Refurbished K26/K27 hybrid turbo causing blue smoke

[Pat D]

@Jamo:

This was very useful to know but as I said, the car wasn't smoking with the stock turbo so my engine should be out of the equation. Besides, I have a coolant leak from one of the hoses that goes in the turbo and the smoke is white.

@Pat D:

What you say makes sense. My old turbo didn't cause any smoke. I started up the car yesterday and observed the following:

1. Car started. No smoke during the first 15-20s
2. Blue smoke starts to come out of the exhaust progressively
3. After a couple of minutes smoke starts to gradually disappear

I was told that the reason for smoke to disappear gradually is that when the car stops, the residual oil in the turbo flows down on the bottom of the hot side. Upon next start, this oil gets burned when the turbo gradually gets hotter. The question is whether the turbo gets hot enough to burn oil in the hot side only 20-30s after start.

I'm certain you have the exact same issue as what I had as my turbo was doing exactly what you described and it bothered the crap out of me. Try a much thinner oil and see if that will get rid of it. My theory was that thicker oil had more pressure when cold and was pushing its way out of the seals, and the thinner oil had less chance of doing so... Or maybe the housing tightened up around the seals as it warmed up
The place that rebuilt my turbo said it was a common problem on them, or maybe there was a bad batch that had this issue

[hermanio]

had the same problem with my k26/27 turbo, took the downpipe off and found this.
i ordered a rebuild kit for it, just waiting for it to arrive

[Pat D]

had the same problem with my k26/27 turbo, took the downpipe off and found this.
i ordered a rebuild kit for it, just waiting for it to arrive

that would've been belching out some smoke?

[Billman]

If the turbo is new (or freshly rebuilt) drive a bit around and let it settle. If it doesn't help then most probably you must re-rebuilt it.

[Deception]

Did you use new gaskets to seal the oil and water hoses to the turbo? Did you put silicon on them?

Not really

I'm certain you have the exact same issue as what I had as my turbo was doing exactly what you described and it bothered the crap out of me. Try a much thinner oil and see if that will get rid of it. My theory was that thicker oil had more pressure when cold and was pushing its way out of the seals, and the thinner oil had less chance of doing so... Or maybe the housing tightened up around the seals as it warmed up
The place that rebuilt my turbo said it was a common problem on them, or maybe there was a bad batch that had this issue

I would swear that thicker oil would remedy the issue as it would have more difficulty passing through the seals. Again, I have no experience with turbo repairs whatsoever and might be wrong.

had the same problem with my k26/27 turbo, took the downpipe off and found this.
i ordered a rebuild kit for it, just waiting for it to arrive

Was your turbo remanufactured? From what I can see, you have burnt oil deposits on the blades which tend to cause loss of shaft balance and ultimately may damage the turbo. I bet it was smoking quite a bit.

[adam g]

If the turbo has sat on a shelf for a while I have heard of oil seals sticking but would only expect this if they are sat ined oil rather than on a freshly rebuilt unit.
When the rebuilt turbo was balanced that should show up leaks straight away before it gets as far the car. If it was a DIY job and not balanced then a new bearing would not automaticaly mean no leaks as the groove in the bearing housing or shaft can also wear oversize. I had to rebuild with a new bearing housing and stepped oil seal to stop leakage. A stepped seal is always a good idea and they only cost a few quid.