Hello all,

I am trying to diagnose my friend's car. Here is what's up.

1. It is blowing a white colored smoke from the tailpipe. It does not really smell like coolant.

2. The T25 is regularly boosted too high at 16-17 psi.

3. The compressor housing and turbine housing are *FULL* of oil.

4. The turbo is siezed...the wheels *do not* spin at all.

5. A compression test on a cold engine gave the following numbers from cylinder 1 to 4:

160 142 147 160

6. The spark plugs are dark and fouled looking, but they do not smell like coolant.

7. The engine holds the reading on the compression tester for a long time, even with the radiator cap off.

My gut feeling here is that that it is just the turbo causing the smoke. What color is the smoke when your turbo is siezed and full of oil?

Thanks for any help,

It's the turbo. Been there, done that. Most recently, my buddy went through the same ordeal.
Regarding my experience, the turbo seal failed and smoke was billowing from my exhaust. I was a low flying crop duster! I knew especially after you told me the turbo bearings were seized. It can be rebuilt for as little as $300 and be as good as new.

Thanks. That is what I thought. The car idles perfectly, unlike how it would idle if it had a blown head gasket. When the head gasket is blown, the car usually sounds like a VW Bug on 3 cylinders, all rough and stuff.

Peace,