Cause of intermittent exhaust smoke?

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22lbChevelle

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
968
So my dad's car smokes heavily out of the tailpipe intermittently. It smokes then stops smoking, mostly at an idle.

Would worn turbo exhaust seals cause this? I figured cylinder rings would be a constant smoking.

If its the turbo would I be able to see oil on the exhaust turbine?
 
sounds like turbo. its not gonna be rings or valve seals from what your describing.... if its just a small puff every now and again then itll be difficult to see anything by pulling the downpipe, now if it was smoking all the time that would be a different story.

id guess its prolly the turbo going out, is it stock?
 
Yes it is stock. I pulled it this weekend but I haven't removed the downpipe elbow to see the exhaust wheel.

So, I'm not guaranteed to see oil on the exhaust wheel if the turbo is what went south?
 
Yes it is stock. I pulled it this weekend but I haven't removed the downpipe elbow to see the exhaust wheel.

So, I'm not guaranteed to see oil on the exhaust wheel if the turbo is what went south?

no cause you gotta figure the ammount of smoke vs the ammount of oil that it takes to produce that same smoke. like i said if its constantly smoking....or at least enough during warmup to not burn up all the oil in the turbine, then you could see it.....if your gonna pull the downpipe you might as well check for shaft play up and down, also check for in/out play

small ammounts of up/down is ok, but any in/out play is prolly bad
 
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