Who here thinks all stock turbos will smoke eventually?

[Trader]

I have a feeling that the mazdaspeed3's will fall into two categories.

1. Cars with turbos that are smoking now and,
2. Cars with turbos that are not smoking.... but will be smoking soon!!

I have a hunch that all the stock turbos at some point will start smoking, it is just a matter of time. Of course the exhaust modifications probably help speed the problem along, but if these turbos are that sensitive to start having seal problems with just a dp and or test pipe than my guess is that at 60k - 80k miles 90% of these cars will be smoking.

&&^&%^ Mazda sucks!!

THey are obviously trying to sweep the problem under the rug and hoping that most of the cars start having an issue out of warrantee to avoid a full out recall.

If this turbo gets recalled it would be for all MS3's, MS6's, and CX7's. That is a lot of turbos to replace for a company that is currently cash strapped.

I am hereing that Mazda is replacing the original turbos with new turbos with a different part number. So can anybody with these turbos chime in and say if they have had any problems?

If this fixes the problem then my plan will be to make sure my turbo smokes by getting a dp and test pipe asap, to get a free replacement turbo before my warrantee is up.

[Silver Ecstasy]

I was real paranoid about that, but reality is, if it blows, oh well.

There supposedly is a new part number but the reality is Mazda designed this setup, and Ford is using it and calling it "EcoBoost". For EcoBoost, Honeywell (maker of Garrett) won the bid to supply the turbos. If there is ANY kind of recall or TSB in the future, they will supply new Honeywell/Ford replacement types. That is pretty much a fact. I'm sure it'll be restricted on what mods you have.

I can't wait to do exhaust, lol.

[Turninconcepts]

There is no reason that the turbo would die just because an exhaust is installed. Now if the boost is upped, I can see it dying faster.

[ZyrehT]

24k with no smoke, kinda doubt it will.

[khoney]

24k with no smoke, kinda doubt it will.
24K without smoke, 29K with smoke, kinda expect it might. (stock, btw)

[arkenzo]

24K without smoke, 29K with smoke, kinda expect it might. (stock, btw)

uh,. ok?

[oaklandopen]

anyone just replaced this one with a ball bearing one that produces the same power output?

[ZyrehT]

24K without smoke, 29K with smoke, kinda expect it might. (stock, btw)


I'm not stock so how do you figure? Just because you don't give you car time to cool down don't bet it will happen to me.

[NCZ13]

this is the stupidest thread ever. blaming a company on a problem that hasnt happened yet.

[mckraut]

I just did a real quick search and dug up all of the "my turbo is smoking" threads I could find and came up with about ten. Does anyone have an idea of how many MS3 owners we have on the site? The MS3 Roll Call thread shows almost 700 posts, but of course that only gives us a very vague idea of how many owners we have.

[mo08ms3]

I just did a real quick search and dug up all of the "my turbo is smoking" threads I could find and came up with about ten. Does anyone have an idea of how many MS3 owners we have on the site? The MS3 Roll Call thread shows almost 700 posts, but of course that only gives us a very vague idea of how many owners we have.

Thats what I like to hear, positive posts. Thank you. I hope my turbo doesn't smoke and expect it not to. I have a 2008.5 with almost 14k miles and no problems with the car yet.

[Bravnik]

I have over 30k on my 2007 Speed and no smoke to date. I don't rag my car but I don't baby it ether. I drive almost 100miles a day to and from work as well. If it does end up smoking, I will just get a reworked turbo.

[fastdreams]

Well, almost all turbos will blow EVENTUALLY.

As far as premature failures, well that depends on your perspective.

As with many things, it depends on use.

It does appear that several people have had premature failure issues.

Even if it becomes somewhat of an epidemic, I would be shocked if Mazda recalled anything. It's in their best interest to play the numbers, chances are most turbos will not fail before the warranty expires. If it does, there are probably going to be those that are denied because of mods.

If my turbo pops I'll just buy a reworked turbo and call it a day.

[Silver Ecstasy]

I wouldn't say "never" on the recall though. Ford recently commissioned Honeywell with producing turbos for the EcoBoost engines. Honeywell=Garrett. If it gets worse with time, and if the EcoBoost engines prove solid, then we could see oursleves with a recall/or heavy TSB in place for smoking turbos.

[ElGaspo]

I have a hunch that all the stock turbos at some point will start smoking, it is just a matter of time.

in the parlance of my ancestors: "Vade retro, Satanas" <get thee behind me, Satan>. in the immortal words of Judas Priest: "Better by you, better than me." in my own words: "thanx a helluva lot for wishing ill on our cars. what'd we ever do to YOU?"

mine is 2 yrs old but only 5k mi; no problems of ANY kind [doesn't burn a SINGLE DROP of oil] , and i've let it idle at length to allay my fears of impending doom. once again: no thanx - you first. <knocks on wood, makes the evil eye sign and spits between forked fingers> (eekfu)

[bova80]

switch to a 5w40 oil and your smoking worries will dissapear.

[Trader]

I just did a real quick search and dug up all of the "my turbo is smoking" threads I could find and came up with about ten. Does anyone have an idea of how many MS3 owners we have on the site? The MS3 Roll Call thread shows almost 700 posts, but of course that only gives us a very vague idea of how many owners we have.

Ummm....

Did you see this thread:

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123691179

I went through all 42 pages of only this thread and found 59 people with smoking turbos.

Some of these people got a new replacement turbo from the dealer and then that one started smoking as well.

[mckraut]

Ummm....

Did you see this thread:

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123691179

I went through all 42 pages of only this thread and found 59 people with smoking turbos.

Some of these people got a new replacement turbo from the dealer and then that one started smoking as well.

Ahh, did not see that one. Like I said, I did a quick search, nothing extensive. So now we know of 59 positive turbo smokings (from this site) out of how many MS3s sold? I heard somewhere that 5000 a year are made for the U.S., but I could be wrong.

[Alexsered]

COBB had a good write up on adding a PCV valve and a oil catch can that could possibly protect the turbo's from smoking. I will be doing this and it's a very simple mod for the potential protection of the turbos.

I understand the simple concept of how this works, but I'm not expert on how the internals operate.

[bova80]

and for those that are weary of going to 5w40 cause it isn't recommended in the manual, it is actually one of the recommended types in the euro/austrailian model so it will be just fine. the thicker weight will help prevent the oil from getting by the seals and leaking into the exhaust causing the smoking problem. 5w40 is actually a better oil to use anyway since these cars see dilution in the oil from fuel and more often then not when you are ready to change your oil it could have gone from a 5w30 to a 5w20.

and many of those that get their oil changed at the dealer have said that sometimes the dealer has put in 5w20 which in all cases is just wrong.

[jodacoto]

Superstitious? do u ever knock on wood , read horoscopes, hesitate to walk under ladders, carry a lucky charm, avoid stepping on cracks, bow to idols, consult Tarot cards, get nervous on Friday 13th?
buy a used turbo k04 (ebay) as backup.i bought one for $175

[john blutarski]

Shell rotella T 5w-40 FTW...

[Speed3Rookie]

Superstitious? do u ever knock on wood , read horoscopes, hesitate to walk under ladders, carry a lucky charm, avoid stepping on cracks, bow to idols, consult Tarot cards, get nervous on Friday 13th?
buy a used turbo k04 (ebay) as backup.i bought one for $175
I can NEVER find one on ebay. Let me know if you see another.
What was the item number of the one you bought?

[rapter]

10w30, even better.

And i also know lots of guys with there sti's and wrx's that have had problems with there turbos.

but most people are right, why worry about something that you shouldnt be worried about.

what about the 50000000000 fords that break down daily. lol
or other cars, if it was such a huge problem there would be more then just.... 59 threads about it, or even 100.

i just dont see the problem and frankly if your gonna be here to scare people go buy a different turbo car, and will see if you get lucky.

Mazda for life!

[MSMS3]

Every turbo car I've owned (three SAABs, a Volvo and this MS3) has had some degree of "smoke" after installing DP and going catless. It comes with the territory. Mine is no more than I would expect from a NA catless engine.

Blow-by from the PVC is going to go back into the engine and get burned. It does not all burn, especially if you're using synthetic oils. The blow-by ends up as a mixture of a slight amount of blue oil smoke and white water steam going out the exhaust. Without cats to more completely burn what's left, we end up with a bit more than NA's with no cats.

Now, pressurize the system (even with cats) so that the PVC valve sees not only vacuum but also 15 pounds of positive pressure, and a LOT more gas and liquid gets from the crankcase back into the intake. I doubt this has anything to do with turbo seals. If it did, I had "failing seals" on all four other catless, boosted DP'd car with upgraded ECU's for higher boost. The turbos were still fine on them when sold at around 60,000 plus miles. One SAAB 9000 did have a outright turbo bearing failure (not the seals) but that was at over 100,000 miles.

While I think this "problem" is harmless (it was on all the other cars), I'm going to put a catch can in place between the PVC valve and intake manifold as see what happens. The real advantage of a properly installed catch can is the second PVC. That way venting takes place only when there is vacuum and not when on boost. We'll see.

[speed3driver]

I have an 07 speed 3 with 35k and lots of mods. No smoke.. i don't think it will.
I think 07 was the good year for the car.. people starting talking about all these problems with the models after

[ZyrehT]

I have an 07 speed 3 with 35k and lots of mods. No smoke.. i don't think it will.
I think 07 was the good year for the car.. people starting talking about all these problems with the models after

It all started in 07 bud. We're the lucky ones I guess.

[SharkDiver]

Put a catless DP on your cars and the smoke will appear in most cases,Not to say it wont happen on a stock car.I had 30k miles on my car when I installed a catless DP and it took about 3k miles before the smoke came.The seals on these turbos suck and a ball bearing type is the way to go but it costs alot of money for one of those. Also 5W40 is a better oil to use since its thin at start up but stays thicker after its good and warm.The 10W30 isnt much better then 5W30 because from what Ive read 10W30 is thicker on start up and you dont want that in the winter but when the oil warms up your right back to the stock weight of 30W oil.What you want is something that is thin on start up but holds up like a 40W after its warm.I know this isnt explained well but you can do your own research and see kinda what Im talking about..All in all a 5W40 is best for winter and you could go with a 10W40 in the summer time,That is what I do and ive read a ton about what oil to use..Also a good brand to use is Pennzoil platnium since it seems to be the best with fuel dilution..ALot of people like amsoil also tho..

Enjoy

[blacksheepms3]

40 k with tbe with 1 cat delete....no smoke yet. only smoking i saw was when i got the engine flushed. but it went away after a few miles. that was mainly because the guy who did the oil change overfilled the engine with that flush. But so far i dont have a smoking turbo.

[pat_smith1969]

Sorry for the dumb post guys...

But how do you tell if you are "smoking"?

I have had my MS3 now for like 4 months (6k miles) and from day 1 I noticed black build up on my nice shiny exhaust pipe. A buddy of mine said that all turbos do that and to just wipe it off and ignore it. I sometimes smell smoke while driving my car but in DC, that could be any of the 1 billion cars in front of you.

I have had my oil changed exactly ONCE so far, by the dealer. I didn't think to ask him to check the levels and the like before he changed it. Actually, I am embarrassed to admit I have not opened my hood up yet. I couldn't describe the engine to you if I had to. Please don't take my man card away.

I am a handy type of guy but it has been cold here and I am WAY to lazy to go digging around under a hood of a car in 20 degree weather.

I get a second oil change this weekend, probably bring it to a local shop that does oil on Saturdays, they are good guys.

[pat_smith1969]

oh BTW...

AlexRed guy..... GO CAPS

[Trader]

Sorry for the dumb post guys...

But how do you tell if you are "smoking"?

I have had my MS3 now for like 4 months (6k miles) and from day 1 I noticed black build up on my nice shiny exhaust pipe. A buddy of mine said that all turbos do that and to just wipe it off and ignore it. I sometimes smell smoke while driving my car but in DC, that could be any of the 1 billion cars in front of you.

I have had my oil changed exactly ONCE so far, by the dealer. I didn't think to ask him to check the levels and the like before he changed it. Actually, I am embarrassed to admit I have not opened my hood up yet. I couldn't describe the engine to you if I had to. Please don't take my man card away.

I am a handy type of guy but it has been cold here and I am WAY to lazy to go digging around under a hood of a car in 20 degree weather.

I get a second oil change this weekend, probably bring it to a local shop that does oil on Saturdays, they are good guys.

Does your car do this?:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=14OYY_wFSoI&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PlFV3skMQRI&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kaqKRSBPZ0o&feature=related

Chances are if you are smoking you will know it.

The black build up on your exhaust tip can indicate that you are running a rich air/fuel mixture. Pretty normal for stock MS3's

[pat_smith1969]

ugh... I don't do THAT much smoke.

[gr3y]

Even if it becomes somewhat of an epidemic, I would be shocked if Mazda recalled anything. It's in their best interest to play the numbers, chances are most turbos will not fail before the warranty expires. If it does, there are probably going to be those that are denied because of mods.

That's untrue. If it is pandemical, it would be in Mazdas best interest to replace the part(s).

The cost of a lawsuit/lawsuits and trying to regain your broken credibility as a competent, responsible automaker far outweighs the combined cost of replacing turbos on specific cars and keeping customers happy.

It's amusing how many companies burn themselves by trying to cut corners and cut costs, only to end up paying for it all in the end, and then some.

Oh, and to stay on topic.. I don't think it will or won't smoke eventually either way. I hope it won't, but if it does, I get a new turbo anyway. Easy squeesy.

[SSMS3]

I have 30k miles on my 07. Stock TBE but with race pipe and no smoke

[lestat13]

Thats what I like to hear, positive posts. Thank you. I hope my turbo doesn't smoke and expect it not to. I have a 2008.5 with almost 14k miles and no problems with the car yet.

About the same except with smoke. 5w40 helped for about a week. White smoke has been pouring out for some time. Bad burning smells and clouds of blue smoke are almost a daily occurrence

Of course, I haven't seen any smoking in person quite as bad as that last video with the exception of a few times I've been sitting in the car while the blue smoke actually completely covered cars behind us in traffic..... that was kinda embarrassing. The light changed and no one moved except me cause they couldnt see

[Wurf]

Here's some edumacational info on turbocharger repairs, possible causes of death, and prevention.

http://www.turborepair.com/

[ericrapp]

34000 no smoke yet....

[Bonafide_Spd3]

I get white smoke out of my exhaust every once in awhile. Doesn't happen every day. I noticed it after I got a test pipe. Kinda sucks because I don't feel like taking my car to the dealership to get another turbo. Seems like a pita. Kinda disappointing that this is happening because I really take care of my car. I always let it warm up, cool down, and change my oil all the time. Kinda makes me wanna just get a v8 car

[lestat13]

I get white smoke out of my exhaust every once in awhile. Doesn't happen every day. I noticed it after I got a test pipe. Kinda sucks because I don't feel like taking my car to the dealership to get another turbo. Seems like a pita. Kinda disappointing that this is happening because I really take care of my car. I always let it warm up, cool down, and change my oil all the time. Kinda makes me wanna just get a v8 car

The closest mazdaspeed dealer to me is easily over an hour in no traffic. HUGE pita for sure!!

[bova80]

i've been using 5w40 now for over 3k miles and haven't smoked yet.

[ericrapp]

I get white smoke out of my exhaust every once in awhile. Doesn't happen every day. I noticed it after I got a test pipe. Kinda sucks because I don't feel like taking my car to the dealership to get another turbo. Seems like a pita. Kinda disappointing that this is happening because I really take care of my car. I always let it warm up, cool down, and change my oil all the time. Kinda makes me wanna just get a v8 car Do not worry for white smoke, its the blue that is the enemy. That blue is the color of oil smoke. When i start my car on cool mornings i steam up my rear window till the exhaust temp gets up.

[SwampAss]

my turbo started smoking the day I got it. So far it's just been smoking Mustangs, STIs, C5 vettes, and the occasional turbo honda.(fu)

[MS3Pilot]

When (if) mine starts smoking, I'll go to the dealer and tell them to fix it. (Under warranty of course) If they fail to comply, I'll go across the street and pick up a WRX. XD

[Wurf]

I'll go to carpart dot com and buy a take-off K04 from a mazdaspeed 2.3 and have it worked by PG then replace it myself. Screw the dealer.