Very light smoke from between exhaust manifold and turbo

[benjamincalleja]

Hey guys I'm getting very light smoke coming from between the exhaust manifold and manifold "extension piece" or the area around there - hard to pinpoint. No oil on top of the manifold I can see looks reasonably clear and the smoke is not blue nor does it smell like oil burning off the manifold. Could there be a small gap (ie worn seal) between the manifold and extension piece or ...?? Can I still drive the car? I still have full power full boost no weird noises, no hesitation, starts fine etc etc..... But I smelt the smoke and saw it lightly rising from the glass back then when I opened the tailgate and lifted the engine cover I saw a very small intermittent stream of grey smoke.

[rogerch]

This sounds like a leaking/seeping cam gasket or end seal.

It drips down onto the exhaust/turbo and is burnt off by the heat.

Questions :- when ? has the car been standing, and for how long, do you see it when the car is running or only when it's parked and/or engine off but still hot.

Does any oil loss show on the dip stick.

If there is no discernible oil loss and it only happens briefly if the car's been left standing (a week or so) it's safe to put it on your to do list, no urgency.

Big oil loss = loss of oil pressure, potential for fire.

[benjamincalleja]

So I looked there is literally just oil on the area where the manifold meets the extension piece but I can't see above there where it's coming from. So it is oil burning off, no oil loss I can see its very small. I can see the cam heads and no leaks around there so not the cam gasket. What is an end seal?

[red vtec]

Oil from the turbo?

[rogerch]

I'm going off memory (it's undercover) you will need to remove the heat shield to see whats going on. Does this happen everytime you use it, or just if it's been left standing a few days?

[benjamincalleja]

Yes there is a heat shield that's what I can't see past. This has never happened before and I drive it every week. Sometimes twice.

And the turbo oil return pipe has been leaking for some time but only ever a few drops and always going straight onto the ground never onto the manifold. I never worried about it given it was such a tiny amount. My nose has bled more in one go than the car has lost oil in a month type thing

And by the look of the oil on the manifold/extension piece join its still only a tiny amount only now it's on e manifold not the ground so it's smoking when hot!

[rogerch]

[benjamincalleja]

Hahaahahah. If it is from the turbo which I'm strongly suspecting it is how do I fix it? Is it safe to say that an often used car won't develop any NEW leaks ie if I have no end seal issues no intake cam pulley leaks, driveshaft leaks, oil in spark plug wells etc etc if I keep driving it regularly I should be ok?

[rogerch]

Enough oil gets on the turbo, it will catch fire. You need to be sure.

[benjamincalleja]

Gah it's the lower of the two heads end seal!! How do I fix it??

**as in if I put my hand down the side of the lower cam head (the lower of the two cam head) on the end of that lower head adjacent to the heat shield I can feel a small oil leak. No oil is dripping onto that heat shield itself it's running down the lower cam head and dripping onto the join between the manifold and extension piece. Is this what you say is an end seal leak? Or is something else?

[rogerch]

Sparky, AKA Garry Clark's your man, I've never done one.

[benjamincalleja]

Ah. I should be more precise too : the exhaust camshaft end seal seems to be the culprit. The head gasket looks solid as do the cam cover gaskets. I'll ask sparky...

[rizla603104]

Sparky is the man