Puff's "What's A Turbo?" '95 E34 Build Thread

[Vexatus]

I'm a dumb ass LOL, post #47, I thought it's yours too...

[CallMePuff]

I'm a dumb ass LOL, post #47, I thought it's yours too...

Lmao no worries, I can see the confusion. That would definitely ensure you don't end up with any pressure leading back to the compressor

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[CallMePuff]

Just got the warning that my oil was low... Checked the dipstick on the catch can and it looks like it's over half full.

Looks like it's compression test time :/

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[someguy2800]

Just put a drain on it back to the dipstick tube.

[CallMePuff]

Just put a drain on it back to the dipstick tube.

You should see the liquid that's in the catch can lol. It's a nice creamy color. Not sure if that's alright to throw back into the motor.

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[jimmyz66]

If in doubt, throw it out. Hey that's a nice rythm.

[CallMePuff]

If in doubt, throw it out. Hey that's a nice rythm.

When oil leaks out, scream and shout?

Anyways, I started looking into possible causes for what I was getting which was a ridiculous amount of venti caramel latte in my catch can (smelled like gas mostly) and flying out of the filter on said catch can. I found that running the engine rich can wash the walls of the cylinder with gas which causes premature wear on the walls and can end up with gas permeating the oil and getting into the crankcase.

So, I drained my catch can, sprayed it down with brake cleaner and made it nice and shiny again, reattached everything, and retuned the car (it was running pretty damn rich after plugging a hose port I forgot to when we first tuned it. Think 10-12AFR). After going for a ride and getting my AFRs up to acceptable levels, I pulled back into the garage to no latte shooting out of the can!

In other news, my belt squeaks since I degreased my engine bay and didn't take it off. Hoping it's not actually an idler pulley because I just replaced those, but we'll see.

[CallMePuff]

Back to square one I guess. While there's no vapor shooting out of my catch can anymore, I got another Engine Oil Low warning on my dash. I just filled it up last night and this morning the dipstick read at about the bottom line.

I checked the dipstick on the catch can and it's about a quarter full already. I'm going to have to check for any obvious leaks, but I didn't see any from the top. I was previously getting oil seeping through the valve cover gasket and getting into the spark plug wells and around the outside, but that's no longer occurring. The exhaust doesn't look blue, but maybe it's only severe under high load? Hoping it's a simple leak, but I doubt it.

[Vexatus]

I'd check the compression. Leaking pistons create pressure under the valve cover and pushing the oil into your catch tank...

[CallMePuff]

I'd check the compression. Leaking pistons create pressure under the valve cover and pushing the oil into your catch tank...

Thinking of doing that and a leakdown to see what's up there. If it does end up being that, am I going to have to yank the motor out again? Not sure how much weight this carries, but I saw the block before it was put together and the cross-hatching was still very apparent on the cylinder walls. I'm no engine-expert but I was thinking that meant the wear wasn't significant. Unless the rings themselves are worn?

As a side-note, I've read that gunk and shit in the crankcase and on the cylinder walls can cause bad sealing of the piston rings. Do things like seafoam actually help this?

[Vexatus]

Well, you could just take of the head and the oil pan. Unscrew the rods from the bottom and pull the piston/rod combo up.
Start with the compression, if you find the compression beging low (not sure what exactly should that be for that motor and what's your CR, stock is I think arround 11 bar AFAIR) or uneven then do the oil test (not sure how it's properly called in english?) and you'll know all.

[CallMePuff]

I pulled all the spark plugs tonight to see what everything looked like there, and cylinder 4 and 5 had oil on them. 5 had a bit more than 4 on it. For background, the head was fully rebuilt before I bought it and had it installed. My engine builder claims that he drove that engine in its stock form and it didn't seem to burn any oil. Obviously it wasn't boosted then, so that could play a part.

Is there anything I can do here short of tearing it apart or rolling with it?

[CallMePuff]

An update. Despite there being some oil on the spark plugs in those cylinders, I'm not sure that that's the cause of my HUGE oil consumption/catch can filling. I believe it's the way I set the hoses up on the valve cover for ccv. I just drilled two holes into the valve cover to add two -10AN fittings.

I went and got a cam cover to limit the amount of oil splashing up, but had to drill a phat hole in it so that one of the fittings wouldn't bump into it. Additionally, the stock baffling cover was removed to allow air to flow into the fitting closes to the stock ccv hole.

My theory is that this is literally just sucking oil out of the crankcase. I'm having to add some every day once the engine oil low comes on, which seems quite severe for a little oil in two cylinders.

I'm waiting on two baffled fittings from JEGS that will hopefully solve my issues. Additionally, I'm going to get another cam cover and try not drilling a hole in it since these new fittings should be shallower.

Stay tuned.

[Vexatus]

Hold on, where is the other end of the can connected to? Intake mani?

[CallMePuff]

Hold on, where is the other end of the can connected to? Intake mani?

Both lines off the valve cover lead to the catch can, which is vented to atmosphere.

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[Vexatus]

Right, sorry, I thought it's sucking it (as you've mentioned) but then it would have to be connected before the turbo... Why won'y you use standard crank case vent fitting instead of connecting it to the valve cover?

[CallMePuff]

Right, sorry, I thought it's sucking it (as you've mentioned) but then it would have to be connected before the turbo... Why won'y you use standard crank case vent fitting instead of connecting it to the valve cover?

Yeah "sucking" was the wrong word. It's allowing oil to be pushed through them along with the positive pressure due to no baffling.

Initially, I just took the stock crankcase vent fitting off and drove it. This gave me a little bit of oil coming out, but it just seemed residual. I wanted to vent it better.

I ran a hose from the stock fitting to the ground. This ended up with a LOT of oil hitting the ground.

I shortened the hose to a few inches then added a breather filter. This ended up spraying oil all over.

At this point, I figured my problem was too much positive pressure.

I ordered the catch can and AN lines. Now there are the two -10AN lines which are both a little over 1/2 inch in diameter each.

I realized I could have just bored out the original fitting a bunch and tapped a 1" pipe or something into the stock hole, but I didn't.

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[R Shaffner]

I'm confused.

Why do Vegas casinos always make money? The odds are in their favor, of course. And gamblers never walk away when they're ahead -- they almost always keep gambling until they lose.

Is that really the goal with projects like this? For decades people have known they can get a lot more power from turbos. That's not in question. The challenge is whether they can keep all that boost from seriously damaging an engine that wasn't engineered to handle it. (That's where modern turbos have really advanced the science.)

None of my concern, of course. And I love the can-do attitude. But you started with an old engine and it sounds like you are thrashing the hell out of it. Is that the point? To have fun and see how far you can take it until it blows up?

[CallMePuff]

I'm confused.

Why do Vegas casinos always make money? The odds are in their favor, of course. And gamblers never walk away when they're ahead -- they almost always keep gambling until they lose.

Is that really the goal with projects like this? For decades people have known they can get a lot more power from turbos. That's not in question. The challenge is whether they can keep all that boost from seriously damaging an engine that wasn't engineered to handle it. (That's where modern turbos have really advanced the science.)

None of my concern, of course. And I love the can-do attitude. But you started with an old engine and it sounds like you are thrashing the hell out of it. Is that the point? To have fun and see how far you can take it until it blows up?

The idea was to up the power of the car, have a fun project, and maintain some sense of reliability. I think it's always going to be a gamble doing this, but we're in a forced induction forum. The motor sounds solid, it was looked over before it was put together and pistons, rings, and cylinder walls were within spec according to who I got it from. So unless this guy is a huge prick or super unknowledgeable, I trust that the motor is in good condition.

If I had $2000 to do this I would have stopped me right at the beginning, because that'd likely be a losing battle for my goals.

EDIT: I'm also far from thrashing the motor. This might just be the most conservatively tuned, conservatively driven turbo'd M52 in here lmao. Not to say that means it's not at a higher risk than a stock motor, but we've seen plenty of motors handle much more than I'm doing just fine.

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[Vexatus]

Sorry man, but what's the purpose of your post? OP isn't asking if should or should not turbo his engine, as a matter of fact I seriously doubt his issue has anything to do with a turbo, it's rather the way he installed the catch can or his pistons have said goodbye.
Nevertheless, this is a FI subforum and it's for the FI engines discussions. If you don't like it... Well... Don't visit...

Going back to the subject - I'd still do the compression test - it's half an hour if you have a gauge and you know a lot about your engine... Broken record.... I know

[CallMePuff]

Going back to the subject - I'd still do the compression test - it's half an hour if you have a gauge and you know a lot about your engine... Broken record.... I know

I know, I know. I'll pick one up early next week and do it at the same time I install the baffled fittings.


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[R Shaffner]

The idea was to up the power of the car, have a fun project, and maintain some sense of reliability. I think it's always going to be a gamble doing this, but we're in a forced induction forum. The motor sounds solid, it was looked over before it was put together and pistons, rings, and cylinder walls were within spec according to who I got it from. So unless this guy is a huge prick or super unknowledgeable, I trust that the motor is in good condition.

If I had $2000 to do this I would have stopped me right at the beginning, because that'd likely be a losing battle for my goals.

EDIT: I'm also far from thrashing the motor. This might just be the most conservatively tuned, conservatively driven turbo'd M52 in here lmao. Not to say that means it's not at a higher risk than a stock motor, but we've seen plenty of motors handle much more than I'm doing just fine.

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OK. Thanks. I've enjoyed your posts and admire your energy. Good luck!

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry man, but what's the purpose of your post? OP isn't asking if should or should not turbo his engine, as a matter of fact I seriously doubt his issue has anything to do with a turbo, it's rather the way he installed the catch can or his pistons have said goodbye.
Nevertheless, this is a FI subforum and it's for the FI engines discussions. If you don't like it... Well... Don't visit...

Going back to the subject - I'd still do the compression test - it's half an hour if you have a gauge and you know a lot about your engine... Broken record.... I know

Wasn't trying to criticize. Sometimes we have to go too far, to learn where "far enough" is. It seems that some here do mods with that in mind.

[CallMePuff]

OK. Thanks. I've enjoyed your posts and admire your energy. Good luck!

Appreciate the positive sentiments! One last note is that im still very young and have little responsibility, so I figured now was the best time to take that risk, instead of spending my paychecks on it when I have a family to support or something.

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[R Shaffner]

FWIW, my brother has a '92 525i 5-speed with 290,000 miles and counting. Still a daily driver. The engine has never needed anything major. The original MAF just died, but amazingly that car runs OK (open loop) with the MAF unplugged. The 5-speed is original and still shifts smoothly. Only mod is sway bars which really help it corner flat.

In short, I agree that you picked a sturdy starting point.

[CallMePuff]

Well, I come bearing bad news. The motor I had put together for me ended up having poor compression. Tested it tonight and I got: 120, 90, 185, 185, 50, 110.

Explains the oil on cyl 5's spark plug, the amount of blowby in my catch can, and the questionable running.

Not sure what to do from here besides mourn.