It only starts burning oil 30 seconds after I am sitting at a red light.

What exactly causes this?

 

you need a rebuild. it's common after about a year of use. one of the major reasons to upgrade the turbo to something with real ball bearings and coolant instead of oil for cooling.

if you don't fix it, it will start to smoke more and more.

 

I already know its toast. I bought a spare turbo and sent it out to BNR for the upgrade.

I was just curious why it only smokes at idle. I could drive it on the highway no problem. City driving is pretty embarasing. Most people think my car is on fire.

 

It needs to smoke before the Obama tax goesinto effect.

Once the tax hits its too expensive to smoke.

 

i would guess that it smokes at idle because the seals are worn and the shaft has excessive play. this lets oil out which burns in your exhaust. when you're driving there's enough pressure to seal it up.

 

So if I clutch-in and rev the engine, would I prevent the smoking?

 

greddy turbos usually only smoke after intercourse (ie when they are f**ked)

 

why stop there? put on the ebrake and light up the tires during red lights.

 

curious , what kind of oil have you been using ?

That is something not discussed much around here with regards to turbos and how to get more life out of them ....

 

use synthetic, harder to cook the oil.

 

my thoughts exactly

 

Royal Purple 5w30 synthetic

 

for reference i have 12000 miles on 5w40 synthetic

Have not heard of anyone getting any more than 20000 miles on one - perhaps if the restrictor and oil viscosity was perfect we would see more

 

don't count on it. I had the oil restrictor in place too and was telling people how my turbo didn't have issues. then it started to smoke one day, with no warning.