Aftermarket downpipes causing smoke?

[Uncle Meat]

Okay so I'm still looking at getting a complete turbo-back exhaust for the wife's Mustang (catted and resonated of course). However I'm seeing numerous reports of blue smoke at idle after replacing the factory down pipe. Now most of these reports are from cat-less down pipe installations, but this just means the catted down pipe is masking the issue. Seems the Ecoboost has an issue with crankcase pressure at idle. One of the "Band-Aids" recommended from a respectable tuning company was to change to a heavier oil or raise the idle to 900-1000RPMS. WTF!? That's not a fix. One guy reported that gutting the PVC valve and adding a double oil separator worked for him.

Not sure I want to invest in a full turbo-back exhaust if the darn thing is going to require additional modifications to prevent it from burning oil while sitting at a stoplight.

Anyone want to weigh in on this dilemma?

U.M.

 

[SID297]

An O/R down pipe will cause it to smoke like a freight train. Mine does it.

In my experience it is the turbo seals causing the issue. They require a little back pressure (from the cat) in order to seal up. Cars with aftermarket turbos don't seem to have the issue.

 

[Uncle Meat]

An O/R down pipe will cause it to smoke like a freight train. Mine does it.

In my experience it is the turbo seals causing the issue. They require a little back pressure (from the cat) in order to seal up. Cars with aftermarket turbos don't seem to have the issue.

I read a few posts on a couple of other forums where they blamed the turbo seals, but made it sound like it was a failure of the seal... So are you just living with the issue, or have you found a remedy?

I need to find someone who has an aftermarket catted down pipe and ask them how it's working out for them. Hopefully there's enough back pressure with an aftermarket catted downpipe to prevent this from happening.

U.M.

 

[Fox-4]

IMHO, I would skip the turbo back at the moment and go for a intercooler. It's gonna make more power consistently than any other MOD you can do to it. Look into tsb 15-0192, it replaces the oil separator with a high flow unit. FR3E-6A785-BB is the part number.

 

[Uncle Meat]

IMHO, I would skip the turbo back at the moment and go for a intercooler. It's gonna make more power consistently than any other MOD you can do to it. Look into tsb 15-0192, it replaces the oil separator with a high flow unit. FR3E-6A785-BB is the part number.

An intercooler is on my list of upgrades. However this car is going to be "Dual Purpose". All mods being made need to not only support higher horsepower, but better fuel economy too. I want to be able to "Hyper Mile" it on long trips, but also want to be able to "Hammer It" when I get the itch. This of course only occurs when I can pry the FOB out of my wife's hand!

Maybe I'll just go with a cat-back to start and hold off on upgrading the down pipe. Thanks for the TSB, I'm going to check the P/N of the crankcase vent oil separator tonight when I get home. However since this car was built at the end of October I would think it should already have the updated part... but you never know.

U.M.

 

[SID297]

I read a few posts on a couple of other forums where they blamed the turbo seals, but made it sound like it was a failure of the seal... So are you just living with the issue, or have you found a remedy?

I need to find someone who has an aftermarket catted down pipe and ask them how it's working out for them. Hopefully there's enough back pressure with an aftermarket catted downpipe to prevent this from happening.

U.M.

It's not a failing turbo, it's just the way it's designed. The only real remedy is to leave the stock down pipe on it (or possibly a catted aftermarket one). Honestly, I'd have a hard time buying a catted downpipe. Most of the gains to be had come from removing the cat. Turbos love to breath.

 

[weebz69]

My Focus ST did super embarrassing when waiting in line at drive throughs. I pulled my off eventually. Threw the stocker back on. I didn't have a cat on mine though.

 

[SID297]

My Focus ST did super embarrassing when waiting in line at drive throughs. I pulled my off eventually. Threw the stocker back on. I didn't have a cat on mine though.

Yep, it's common across the EcoBoost line for the most part.

 

[OIC]

Hey SID297 - How bad is the gas smell with the catless DP? I am basically ordering the same setup as the SVT EcoBoost but had planned to go with the catted DP as I do not plan to upgrade the turbo anytime soon.

 

[SID297]

It's not a gas smell. It's just burning oil. It's not bad unless you let it idle for a minute or two.

 

[OIC]

Its just burning oil....Is this a problem or what it should smell like without the catts? Should I keep the stock DP and go with the standard KOOKs cat back exhaust. I have done a lot of reading since your reply but no one stated if it would cause other issues.

 

[PewterCam]

Okay so I'm still looking at getting a complete turbo-back exhaust for the wife's Mustang (catted and resonated of course). However I'm seeing numerous reports of blue smoke at idle after replacing the factory down pipe. Now most of these reports are from cat-less down pipe installations, but this just means the catted down pipe is masking the issue. Seems the Ecoboost has an issue with crankcase pressure at idle. One of the "Band-Aids" recommended from a respectable tuning company was to change to a heavier oil or raise the idle to 900-1000RPMS. WTF!? That's not a fix. One guy reported that gutting the PVC valve and adding a double oil separator worked for him.

Not sure I want to invest in a full turbo-back exhaust if the darn thing is going to require additional modifications to prevent it from burning oil while sitting at a stoplight.

Anyone want to weigh in on this dilemma?

U.M.

I've done Tons.. and tons of research and screwing around with my car on the issue and a bunch of posts on another forum about it.

Its not actually the Downpipe or bad turbo seals causing the Smoke. The PCV and oil separator on the car is allowing oil to backup into the turbo at idle which pushes out out of the turbo seal. Even cars with stock DP and stock exhaust have been smoking its just less noticeable because the Cat tends to scrub more of the junk from the exhaust before it makes it to the tailpipe but the Carbon buildup will still be present. Mine from Day 1, totally stock, had an oil smell and tons of carbon on the tailpipe and back of the car. Once I went DP and single 3" exhaust it became much worse and strangely the heat from exhaust was yellowing the paint and twice caused the rear reflector to warp and peel away from the car and left the back of the car covered in even more black spots of carbon crap.

There are various band aids like raising the idle which gives just enough relief in the system to allow oil to drain but eventually it will start to smoke again. I tried all kinds of "fixes" on my car and found the best hands down fix is a UPR Dual Valve Catch can and gutting the PCV valve. You need to gut the PCV and let the UPR DV setup take over the all the PCV duties for it to work properly. On my car not only did this 100% solve all the burning oil, smell, and carbon buildup all over the back of the car but I also have not had any more problems with heat melting the reflector and causing it to peel off the car and I noticed the paint is not yellowing around the exhaust either. Leads me to believe the recall for the excessive under body temps is because of the constant oil burning. Anyway I am curious to get my hands on the revised oil separator from ford and give it shot just to see what they changed and see if there is less oil in the catch can. At this point I drain about 1/4 cup of oil every 1000 miles. Hope this helps!

 

[SID297]

Good info. Thanks for posting it.:beer:

 

[thelastsumurai]

Yea, real good info . Thanks

 

[MagnaFlow]

There are various band aids like raising the idle which gives just enough relief in the system to allow oil to drain but eventually it will start to smoke again. I tried all kinds of "fixes" on my car and found the best hands down fix is a UPR Dual Valve Catch can and gutting the PCV valve. You need to gut the PCV and let the UPR DV setup take over the all the PCV duties for it to work properly. On my car not only did this 100% solve all the burning oil, smell, and carbon buildup all over the back of the car but I also have not had any more problems with heat melting the reflector and causing it to peel off the car and I noticed the paint is not yellowing around the exhaust either.

Very informative post, Pewter! This is exactly what we were about to say. The stock PCV system was not designed well from the factory, and causes the oil to back up and pressurize. When this happens, the oil has to find another place to go, which is usually out the turbo seal. The only way to completely solve this problem, as you mentioned, is disable the stock valve and install a catch can that properly connects to the stock ventilation system. This seems to be a common issue in both turbo mustangs and F150s.