Redtop SR20DET, CLOUD of smoke at idle

[AE_Racer]

Okay I finally got my swap in, picked it up from a pretty legit guy, motor had been sitting for around ~6months, perfect running motor before it was pulled (supposedly)

Ive searched and read quite a bit and still havent found anyone who posted this question and got a direct answer or got it resolved.

A minute or two after a cold startup my car smokes white/blue horribly, its open dp at the minute so its pretty bad with the car sitting still. Has a hint of oil smell to it. While normal driving, the car doesnt smoke at ALL, until it goes back to idle. I have not boosted it more than 2-3lbs because of this issue, didnt want to make things worse so i took it for one quick drive and was very easy on it.

A few things to note:
1. The pcv hose that is normally routed into the intake tube isnt connected, at the time it was just hanging out because I dont have a stock intake tube with the fitting for it. Possible cause?
2. Car has aftermarket S/S braided oil and coolant lines, they looked new so im thinking they werent installed when the motor last ran, so possibly missing the restrictor pill/not small enough?
3. Turbo is an RB25DET NEO T28
4. Absolutely no oil on the intake side of the turbo, or in the i/c piping.

I assume its the turbo, but im waiting to hear back from the prev owner about the oil lines to see if it had a restrictor or not

Any other Comments/suggestions/questions? Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

[Om1kron]

most of the time if your car is smoking and it smells like ass, the motor has been sitting for a while, let the engine run for about 30 minutes idling, the smoke should go away... make sure not to be a dumbass and leave it in your garage while doing this.

Anytime the motor is tilted for a swap or the exhaust manifold is removed it will smoke for about 20-30 minutes just idling straight from the turbo and the exhaust.

[AE_Racer]

I also took that into consideration, i let the car idle and drove it for a combination of about 30 minutes. after the fact i realized i had a slight radiator leak so im waiting for a new one to come in on friday before another drive. I will keep this thread updated after another drive/further investigation.

[951's 330i]

Could be your piston rings. Happens with my current s14, but then again i have a stock ka so im not sure if the same applies

[waynehead05]

My motor smoked for a while when I let me car sit for 3 months. It had symptoms of a bad turbo, but everything is great now. It just kinda went away after a few days.

[steve shadows]

If it's white and steam like like water vapor it's your head gasket

if it's bluish white and doesnt dissapate as fast then it's your turbo going out.

If it's not your turbo and you are visibly emitting a lot of oil out the tialpipe the car would run like absolute ass and would probably not run much at all if the rings were that bad to pumping out that much smoke

[ArtieB]

Sounds like Valve Guide Seals to me

[slociv]

make sure your oil return line from the turbo to block is not pinched.

[JRex]

Oil line is not pinched. We checked the compression and it's good. Almost 100% sure its a blown turbo.

[burnsauto]

yeah your rear seal went. same exact thing happened to mine. going through drive-thru's with cops in front of you is kinda stressful. lol

If the car was smoking beyond idle....say going 50mph you could still see a cloud of smoke...i'd say the engine was shot.

[jdm213]

sounds like a seal to me in the turbo ??? hmmm

[rc1honda]

Oil line is not pinched. We checked the compression and it's good. Almost 100% sure its a blown turbo.

Also not saying it's not the turbo, but i had perfect compression and perfect leakdown and it was my valve seals that had vibraited loose and were pouring oil in the exhaust manifold.

Have someone drive behind you and boost it and see when it starts to burn the oil. You might think it's just at idle but you can be buring while driving too. If it burns oil bad in deceleration you can bet it's the turbo.

[AE_Racer]

sorry for the late update guys, I still cant say for sure my turbo was bad, but my oil feed line didnt have a restricter in it (ss lines), I got the motor with them so I didnt know. fixed that and changed the turbo, no more smoke