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Need help asap

2K views 14 replies 4 participants last post by  Bbird 
#1 ·
I recently bought an 04 wrx 2.0 that is fairly stock. I am having issues with it smoking. I think that oil is somehow getting into the turbo but I am not fimiloar enough with the car to start diagnosing problems. It smokes blue smoke and most definitely smells like oil. When I get on the gas around 3500 rpms my boost starts pulsing which I know enough to know that that's not good. I have been checking out the engine and I noticed that my turboxs Manual dual boost control isn't even hooked to anything! I keep looking around in the area and I notice that my turbo seems to be cracked. If you are looking at it from the top around one of the bolts it is cracked straight off. I need some help to understand what I need to do to fix it. I know I need to replace my turbo, but if I going get a good link that shows me how to do that that would be great. Anything help is much needed and appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Oh man, that doesn't sound exciting especially for a new car.

The good news is this:
1). A used replacement turbo for your year is very cheap! (I'm sure you can find one in half decent condition for below $200 shipped).
2). Replacing the turbo is not too difficult of a job. The two annoying parts are trying to line up the oil drain into the hose (below turbo) and at the same time the turbo inlet hose (front of the turbo). Also, getting all the rusty bolts/nuts off on the down/up pipe can be a pain!

You will need a good socket set with extensions (you will definitely need one that's at least 8" and hopefully it's the type that allows the socket to swivel a little bit. You will also need a high quality penetrating oil for the purpose (PB Blaster is your friend). Pre-soak all bolts in it and let it sit. Your car is old, the turbo bolts/nuts will be rusted and won't want to come off without it or if the exhaust is still hot. There's at least a Forester turbo replacement video (by mighty car mods), I'm sure there are others. Your process will be slightly different due to intake layout.

Follow these general steps and once again Have quality sockets, with quality socket extensions and a breaker bar/cheater pipe extension:
1). Get car on Jack Stands/Ramps/Lift, loosen up downpipe bolts/nuts, unhook the oxygen sensor and remove the downpipe.
2). Loosen up and remove all nuts that hold the turbo down to the uppipe. If you get this far, you will be able to do this job. If you're struggling, you may need to use heat (blow torch) to expand the metal. Heat the NUTS to expand them.
3). Remove whatever connects your compressor outlet to the Y pipe (I assume a silicone connector of sorts there on your year).
4). Using a long screw driver (or very small socket with extension) loosen the Turbo Inlet hose (it connects to the front of the turbo, it runs underneath the intake manifold).
5). Carefully loosen the metal Oil Feed line (it should run to the turbo from top). Careful removing it, there's a copper crush washer on each side of the banjo bolt.
6). Undo the clips that press on the coolant hoses to the turbo. They are soft hoses that run to metal hoses that go into the driver side of the turbo. Use pliers to carefully spin the hoses back and forth to "break" the seal (the seal between hose and metal pipe it slides over). Have something you can plug the hoses with as soon as you pull the hose off the metal pipe. Old spark plugs work well but prepare for coolant to come out.
7). Disconnect the vacuum hose that runs to the turbo's wastegate actuator.
8). The one last remaining connection is a bit of a pain (but it's a bigger pain to put back on). There's a hose clip on the oil return hose (it's actually underneath the turbo) you will need to undo. It runs somewhat parallel to the downpipe (good luck!).

The hard part of the install is very carefully slipping the turbo inlet hose onto the turbo's compressor while at the same time sliding the oil drain pipe into the hose. You may also need to move some hardware from your old turbo (such as those coolant hard lines and the oil drain pipe) to the replacement.

One last thing is that after your turbo is back in, you will need to refill your upper coolant reservoir (by turbo).

As far as the manual boost controller goes, please take pictures of that part. Also take pictures of all the small vacuum lines that run to the wastegate actuator (there should be a t near by and one end should run toward the factory boost control solenoid).

I highly recommend not running the manual boost control unless you get your car specifically tuned for the max boost levels that the boost controller is going to be set to. Otherwise you are asking the car to produce more boost without adjusting timing which will lead to knock and eventually destroy your motor. Also, your car's factory boost control system is very smart, it also knows to taper down the boost toward redline to keep things nice and safe. The better way to turn up boost is to have the factory boost control system tuned for it.

Best of luck! Ask questions!
 
#3 ·
A good used turbo is around $200-400, and should take less than a day even for someone inexperienced. It sounds like you got a car with mods that weren't tuned for possibly. A MBC shouldn't be used on a stock wrx as the ECU tapers boost and that's something a MBC cannot do, and it sounds like it was overboosting past the turbo efficiency threshold causing damage to the turbo.

What is actually done to your wrx? Is there proof the car was protuned for the MBC? if the OEM EBCS is still there (near the ABS module behind the passenger headlight) I would highly use that instead, especially if you cannot verify the car is tuned on that MBC. Do you want a fun car or a car to sit and look at? Because that's what will happen if you continue to drive it untuned for the mods.
 
#4 ·
I Mackenzie not sure of everything that is done to it. The guy I bought it from gave me a tuner chip (not sure of correct term). But I don't think he ever used it because it does not run well. Thanks for the step by step that helps a lot. I will post some pictures later, I can't post them on my phone. But the blue smoke topic, I assume oil is getting into my turbo causing it to blow blue smoke. If I let the car get hot and pop the hood one of the screws on the turbo will smoke which could just be from getting real hot but my car does not overheat and runs great until my turbo kicks in around 3500 rpms. Overall would it be a good idea to tune it as soon as I do the turbo? The guy gave me a turbo xs chip and that leads me to believe it would also need a tune once I replace the the turbo. And I will try and take pictures of the whole situation I have and see what you guys think the best decision is. Like I said before I have no experience at all with turbo cars at all so I don't know what all it can cause engine wise.i don't care how fast it goes I just want it to run flawless and I want it to look good. I took these pictures a few days ago and it looks to me that the turbo is cracked. I assume that's the turbo lol. But I don't know enough about it to give a proper diagnosis. Also I'm not sure if the cracked turbo (if that's the problem) would cause my car to blow tons of blue smoke. Anyways thanks for all of the help.

PS.
The guy I bought it from put a lot of dumba$$ stickers on it. Excuse my language. But what would be the best way to get the glue off my car. Nothing has worked so well yet and I've used was and good off. I took a heat gun to the stickers and a plastic scraped but it left every bit of glue it could. I really just don't want to use something that will take the paint off.
 

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#5 ·
Hmm, it looks like the stock boost control system is hooked up (I see the factory Tee attached to the wastegate actuator).

Here's a reference picture of what it *should* be doing in case it isn't. Notice how there is a Tee that goes from turbo's compressor nipple (the nipple on the actual turbo) to the wastegate actuator, on the parallel sides and the perpendicular (the Tee part) it runs to the boost control solenoid and from there back into the intake somewhere (it is acceptable that it doesn't return into the intake tract so long as the port on the inlet tube is plugged).

Auto part Pump Engine


As far as turbos go, I see a couple on ebay for $150 with free shipping!
 
#6 ·
Now that i am looking at the turbo, i dont think it is cracked, im just an idiot. I think what i thought was the crack is just a bracket right beside it. So now i am back to nothing. My car is blowing blue smoke and when i give it a good amount of gas and try to take off, as soon as my turbo kicks in it starts to hop. The turbo also pulses when it does not hop. it is a very odd thing ive never witnessed before. My theory is that i may have a boost leak and it is letting oil in my turbo causing the smoke. When i drive like a grandma, my car runs great it just smokes blue out of the exhaust. The only problem is when the turbo kicks in. I do not know if this means i should go ahead and replace the turbo or what. I have no idea.

I attatched pictures of my engine, the boost control that is not hooked up, and just my car lol. I am really at a loss here. Could a tune be the reason for the smoking and the turbo being weird?
 

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#7 ·
valve seals or piston rings could be toast letting oil into the combustion chamber.

WD-40 or Rubbing Alcohol works well on the glue... combined with a little muscle. apply to a cloth and rub one out :rocks:
 
#9 ·
Another reason you're having issues is the fact your boost control system isn't connected correctly. And you may not have the restrictor pill in the line where it's needed (due to the MBC). Can you post a pic of the area just behind the ABS module? There's where the OE EBCS would be located, if it's there you're getting closer to fixing the issue.

I noticed you have an intake and a downpipe, I've never seen a DP like that with a metal line coming up and away from the flange on a subaru. Can you post a couple pics of the "chip" or programmer you've been talking about? It sounds like some kid wanted to play with a wrx but can't get out of their honda mentality, this is no bueno for the person who picks it up after they have it. Pull that Dual Stage Turbo XS MBC off, that is causing you more headaches than you need to deal with.

You still need to pull the silicon coupler off the turbo outlet where it connects to the TMIC, if you find oil inside then you need to stop driving the car until you get a new turbo and clean the front o2 sensor. If you pull the DP off and see oil inside (but not in the TMIC) then you have some time to work with, but not much. Blowing blue smoke when the turbo spools means the internal bearings/seals are already shot and they're starting to push contaminant metals through your oiling system. Do you want to rebuild your engine when you could pull the turbo, do a good oil flush, then oil change and swap on a good used replacement turbo?
 
#10 ·
Well my car typically blows the most smoke when i take off. As soon as i let out my clutch, i get clouds of blue smoke. Would that mean that there is more of a chance that it is my piston rings. If it is my piston rings or valve seal, how hard would that be for me to fix it myself. Also on my stock turbo gauge that is hooked up, my turbo builds anytime im on the gas, so in theory it could be my turbo still blowing smoke as i take off, right?
 
#11 ·
These are pictures of my turboxs tuner i suppose and my abs. I beleive that everything is hooked up as stock. In my car i have an aftermarket boost gauge and a stock one. They both work and the aftermarket one reads in psi. When it builds to 5 psi and the boost kicks in, the gauge goes will go up to like 15 and then it will go back down and pulse. So i dont know what that means but I feel like that is a pretty major problem with my turbo.
 

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#12 ·
There is no indication that your boost control system isn't hooked up correctly or that your intake or exhaust are not proper or tuned for (likewise not tuned for).

I'm going to throw a guess out there (and I"m with titter on this one), and the guess is based on the notion that a manual boost controller was used to increase the boost levels above what the car was tuned for. A good indicator is that it is no longer hooked up (as if something happened and the person went "back to stock".

This could result in destroyed rings, or a blown head gasket from the increased pressures.

The test is a compression or leak down test (preferably a full leak down test).

As far as fixing any of those things yourself, we're quite literally talking about replacing engine internals (even if it's head gaskets) and the easier/softer way would involve pulling the motor. You could replace the motor which would be easier.

But before we jump to that type of conclusions, do what Robo Tuner is saying and check the turbo outlet hose for EXCESSIVE oil. An oil film is pretty normal, but streaks/puddles of oil in your intercooler would be a good indication that your turbo blew an oil seal.
 
#14 ·
The fact you have excessive oil in the intake is BAD, really bad. The combustion process cannot burn off of that oil and over time will coat your front/rear o2 sensors, maybe your EGT sensor, and your cat (if you still have any). That will cause the ECU to not get o2 reading from the exhaust then pushing an even more rich A/F ratio which will foul spark plugs too.

First I would get another td04 turbo from a similar year wrx, next I would highly suggest you take the TurboXS ECU off and return to stock (intake, downpipe, OEM EBCS). If you look at your pic behinds the ABS/intake you'll see a teal(ish) connector near the fender, that's for you EBCS, if it's still connected to it you're in luck!

I understand you have money in parts currently, but you don't have any way right meow to determine if they're all working properly or even set up to do so reliably. Sure the parts could be setup and working the way they wanted, but that doesn't mean they're set up to be reliable, boosting a td04 above 18PSI for a long period of time is known to cause turbo failure, and also just creates more heat through the intake from overworking the turbo out of its efficiency range. The boost fluttering tells me the tune made for it is hitting max boost FAST (like a MBC is known for), but then it's cannot taper off efficiently which is the fluttering of boost (in PSI) as you mentioned. MBCs cannot taper boost, only an EBCS can and that's why Subaru used an EBCS...reliability and control.

That ECU also requires a tuner that's familiar and comfortable with tuning it, there's mad options for tuning hardware and that's just one. Not all tuners are familiar with all hardware, and if they are then damn ask that guy questions! Also you don't have a conventional MBC setup either, you have what's called a "mutli-stage MBC" which kind of works like an EBCS except the fact it can only allow 2 "stages" of boost (low/high) and they work in tandem..say low boost under 4k RPMs/high boost above 4k RPMs. That doesn't work with the OEM strategy of full boost then tapering down PSI after 5500RPMs.

As for the blue smoke, yes your turbo is done. Stop driving it asap or you could cause more damage down the road. A quick way you can check your piston rings for failure is to run the engine, get it to operating temps (if the radiator fan kicks on then you're at temp), rev the car a bit to get oil flowing/etc, then let it idle for a couple minutes and shut it down. Open the oil filler cap and with a bright flashlight check for smoke/thick vapors coming out of it. This would mean your rings are shot, but I'd test this after you swap the turbo to ensure you aren't seeing issues from the turbo itself still.

You're in a very VERY similar situation as when I got my bugeye. I know the feeling and I feel somewhat obligated to help.
 
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