Club 80-90 Forums

I've asked a few times and also just posted in BrickYard again. But I have sat down and re-remembered history so maybe this presentation of facts will prompt some advice:

History:
1) When I got the van, no smoke. I believe the engine was a recent a recon with only a few thousand miles on it. That was 6 or so years ago but in that time I have mainly been fixing, not driving.

2) When I changed the oil (4 years ago maybe) - clouds of smoke going up hill. I drained some oil and it was fine. However the oil level shown on dip stick was well below the marks.

3) The turbo oil pipe failed. The flexi-pipe - so that is the return pipe? I probably drove a couple of miles leaking oil. I replaces both oil pipes.

4) I got some work done on van (incl change exhaust manifold) and they changed the oil without me asking. Since then, smoke. Not sure if I had it before... I'm getting old.

5) I'm not sure the order of 3 and 4. But I now have smoke: The symptoms in detail: Idle and pottering along - no problem. Long idle then rev - a good puff of smoke. High revs while driving - smoke. Up hill - clouds of smoke. After being steeply jacked up on one side and left like that for months while welding - huge cloud of smoke and enough to keep the engine running for 10 seconds after I switched off in a panic. Since manifold change, engine performs very well - pulls and gets the van up to 70 - no issue with performance, just smoke.

6) I checked the oil level and there is barely any sign of oil on the dip stick - so you would think it has run dry. If I drop the level any more then I have no indication of how much oil is in the engine.

My conjectures:
Initially I thought failed pipe damaged Turbo oil seal. I'm not so convinced now I've thought about the history.

I guess it is possible for the dip-stick level to be wrong. Wrong stick or some other quirk of getting a recon.

I can convince myself that overfilling an engine with oil could easily cause these symptoms. Does anyone agree or disagree? Any advice on how I should proceed?

I guess: drain oil and see how much comes out. Add some back in to make sure there is something in the sump, but leave some out - a pint or a half depending on how much comes out, and go for some test drives.

Easy to give myself advice when I lay it out like this:)

I undid sump plug and drained 4 litres till empty. I put 3 litres back in. Massive improvement but still smokes revving hard up hill. No big problems down hill or on the flat even revving hard - there is some smoke on flat after going up hill.

So it seems to be either oil level or something inside that doesn't like oil slopping around - no idea what that could be?

How much do people usually drain out the sump when doing an oil change?

Dip Stick length 690mm

Hi there, for what it's worth, I've measured my (this sounds bad) dipstick and I would say you have the correct one. Surely, running your van low on oil has to be detrimental to the engine. Likewise, over filling it reduces the splash effect of the crank. Your van, your call! It could well be the turbo. Can you not ask the opinion of a decent garage. I say decent as I'd have thought they'd check it for free, maybe a drink in their direction.

I'm sorry if this doesn't help much, but it does seem the symptoms were the same as when my turbo went south. Maybe A voice of experience could jump in.

Regards, Max.

dubdog&max wrote: Surely, running your van low on oil has to be detrimental to the engine.

Totally agree - not to be recommended but I thought it worth a try for a short trip while carrying extra oil in case. I certainly don't intend to drive far like this.
Brickwerks suggests 4.5 liters for an oil change so I guess 4l without filter change isn't far off. I'm surprised there was almost no indication on dip stick- even if it was .5l under.

Put oil back in
Disconnected breather at rocker box end and blocked it. Then attached length of pipe to breather valve so I could see what comes out.
Not much to report except no fumes coming out of breather.

Then I put my finger on the breather for a couple of seconds to build up a little pressure - blipped the throttle and clouds of smoke.

Is this normal, or helpful diagnostic information?


Why am I investigating this myself rather than a garage? Because I still can see a ton of cash I will have to sink into this van - starter, window winders, front suspension bushes, wheels and tyres, high lift kit etc and I want to work out total ££ to see if it's still worth it or if it got me beat. And so far I haven't found a good garage.

Normally oil that is pumped to the turbo bearings under pressure drains by gravity to the sump. With the breather blocked pressure builds up and this doesn't happen, so the oil exits the turbo bearings into the inlet air stream instead, and burns in the engine.

So you've found your problem. When the engine is pulling hard, more gases are blowing past the pistons than can get out of the breather. Pressure builds up and the oil won't drain out of the turbo. Worn piston rings, obstructed breather, or a return pipe that is blocked/too small would all contribute to your smoke. In each case the answer is fairly obvious. Try the cheap remedies first.

I replaced the return pipe (and feed) with new from Brickwerks and that is when the problem started. Old one failed, replaced new and filled up with oil. So I suppose there could be a restriction in that. I'll take it off again to check but not so likely.
Breather... I can blow down no problem. But maybe I take it for a long drive with my extension pipe in place.
Rings... I wouldn't have expected them to cause such a sudden change in behavior - OK before pipe change then big smoke up hills.
Is turbo seal still suspect? I can't get it out of my mind.

My new idea is to fixate on the turbo again but for a different reason.
The engine was recon but all the bits that bolt on to it were old. So it is possible the turbo oil feed pipe was old and restricted. Putting a new feed on when I put the new return on could have caused increased oil pressure to a knackered turbo. Makes sense of the whole history and current symptoms to me, but I've been convinced and wrong before.