Blown turbo oil caked entire exhaust

pysical

Sergeant
Jun 16, 2017
471
108
0
Ride
2009 335xi E90
I had a rear turbo blow and came the exhaust. I have wet oil at my exhaust tips. I replaced turbos and I have the clouds of white smoke from the oil in exhaust. Should I pull the entire exhaust off and clean it out, or what is a better way to get rid of it all?
 

veer90

Lieutenant
Nov 16, 2016
1,000
774
0
West Nyack, NY
Ride
e90 335i 6MT
send it once a day and check back in a few weeks. multi-gear pulls are the best since it spits fire between shifts or at least my car does
 

Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
If you dont have any cats in your exhaust then just do a few hard pulls, should burn it off and not hurt anything, but oil can clog up cats and cause problems
 

pysical

Sergeant
Jun 16, 2017
471
108
0
Ride
2009 335xi E90
If you dont have any cats in your exhaust then just do a few hard pulls, should burn it off and not hurt anything, but oil can clog up cats and cause problems

I have hi flow cats in the downpipes and I do have stock exhaust from behind that other than the mufflers. When I took the exhaust off and tiled it up, about half a quart of sludge (tan colored oil/water) came slowly running out. So after flushing it with some degreaser and water until no more sludge was coming out (about 40 minutes with pressure washer) I put it back on. Started it up a couple times and still rolling smoke. I am just gonna have to take it for a drive. I didn't want to get them to hot though but maybe they got cleaned enough that not much is left on it.
 

Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
Well check your logs and make sure your fuel trims are okay and beat on it a little and get the exhaust real hot, its gonna smoke until its all cleared out, but if it doesnt stop or your trims look weird that can be a sign of excessive exhast back pressure aka clogged cat
 

pysical

Sergeant
Jun 16, 2017
471
108
0
Ride
2009 335xi E90
Well check your logs and make sure your fuel trims are okay and beat on it a little and get the exhaust real hot, its gonna smoke until its all cleared out, but if it doesnt stop or your trims look weird that can be a sign of excessive exhast back pressure aka clogged cat
Yeah I will do that tomorrow. I just took it out for a drive. I got rid of a lot of the smoke. It isn't smoking much anymore (thank jesus). Hopefully after a few more drives it will be all cleared up.

Ill check my trims tomorrow while I drive to work.
 

SweatyDave

Lurker
Aug 29, 2018
14
16
0
Houston, TX
Ride
BMW z4 e89
This exact thing happened to me when I blew my rear turbo in May of last year (z4 e89). Downpipes with cat delete and stock exhaust behind that. Everybody gave me the same advice (take the exhaust off and stand it up to drain, flush with cleaner, run it hard for a while to let it burn off). Well, I did all of that and it never cleared up and it continued to smoke when it got hot. So I took the rear exhaust off and cut the skin of the muffler to access the internals.

I'm glad I did - because of the configuration of the dampening material in the muffler, there was about a quart of oil/sludge trapped between the two sections of silencer material. Both sections in the exhaust were completely soaked with oil/sludge and there was no way that would have "burned" off.

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I removed all the old silencer material, cleaned, and wrapped some ceramic fiber insulation around each of the perforated pipes to cut down on the noise a little (stainless steel tie wraps).

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I re-welded the skin on and reattached .... and voila, no more smoking.

Sound is a little more deep from that side, but it sounds so good, I'm thinking of removing the other muffler and performing the same modification to improve the overall sound.

I hate to tell you, but from experience, I don't think it will ever "just burn off." I really think the only way to get rid of it is to remove the old insulation and replace.
 
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Zareh335

New Member
Feb 8, 2017
7
0
0
Ride
Bmw 335i
Hey guys wanted to ask you how was your car smoking ? I think i have the same issue, blown turbos before and after replacing them i still have smoke but only when the car is really hot.. when i rev it or full throttle.. is this the way your car smokes ? Bmw 335i e92
 

hardparker

Specialist
Jan 23, 2018
80
33
0
Ride
f25
My turbo failed and soaked the exhaust, too. I removed the exhaust and sprayed three cans of brake cleaner down it from the side where the DP connects. None of it came out, even with it tipped down to drain through the muffler. I suspect it all soaked into the sound absorbing material, along with the oil. When I finally reinstalled the turbo and the exhaust, it's smoked terribly for about 40 miles worth of hard 60 to 100 pulls. After that it was fine.
 
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pysical

Sergeant
Jun 16, 2017
471
108
0
Ride
2009 335xi E90
Well it has been a couple months since this happened. My smoke is pretty much gone once the car warms up. Until then it is very light smoke, but possibly just from it being cold out. I am still chasing down other problems that these turbos have caused.
 

SweatyDave

Lurker
Aug 29, 2018
14
16
0
Houston, TX
Ride
BMW z4 e89
Hey guys wanted to ask you how was your car smoking ? I think i have the same issue, blown turbos before and after replacing them i still have smoke but only when the car is really hot.. when i rev it or full throttle.. is this the way your car smokes ? Bmw 335i e92

That is exactly how my car reacted ... smoked only when hot - usually noticed after spirited driving on the highway and then slowing down on the off ramp and stopped at a light. It was embarrassing. That's the reason I took my exhaust apart and removed the oil-soaked material. I guess it depends on how bad the turbo blew and how much oil traveled through the exhaust. After I blew my turbo, I called the tow truck and watched about a quart of oil run out the tail pipe when it was loaded - so I had a lot of oil trapped in the silencer. I would guess yours is similar ... the material in the front bank of the silencer is likely soaked. You might get lucky and be able to use several cans of brake cleaner. If that doesn't work, I hate to say it, but you may have to remove the material.
 

Zareh335

New Member
Feb 8, 2017
7
0
0
Ride
Bmw 335i
That is exactly how my car reacted ... smoked only when hot - usually noticed after spirited driving on the highway and then slowing down on the off ramp and stopped at a light. It was embarrassing. That's the reason I took my exhaust apart and removed the oil-soaked material. I guess it depends on how bad the turbo blew and how much oil traveled through the exhaust. After I blew my turbo, I called the tow truck and watched about a quart of oil run out the tail pipe when it was loaded - so I had a lot of oil trapped in the silencer. I would guess yours is similar ... the material in the front bank of the silencer is likely soaked. You might get lucky and be able to use several cans of brake cleaner. If that doesn't work, I hate to say it, but you may have to remove the material.
The thing is my turbo wasnt that bad before i changed them out but im thinking of changing the catback to see if it fixes the problem. I dont get smoke on a stop light just when i rev it and when i let it rest a bit when its warm and than start it up again in like 2 mins it puffs a big cloud of smoke. You think i try another muffler ?
 

SweatyDave

Lurker
Aug 29, 2018
14
16
0
Houston, TX
Ride
BMW z4 e89
The thing is my turbo wasnt that bad before i changed them out but im thinking of changing the catback to see if it fixes the problem. I dont get smoke on a stop light just when i rev it and when i let it rest a bit when its warm and than start it up again in like 2 mins it puffs a big cloud of smoke. You think i try another muffler ?

Hmmm, it sounds like there still may be oil in the exhaust ... and possibly in the catback/muffler. Sounds like the insulation material may not be as badly soaked, but you likely have oil trapped between both silencer packs. The reason I think this is because if the insulation material was soaked, you'd likely be getting more heat soak and see smoking after a prolonged run (where higher/hotter exhaust heats up and starts burning the oil-soaked insulation) and then seeing smoke when you slow down or stop. It sounds like in your case, you only see the smoke after the exhaust gets hot and then when you restart/rev .... likely pushing some trapped oil in the catback out and splashing on the hot exhaust pipe. Of course, this is only a guess .... but a sure way to see is to replace the catback. If it still happens after replacing the catback, then you've got oil further upstream and hopefully not coming from the turbo. I don't think this is the case, becasue you'd see smoking earlier in the run (not just after it heats up).

You could always cut the exhaust loose about 6 inches before the muffler and test run. It will of course be loud, but after it gets warm, shut the car off and restart to see if there is smoke. No smoke = oil in the muffler. Smoke = another problem (oil upstream). Just use a good clamp to clamp it back or replace the muffler. Here is the clamp I used (with high temp sealant) : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077TGFS7N/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good luck!