Supercharger.. black/gray smoke when floored.

[LoboGrandeMalo]

I have a 01 bullitt with a built engine. When I floor the car up around 3500+rpm black / gray smoke comes out of the exhaust. Its only under boost. Is this because my supercharger seals are broken? If I drive the car slowly to 3500+rpm it doesn't do it.. Only at WOT. Any ideas?

Thanks


01 Bullitt GT. 4.6 SOHC Ported/Flowed Heads/Cams/Long Tube Headers/3.73/Ethanol kit/Vortech Supercharger @10psi..

 

[2BADSTANGS]

Pull the piping after your 'charger and look for oil. I have a procharger and am unfromiliar with the vortechs, is the oil self contained or does it share engine oil? I know occasionally my 'charger sucks a little oil out of the valve cover vent, but never enough to cause it to smoke.

 

[justinschmidt1]

When your running rich your exhaust will be black.

I wouldnt worry about it.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

It sounds most certainly like a very rich (safe) tune. You're not seeing any black smoke when you bring it up slowly, because you're still running under vacuum. When you bring it up hard, you're under positive manifold pressure (boost) and the computer or FMU compensates by adding additional fuel to the mixture.

Have you’re A/F ratio checked under load. It’s possible that you’re running more richly than you need to. It should be around 11.5:1 under full boost conditions.

 

[LoboGrandeMalo]

I kind of thought it could be to rich up top@wot..

I thought it being rich was adding to it too.. but when i take the air filter off its soaked with oil...... The vortech runs off engine oil. -- and it does suck a lot of oil out of the valve cover(a lot). If I put a breather on the vavle cover 30 minutes later my hood is soaked with oil so i just leave it connected to vacume.... ... -- i have very lumpy cams?

Thanks.. you guys are probably right i just have a really safe tune..

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Ughhh...all that oil in the intake?!? You might have some major blow by going on. What kind of shape is your engine in? How many miles? Might be a good idea to have a compression test done.

 

[LoboGrandeMalo]

compression test.

it should have around 3k on it... im going to compression test the cylinders today and post back....... what could cause this? the car isnt pulling like it used.. i just got back from iraq and i think the storage unit that i left it at messed with my car .... this doesnt sound good...

 

[LoboGrandeMalo]

Spark gaps? and what kind of plugs.?

What kind of plugs should i have in my car.. and what should be the spark gap?

thanks

 

[Gearbanger 101]

I've got a set of NGK TR6 plugs in my 4.6L. They're 1.5-2 heat ranges colder than stock, which is what you want with a forced induction set up. Gap them at about .032-.035 at the most.

 

[MyBloodRunsBlue]

yea i have my ngk tr6's gapped at .032...

 

[justinschmidt1]

the oil is from blow by...you can buy a little thing that catches the blow by before it enters the intake

 

[Gearbanger 101]

the oil is from blow by...you can buy a little thing that catches the blow by before it enters the intake

That "little thing" you're reffering to is called an oil separator. But judging by the amount of oil he's seeing, he's got bigger problems than pulling a little oil through the PCV line.

His air filter shouldn't be contaminated what so ever and the fact that after a 30-min drive with the breather out of the valve cover, his entire under hood area is covered in oil, tells me he's got major issues.

Was this engine freshly built with 3,000-miles on it LoboGrandeMalo, or has it only had 3,000-miles put on it since the blower install? It almost sounds as though you've got a broken ring land or something that's allowing the oil to be forced out of the crank case, past the rings under pressure from the blower? Either way....seeing that much oil in the intake is very unnatural!

 

[Roblu98]

How much Boost are you running?

 

[LoboGrandeMalo]

The engine had 0 miles on it with blower install....(rebuilt of course). Its got a real problem....... I cant get it to push steady boost.. sometimes its 5 sometimes its 10-14.. i havent seen 14psi in a while. 1st and 2nd gear are always 5psi 3rd hits 10-- somtimes -- then bounces back to 5............

maybe that give you some more info?

The car appears to run fine if I dont go into boost... I think it is a little rich.. before i left iraq... the car ran a 10.8-9 at night and an 11.0-2 in the day.. It dynoed 510rwhp.. it had around ... 2000 miles on it first time it saw the track. How much would cost to fix do you think? -- nothing has been changed but spark plugs and oil etc.. basics.. and rebuilt trans.. -- I dont even think the car can run 13's as it is now..

Thanks guys..

 

[blksq10psi]

im gonna agree with GearBanger ive seen a guy melt some rings and his car ran fine untill boost. and at idle when he took the breather off you could see puffs of smoke comming out of the valve cover

 

[LoboGrandeMalo]

Hey thanks for the info.. Appreciate it..

 

[Gearbanger 101]

One more thing before you go tearing into the engine, check all of your silicone couplers connecting the piping to the head unit and bypass system. The erratic boost levels tell me that there may be a leak at one or more of the connections can often result in a loss of boost and an as a result an excessively rich A/F ratio. The excessive oil in the intake still bothers me though and I hope you’re exaggerating some on that. You may also consider the fact that a new engine will use a little oil when the rings are seating, but it shouldn’t be too excessive.

Did you perform a compression test? What were the results?

 

[urban96]

the wierd boost levels could also be a vaccume leak

but it sounds like bad rings or the rings were never properly seated

 

[Stanger007]

If you've got quite a bit of oil upstream from the blower, I would also look for a blown oil seal on the supercharger.

Wes