DougZ

OK, I have a 2002 WRX with turbo. The car has 102K miles on it, and has the oil changed regularly with Castrol Full Synthetic. On a couple occasions..middle of winter, when I would let the dealer change the oil, still used full synthetic, but I think they use Mobile 1. In anycase, its been synthetic since about 12K miles on.

I let the car warm up every morning...especially in the colder months. Its not a long warm up...just long enough to get the temp guage till about the middle of where it normally resides on the guage.

As of late....four times to be exact, this winter, after letting the car warm up to full tempature, and then getting in to go down the road.....I have noticed smoke and the smell of burning oil, coming from under the hood. I will pull over and check to see where it is coming from. It appears to be coming from the turbo itself, but hard to tell exactly where due to the heat shields being in the way.

When I get going down the road and have the car up to speed, the burnng of oil goes away andthe car is fine till next time I see it again. There is no drop in oil pressure, or real loss of oil.

This morning, was the worst of what I have seen as far as smoke. But yet again, upon driving to work...about 25 miles....there is no more smoke or burning oil when I get to y destination.

Questions:
1. I am not super familiar with Turbos...but I have heard they have a life...meaning after a certain amount of miles, they wear out. Could this be my issues??

2. Is letting the car warm up bad for the turbo?? I read some searched threads before posting this, and it seemed like it may not be a great idea.

3. Is this issue common with the WRX turbo?

4. If the turbo is bad and I need to replace, how hard is it to do?? I am fairly mechanical, just never worked on turbos, so not sure what to expect.

5. If I have to go as far as changing the whole turbo, are there any bigger turbos that make for an easy bolt on, with out getting too crazy with mods to the car?

As always, thanks for any and all help from you guys.

DZ

BIG GUN

Anything mechanical will eventually wear.
You should prewarm a turbo car to allow for expansion of parts.
Mobil 1 is very viscous, and has a low ash content so it has a tendency to find any place that it can slip through. If you use it for a while, you may find that the problem will correct its self.

STi Ver 1

iTrader: (3)

When the turbo goes bad they usually leak oil from the inside and the smoke will come out the exhaust. If you have smoke from under the hood then I think it's most likely another oil leak. I've seen a lot of old WRX here in Japan leak from the right side valve cover gasket. When the car cools down the oil will collect on the exhaust Manifold covers. When you start to drive, the manifold heats up and the oil smokes off. Usually goes away after a few mins. I've also seen the oil return line from the turbo dry out and leak a little bit. Usually doesn't smoke much though I'd check the valve cover gaskets first. Good luck. Scott