mattiselvis

Hi all, my first post here - hopefully my question isn't too silly . I have a RHD 1995 TT. It's been parked up for the last 6 weeks. I started it up today and was greeted by the usual puff of smoke. 30 seconds or so later it started to smoke quite heavily from the driver's side exhaust pipe and carried on until I got nervous and switched off perhaps 3-4 minutes later. The car had it's 24k service two months ago and has done around 200 miles since then.

Now, having done plenty of searching around here, I've read about the problems with oil collecting in the sumps of the turbos and am more-or-less convinced that this is the trouble in my case. The oil level seems fine, the idle is even and no warning lights come on the dash. My question is whether I should drive the car in this condition - will the oil eventually burn off? How long does it usually take? Could I damage the engine in the process?

The alternative is a flat bed to the dealer to drain the sump, I guess, although that means braving the British public transport system over Christmas... Unfortunately I have no off-street space to work on the car and am not very mechanically minded so can't do anything myself.

Can anyone offer any advise on what I could/ should do? I'm a somewhat nervous car owner at the best of times and have visions of a twin-turbo motor expiring in an expensive manner!

ca993twin

Hey Matt,

I'm pretty much in the same "can't turn a wrench" boat as you, but I have some thoughts that you should probably ignore.

My guess is that the last oil change included a non Porsche OEM filter, such as a Mahle. These filters do NOT work well on the turbo, and allow the oil to drain back into the turbo units. Sinced Mahle claims that they DO work, they are the filter of choice by most independents.

I "believe" that the turbos can be damaged by driving them with an oil accumulation. This is a factoid that needs further checking, and of course is the one you are most concerned with.

There are several different "anti-drain" valves that can be installed on the oil lines that will prevent this issue even with the Mahle filter.

There... now we can both wait for the correct answers. Good luck!

MarkD

What Steve said...

take a look at the sticky thread at the top of this forum: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=35947

mattiselvis

Thanks for the responses so far. I've read the sticky thread - very useful - I'll definitely get the return valve modifications/ check the filters. I guess my problem is more immediate in that I can't decide whether it's sensible to drive it with the oil-in-turbos problem or just accept that it's going nowhere and get a flatbed...

budge96

Matt welcome to the forum and I would venture to say there are no stupid questions here...some are more mechanically inclined than others but yet and still the knowledge of the beast your dealing with can be the most knowing individuals undoing !
That said ,i've left my car parked some years all winter and upon restart there may be little to a lot of oil residue collected in the cylinders ,sneaking by the guides,I don't
believe much returned into the turbos. If you hear no untoward sounds I suggest
warming it up and burnibg off the residue.
I've had the right side chain guide make noise prior to regaining it's pressure fed
tension,that can make a clakity clak racket for a while 10 minutes at least.
Often over filling or overflowing the oil intake will allow oil to pool on the right side as well and when it burns it looks as though the thing is on fire...
if you can get the lower tray off somehow and check that it might help you out...
other than that it sounds like your knowledge level will require you to go the way
of least resistence and ferry it in to the porsche specialist...
Bert

MarkD

Matt, understood your concern which is why I referenced that thread.
Here is an excerpt:
"One typically has a few hundred miles to cure this problem before carbon builds up in the seal area and heat shield are. Rapid wear occurs to the sealing ring, from carbon cutting like diamonds to sealing surfaces. Basically your non-failed turbochargers will turn into wear failed turbo's in need of repair."

As you may have read, there are a few things that can cause this problem. Since the car was recently serviced I would (as Steve said above) first look to be sure they did not install a Mahle filter or overfill.

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

graeme36s

The non return valves are a worthwhile investment, something I had recently fitted to the GT. That said it would burn the oil out faiirly quickly, maybe 2 minutes. If yours persists I think it is more a filter problem.

MOD500

Hey Matt, welcome

The non return lines are a good investment, I have the ones shown on the Cargraphic website and Christmas Eve started mine for the first time in 5 weeks with zero smoke.

Basal Skull

Having done a recent turbo upgrade, I think these check valves work well on new or newish turbos. If you have original turbos on you car, there will be corrosion at the turbo/oil line fittings and you may have some difficulty getting a good seal between the new check valves and turbo. Also be careful that you don't strip those 10 yr old threads that you have to break loose and rely on for the new check valves.