Future bad turbo? Vent kit fix? Turbo cleaner?

[Eric28243]

Please don't shit in my cornflakes when I'm not looking for asking these possibly retarded questions, but I've had a past problem with horrible smoking which sort of cleared itself up over the past 20k-ish miles. This in and of itself is a strange thing, I think. Does this happen frequently? Question 1.

I also just replaced the TIP and sent my car to the dealership essentially for no reason because I intend on eventually getting a downpipe combo (CP-E or Cobb prolly) and I thought maybe if the seals were going to blow, they might somehow determine this and just give me a new turbo if I told them it was smoking like a forest fire.

In the event something was amiss, I wanted to get it taken care of while it was under warranty without actually buying the downpipe and having to take it back off when it blew the seals so they'd fix it under warranty. I also don't know if there is a way of knowing if I have one of the K04's that is susceptible to breaking the seals upon downpipe installation (maybe a range of VIN's or a product code printed on the turbo itself) I think I remember reading a post saying recently they've begun replacing turbos w/ blown seals with a completely different turbo that is resistant to it happening. Am I correct in this thinking? Question 2.

And finally, when I was replacing the TIP, I noticed the inside of the turbo was completely black aside from the turbines. Should I clean this or is there something that does this well? Does that mean something else is wrong aside from the vent kit they are ordering? I know about the PCV fix and the bnoon bolt, as well as the benefits of an OCC, but it doesn't really smoke anymore. That was sort of a bunch of questions, but I'll lump it into the category I'll call "Question 3". I tried searching for many of these answers, but I was having a lot of trouble since the category is such a concern. There is a sea of posts, many of which were poorly indicated in the subject. Minutes of searching turned to hours and so on.

Thanks!

[reconbygod12]

bnr stage 3 only 1200 and send in crappy k04 as core exchange

[rodrigo]

someone pretend to read all this shit and answer him plz.

ill give it a shot......uhm....gap the plugs to .028 u should be fine

[aaronc7]

blue 2 shims

[bnoon]

Q1: No, it's not normal to stop smoking for no reason. Usually once the smoking starts you have to employ one or more of the known "fixes" to get it to stop.

Q2: Partially correct. Turbos have been replaced under warranty, BUT most of the turbos being replaced are totally within spec of the manufacturer and not damaged. Most of the smoke at idle is due to an imbalance within the crankcase/head due to poor PCV vacuum in the system. The updated turbos simply have tougher seals to withstand this higher pressure without leaking oil past the seals and the updated valve cover and TIP confirm the PCV weakness.

Q3: If the inlet side of the turbo is black, it's most likely from a PCV system that was plugged or partially inoperative at some point and caused it to push oil out the valve cover into the TIP and was most likely the cause of your smoking. If you're not smoking now, you most likely somehow unplugged the PCV system or restored balance allowing the oil to drain to the pan instead of being pressed out through the valve cover. Have you changed oil brand or viscosity? Recent oil change? Seafoam?

[Eric28243]

Thanks bnoon. I really appreciate it.
Q1: Well then... I still have crazy carbon deposits all over the back of my car. Maybe the coming of summer this year makes it not so obvious.
Q2: Yeah, I noticed the vent kit nullifies any chance of a new turbo and vice a versa under warranty (typically, although some have claimed to have gotten both. this is just what my dealer told me.)
Q3: Nope, no change of brands or viscosity. I haven't really needed an oil change since I started researching, which might explain why I still ask dumb questions. I have not done a seafoam treatment yet because the vehicle only has 40k miles. I knew about it, but hadn't really considered it.

Thanks again.

[BrianZX10R]

i use 5w30 penzoil