Fuel From the Turbo

[mistasherm]

Good afternoon. It’s been a while since I’ve searched and read the forum b/c I’ve been away from my build for some time (long story). But I’m back and having some odd issues. I’m running a 2004 WRX turbo motor and running into some odd results. The motor was running but oil was coming out of the turbo. I sent the video to a local shop and they told me it was running on two cylinders which was allowing oil to bypass(?). So I did some wire tracing and continuity testing and attempted again to get it running. Now I have no spark and fuel spewing out of the turbo when it tries to turn over. This is a 3+ year build that was met with multiple, unintended breaks and I’m just trying to get back into it. Thanks in advance for any help, I know folks are busy with their own builds.

[Ajzride]

Could you maybe take a picture and draw an arrow to where the fuel is coming out? I'm having trouble imagining this.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Good afternoon. It’s been a while since I’ve searched and read the forum b/c I’ve been away from my build for some time (long story). But I’m back and having some odd issues. I’m running a 2004 WRX turbo motor and running into some odd results. The motor was running but oil was coming out of the turbo. I sent the video to a local shop and they told me it was running on two cylinders which was allowing oil to bypass(?). So I did some wire tracing and continuity testing and attempted again to get it running. Now I have no spark and fuel spewing out of the turbo when it tries to turn over. This is a 3+ year build that was met with multiple, unintended breaks and I’m just trying to get back into it. Thanks in advance for any help, I know folks are busy with their own builds.

FIRST THING, IF YOU HAVE FUEL COMING OUT OF YOUR TURBO. DISCONNECT THE BATTERY. DO NOT TRY AND START THIS ENGINE. BIG FIRE HAZARD.

Your First Statement "The motor was running but oil was coming out of the turbo." Where on the turbo was the oil coming out? There is oil in and oil out connections that could be leaking. The is a oil seal internal that my be leaking.

Next statement "I sent the video to a local shop and they told me it was running on two cylinders which was allowing oil to bypass(?)" Not sure what your shop means by this. Maybe you should get a second opinion. Post the video on here. There is a bunch of good engine guys here that will help you out.

During your testing, did you change any wiring or hoses?

Your Statement "Now I have no spark and fuel spewing out of the turbo when it tries to turn over" All as I can say here is WOW. I can't imagine how fuel is getting to your TURBO.
Please be careful, BIG FIRE HAZARD if you have fuel leaking anywhere.

[mistasherm]

Battery is disconnected and there is no restart until I definitively figure out what is going on. I will try to post the video. There is no exhaust on the turbo, the fuel is coming straight out of the fin cartridge (so was the oil). I did not change any wiring or hoses; I just traced and checked for continuity at connections.

[mistasherm]

Can’t post video - but picture a sputtering engine with oil coming out of the turbo where the exhaust normally is bolted on. It is not leaking at any of the oil in/out lines. Literally coming out of the rear of the turbo where exhaust normally exits.

[Ajzride]

You will have to post videos to youtube and link them here for us to see.

I can only imagine a few wild scenarios that would lead to fuel in the turbo. One would be a fuel injector stuck wide open, either from a clog or a wiring error that was causing it to just pump fuel in constantly. This could possibly result in a piston combustion chamber filling up with fuel and getting pushed into the exhaust pipe and into the hot side of the turbo. Another would be if the fuel pressure regulator is busted on the inside and fuel is being pushed through the vacuum port and into the intake manifold, which could make it's way to the cold side of the turbo.

Based on your comments, it seems like it is on the hot side, so perhaps

- remove all of your injectors from the intake and unplug them from the harness
- Turn the key to the RUN position (without turning the car over)
- One by one take your fuel injectors, point them into a fuel proof container, and plug the harness in to see if they start pumping fuel into the container.


This would let you know if you have an injector dumping fuel in unmetered.

Someone else feel free to chime in if I'm way off base.

[Kurk818]

I had something similar with a faulty MAF. Disconnect the plug for the MAF sensor and try turning it over.

[mistasherm]

Ajzride - a fellow builder mentioned that might be the case with the fuel injectors. I’m still baffled that I’m lot getting spark or that I may have a faulty coil tester. I will start with the injector idea and work from there.

[mistasherm]

https://youtu.be/Nz-wi6VpJ6Q

[Kurk818]

https://youtu.be/Nz-wi6VpJ6Q

You werent kidding! Thats a lot of fuel!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Thanks for posting the video.
I agree the only 1 or 2 cylinders is firing. I believe that the gas vapor from the non-firing cylinders is what is coming out of the turbo hot side exhaust.
So let's attack the spark problem first.
#1 disconnect to power from the fuel pump. We don't want any more fuel flying all over the place.

#2 You said you were not getting spark. How are you testing this? I use a cheap tool that looks like this.

132539

[mistasherm]

Bob - I used a light tester on the coils and none of them lit. To be honest, I’m not sure it was a good model, I borrowed it. I do have a spark tester that I picked up today and I will follow your advice and see if I can figure some things out. I was really cooking along on the build and two years ago I left my govt job (retired Marine with 21 years ground combat) and moved back to my hometown to support my mom and my dad (he has Alzheimer’s). Four kids, a dog and the kit car, so you can imagine where the kit fell on the priority list. But I’m determined to get back in it. It fired up right away on my “first start” try but I had significant white smoke and oil from the turbo. TMI for the current situation but I’d figure I’d give some background on the scene. I do appreciate yours and everyone’s help on the forum. I was an avid forum stalker during the build and I’m determined to finish. I’ll let you know what I figure out. Thanks again!

[Jetfuel]

Just plugging the the injector to the plug will not show if it is working or not, it needs the signal or pulse from the computer to open and spray..

Jet

[iblackwe]

This is a wild shot but always remember black connectors to the back (transmission side) on the coil packs, the white connectors belong to the front (timing cover side) cylinders. My engine was running on two cylinders because of this as well and would backfire quite a bit until I figured this out.

Hope this helps.

Ian

[mistasherm]

Ian - thats is a good way of remembering it. I nearly made myself dizzy holding the wiring diagram pic oriented frontwards to check my connections.