Need some of your technical expertise!

[What-Lag]

really unless its constant white smoke then i doubt a blown head gasket.
the fact you said it "puffs" smoke on boost then i would assume that its not all the way through the boost range.
Have you checked the afr's, this could tell you a clearer picture, as generally most turbo cars richen up alot as they load onto boost then clean up which will generally cause a small puff off un burnt fuel (which when small looks white). rough idle could be a billion things, as from memory these are maf not map so a small vac leak will cause this issue.

when you did a compression test was it a wet test or a dry test? even so those numbers are well within tolerances of each other. the over all number isn't is important as the constancy between the cylinders( to a point)

 

[onionevo]

What's the difference between wet test or dry test? Yeah, I was told they were within tolerances so I don't think it's the headgasket.. Could it be the valve stem seals? But I found weird was, at idle it wouldn't smoke after I first start it.. However if I take it for a spin, it'll only smoke up around 2500rpm till about 4000rpm and it won't have any smoke.. The more I hang the car on full load in that rev range, the longer the puffs of smoke blows out...

Mind due, After quick inspection of the turbo assembly, there was quite a film of oil around the housing etc.. And the intercooler pipes are dirty as f*k.. Could the white smoke described be caused by the turbo? If so, how come it doesnt really smoke ON BOOST accross the rev range? The car still goes pretty well and everything, was just blowing smoke that sh!ts us..

Need to get the car a RWC soon... (lol)

 

[GSRWRC]

So what do you have in mind that is causing this smoking issue? @__@ I will try to get a photo of the manifold stuck problem later today, but it's the power steering pump's bracket that is blocking it probably by 1cm, not letting the manifold clear!

I mean, surely people have a way around this when they change their gaskets etc right? I just don't know why mitsi designed it like this, it's even hard to fit 2 nuts in to remove the stud with such bad clearance..

Other wise, the turbo/manifold removal was alot easier than i thought lol (Yes everything is just hanging atm)

Peace.

You have to remove the powersteering pump bracket to get the exhaust manifold on/off. No biggie really, it's not a difficult or time consuming thing to do.

Leaving everything hanging it bad for the oil lines. I'll be surprised if you haven't cracked your oil return.

 

[onionevo]

^^^ I haven't cracked the oil return line, because it was unbolted from the block. And it was just an expression when I said hanging.. haha I bolted a couple bolts back to the manifold so it wasn't all "dangling" so no damage there..

My powersteering pump bracket's bolt was rounded (before me) and i couldn't do it..... I've read that alot of people just grind that area slightly to allow the extra clearance, now that I have it apart, I will grind the manifold further down to allow for an easy slip on. (Of course, not to an extent where it affects mounting... it'll be purely cosmetic.)

 

[Cranked]

I've got dibs it's the headgasket, mine did the same.

White smoke= generally steam,
black= unburnt fuel,
blue= oil.

Are you using any water at all? Doesn't smoke when cold, and gets worse as it gets hot? Being that your cooling system pressurises with temp increase, and also motor is on vacuum, which means cylinders are of negative pressure, (sucking water if there is a split or crack), and on boost, positive of course, keeping the water out. Same as velve stem seals, leak on vacuum when they get tired. Any plugs white or lighter then others?

Sean

 

[onionevo]

Thanks for your input Sean!

What do you mean by using any water at all? When cold it doesn't smoke straight away, until I drive it and put it under load.. But smoke seems to come on idle when it's been warmed up (after taking it for a short lap). All the plugs were pretty normal, no water in the well, no oil in the well, it was all dry and normal (carbon) but definately none being white..

I must stress that it's only when I drive on the wrong gear at the certain RPM range, it will cause the smoke to ooze out.. For example, I am doing 40km/hr on 5th at about 2,000rpm and hold it there (car vibrates a bit due to the wrong gear) but slowly builds up (smoother) and smoke chugs at this point, until eventually it hits boost and isn't as noticeable there-after..

If i was to change the entire head, would this help?