white smoke from exhaust

[Blair Deane Thompson]

I am burning huge amounts of white smoke from exhaust. Engine barely runs, as if it choking to death. Whats going on?

[9-3 Aero]

Not having information pertaining to engine type (MY, hp etc.) or mileage, is my first thought turbo failure. The Garret turbos (given in question) does have their life expectancy, whatever that may be.

Typical symptoms at a turbo breakdown is white smoke from oil being burned by the exhaust, and loss of power.

[Blair Deane Thompson]

thank you for telling me also thinking sludge might be the reason and the oil is being burned really quickly.

[Finding41]

Check the pipe that goes into the throttle body. Inside the throttle body you will probably see oil. It's probably coming from the turbo.

[cynicaldriver]

I also have oil in the intake and, after tearing most of the top off my motor, I have narrowed it down to the block that controls the oil pressure. This has caused some engine issues (unsteady rpm and boost) with light smoke (but only for a min after startup.)

In your case, I would bet on the turbo though (which I initially thought was my problem) because of how severe the symptoms are.

I bought a rebuild kit for my turbo anyway and am going to go ahead and do that. Try rebuilding before replacing. As long as the impeller blades are still good (not banged up) you should be able to get by with that.

[Finding41]

Before you take the impeller off the shaft. Make sure you mark it and the shaft so it can go back on the same spot and be balanced.
Note: Only the compressor side comes off the shaft and it is threaded backwards.
I did mine. I won't do it again.
Tip; Buy the whole cartridge. It will save you about 5 hours of cleaning the old one with dental tools. (Ues good ones.) If you can get it apart.

[cynicaldriver]

I am pretty sure the garrett turbos are self balanced from the start, meaning it should not need to be marked.