Have you checked your fluid levels, usually oil is blue not so much white, but its hard to tell because ther is so much smoke. I know i wouldn't drive it anymore for right now.

 

you have the worst luck with that car.

 

Jeez man, when does it end?

 

i burn 1/2 quart every 20 miles. the seals blew while i was boosting up over this nice long hill on the tollroad (i had to keep about 5psi on the manifold to keep going 75) and could only stop to check the level because i was on a time crunch with a business delivery. the car was parked until tonight. my friend brought 2 quarts, picked me up and we continued on to work about 40 miles further away from home.

from what i have seen and heard you will get blue smoke from oil burning in the combustion chamber, white smoke from oil coming out of the turbo and burning in the catalytic converter.

also, i am getting oil spray out of the dipstick, telling me that the sump is being pressurized due to exhaust gasses, probably entering at the turbo return line. to the best of my knowledge, the white smoke and the oil out the fill tube would both be symptomatic of a blown turbo seal.

i am slightly frustrated and slightly annoyed with myself. i knew there was too much play on that turbo when i pulled it off. i showed it to Gabe, who was helping me, when we pulled the head off my motor. both he and i thought it needed to be rebuilt. i should have purchased a rebuild kit then, but put it off because i was not having problems prior.

well, everything went back together after doing the HG. you remember the white smoke / steam i had mentioned? it cleared up, then kept coming back in puffs. i think the subsequent puffs were the turbo seals starting to go.

it only finally got really bad today and tonight.

funny it went now, right after i switch to 10w30 after running 20w50 for so long.

i need a daily driver. that way i can continue driving my Saab the way i want to drive it, and still be able to get where i need to go every day. i dont want to drive my c900 in stop and go traffic, i dont want to drive it doing deliveries for work, i do want to drive it on long trips, on weekends, going skiing, in the rain and in the snow (there is no salt usage allowed in Big Bear or on the way up, it would contaminate the local water supply).

i dont think it will ever end.

 

Ugh, sorry to hear this man!

I forget, what oil seal/thrust bearing do you have on this turbo?

 

Need to spend the big bucks on best on the net turbo, thats what it looks like to me, after 3 "new" turbos in a year. Its a false economy. I don't think high mileage turbos like being transplanted or disturbed. I changed the turbo about 3 months ago for a te05 with very, very little shaft play, 2 months later it starts making crazy spoolup noises, and then the seals let go.
In my case it was blue smoke under acceleration, I think the difference is whether the seal is letting the oil into the compressor or exhaust side of the turbo. Luckily was spotted just before HG job and I swapped in another turbo I had lying around, has at least 100,000 miles on it. I checked oil lines, they were clear, hence did not cause the failure of the last turbo. I don't hold much hope for this one though either.

 

Upgraded T3's need this:
http://www.saabperformanceparts.com/item244.htm

 

i know not if the seals are 360 degree, the thrust bearing certainly is.

i figured the seals were going with the puffs i was getting in the past couple of days so i already have a bearing and seal kit in the mail, cost a bit under 50 from gpopshop.

philb, i think blown seals on the intake side would cause blue smoke as the oil will be burned in the combustion chamber as compared to seals on the exhaus side, burning the oil in the cat.

i did have a lot more play on the exhaust side of my turbo than on the intake side.

 

i took a few minutes to start getting stuff out of the way so that i can rebuild my turbo this week (rebuild kit is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, Monday).

i did not yet pull the turbo out, will probably get that done today. i did pull the intake off and that was, surprise!, quite well lubricated with rather fresh 10w30. the exhaust elbow was pulled off after that, then the wastegate housing.

here are some pics of the housing. everything that looks wet, is, well, wet. the oil present here has not burned off only because the car was last started just long enough for me to drive the 20 feet total to get across the street and into the driveway.

 

i think i have blown turbo seals. White smoke billows out the exhaust pipe. I'm in Los Angeles and need to drive to Upstate New York. My car runs fine. Do you think I can just drive it across country in this condition? I have a friend in NY who can repair it. Thanks.

 

White smoke can also be a leaking head gasket. Check the oil. If it looks like chocolate milk, you've blown a HG.

Either way, this car isn't getting you across country.

 

^ what he said, and whetever it is, definately try to fix it before your crosscountry drive...

Dont wanna upset anything else along the way.

Blown turbo seals usually result in Blue Smoke out the back (burning oil).

Is your car overheating?

have you checked the coolant level in the expansion res?