believe it to be a head gasket, but am still unsure of what it could be. Here's the symptoms and what I've tested so far...

Symptoms:
-Blue-Grey smoke as mentioned above (not sweet smelling, just smells like it's burning oil)
-Before the smoke became an issue, Intermittent loss of power when accelerating, AND
- a plume of the same smoke, but only at startup (a week prior)
-intermittent bogging to about 500 rpm when at neutral and standing
-Oil consumption at a substantiative rate (~2 quarts over the course of a month/ 500 miles of driving, slow leak from oil filter housing assists this)

Tested:
-Examined coolant for bubbling, does not actively bubble, and no oil sheen present
-Checked oil for coolant/emulsification, none present (dark however)
-Checked airway for proper air intake, not an issue
-No CEL/Trouble codes aside from the exhaust sensors
-Opened oil fill while running to check for blow-by; Pressure not sufficient enough to push the oil cap off at idle, however after running there is a small amount of smoke/vapor. (Normal...?)

Maintenance:
-Turbo was replaced with an OE-Spec Rotomaster P/N M1040199N in May 2020 (8 months prior to issue)
-Oil changed with Royal Purple 5w-30 (3 weeks prior to this issue, 1 week prior to the start-only-smoke)

I have been told that Royal Purple does have a high count of detergents, but I am unsure if there's an issue with Subarus having a hard time with this brand. I will be testing compression and checking spark plugs next.
Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[NuclearDeLorean]

Hello!

Did you ever get this sorted? I'm really curious if you did. It sounds like blowly but I read your post and I kept saying, oh good they checked that.... and that ok... and that and that ok... Curious!!

 

[cl350-rr]

Sounds like a blown turbo leaking oil into the exhaust side

 

[AwayFromTx]

Hello!

Did you ever get this sorted? I'm really curious if you did. It sounds like blowly but I read your post and I kept saying, oh good they checked that.... and that ok... and that and that ok... Curious!!

Hey, Nuke!

I was able to figure it out! It did end up being a blown turbo due to oil starvation.

Little more on it: The last owner, buddy of mine, sold it to me after the original turbo blew. I pulled it out to verify and did some research; those pesky in-line strainers in the feed lines clogged the line enough to starve and blow it. If I remember correctly, there was one at the end of each AVCS line as well as the turbo inlet. But, the banjo bolt connecting these lines to supply had one in it too, and that was what killed it! :facepalm: Pulled it out and went for round 3. I've been on the same turbo since then without any issues, so I'd say that was the problem!

I think the biggest takeaways on it were to be wary of banjo bolts and double check your work

 

[AwayFromTx]

Sounds like a blown turbo leaking oil into the exhaust side

Right you are! Oil starvation from those in-line oil strainers.

 

[Slurry Pumper]

Hi everyone,

Hate to bust in on a old thread, but I have pretty much the same problem kind of. Well the turbo is dumping into the exhaust. I noticed it on a very cold January morning when the 'ole lady took off and before it got warmed up I thought to myself that it is blowing smoke a little bit as she drove away. That evening upon her return I check the oil and whamo there was about 2 quarts left. Ever since then it has been a check oil before I go type of scenario. About 80,000 miles ago we had the turbo blow up and replaced. I asked the mechanic to remove all of those filters in the line and as far as I can tell, the turbo is getting oil but just passing it along to the exhaust so for the better part of a year now, everytime I drive it, I give it a drink of about a quart. Not surprisingly the check engine light came on undoubtedly from the oil going through the cat has triggered something and probably clogged that up pretty good by now.
Anyway introduction aside. Its summer baby and time to fix the situation. I'm pretty much on my own here with the budget so under the shade tree I'll be going. Looking at the underside of the car for the exhaust I see allot of heat shielding to obscure my vision and what looks like a downpipe situation. I don't see 2 separate oxygen sensors. Then on the parts website, I see 3 different version of the cat. Is the one with the downpipe the one I need, and where is the second oxygen sensor on this thing?
Thanks in advance.

 

[AwayFromTx]

Hi everyone,

Hate to bust in on a old thread, but I have pretty much the same problem kind of. Well the turbo is dumping into the exhaust. I noticed it on a very cold January morning when the 'ole lady took off and before it got warmed up I thought to myself that it is blowing smoke a little bit as she drove away. That evening upon her return I check the oil and whamo there was about 2 quarts left. Ever since then it has been a check oil before I go type of scenario. About 80,000 miles ago we had the turbo blow up and replaced. I asked the mechanic to remove all of those filters in the line and as far as I can tell, the turbo is getting oil but just passing it along to the exhaust so for the better part of a year now, everytime I drive it, I give it a drink of about a quart. Not surprisingly the check engine light came on undoubtedly from the oil going through the cat has triggered something and probably clogged that up pretty good by now.
Anyway introduction aside. Its summer baby and time to fix the situation. I'm pretty much on my own here with the budget so under the shade tree I'll be going. Looking at the underside of the car for the exhaust I see allot of heat shielding to obscure my vision and what looks like a downpipe situation. I don't see 2 separate oxygen sensors. Then on the parts website, I see 3 different version of the cat. Is the one with the downpipe the one I need, and where is the second oxygen sensor on this thing?
Thanks in advance.

Welcome, Slurry! You may need to chase those oil lines. They feed the AVCS in addition to the turbo. It's been awhile, but if I remember correctly, I had to pull at least 3 of those filters out, 1 at each AVCS joint and at the feed line. Triple check for the well being of your turbo!

What codes are you getting?

When this happened to me, it also threw a code related to the EGT sensor located after the cat that feeds the turbo. I plugged a resistor in place of the sensor to make the ECM happy.

On those o2 sensors, they may both be under the car. There should be a harness on your passenger side where you can chase those lines to see where they're hiding, if you're in the same range of model-year as me (2005). I have a link for the factory service manual here so you can more accurately find what you're looking for; Take what I say with a grain of salt as it's been awhile since I touched it!

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/showthread.php?18087-Subaru-Factory-Service-Manuals-(FSM)-Every-Model-USDM-EU

 

[Slurry Pumper]

Thanks AwayfromTx. Until this weekend the car was throwing a P0420 at me which would be the cat not doing the job. I think that is from the oil constantly being sent down the exhaust for the last 6 months. Just this last weekend however, I was changing the rear wheel bearings and while I did bust a wheel sensor which hasn't been replaced yet, when I jumped in it to take a test drive afterwards, the P0420 went away. I know its fully unrelated but OK, I'll take it for now. I had to pull out the sledg-o-matic to get the old bearing housing out on the drivers side, which was still in decent shape, but the passenger side was just about to fall off by itself.
The turbo spewing oil is just the big thing this has going against it. I can also smell fuel after driving it, and while I'm at it I guess the heated seats don't work now. All of these things will get done over the summer before I work on the cosmetic things like the fuel door cover or plastic thing fell off one day. The door is still there but the plastic fascia is gone. Also there are these little round and sometimes square things that go on the bumper that have fallen out that I'll be looking to replace. Other than that, I thing the car with 185K on the clock is doing OK. The 'ole lady still wants to drive it and she doesn't really want the new version that will be coming out in a year or so. She may have no choice however because these things are holding their value, and I may decide to do something about the rust on the under side while I still can, but that will be a big job to take care of to restore.