2006 Apex burning oil?!

[17RTXSidewinderLE]

Some details here - I bought the sled used with an mpi supercharger on it . It is pullied for 10 pounds and has a diverter valve that can be opened to allow boost out of intercooler to atmosphere . Running this valve all the way open has the sled running 6-6.5 pounds. Gradually shutting it will net you increases up to 10-11 psi when closed all the way . Full disclosure - I was unaware of how this was setup initially ...I may have closed the valve when I did the oil change not knowing . I drove it around going , “why is this thing running so lean?!” Uh duh it’s running 10 psi and barely has enough fuel for 6 . It had a junk gems controller on which I ditched for the pcv5 and have cleaned up the running of this sled .

I’ll get to the point now - it has idled low since I got it (around 1000-1100 rpm) haven’t messed with anything - it will sit around 1400 once at operating temp. I blamed this on the additional load of the supercharger and stock idle adjustment. Well I put 500kms on this sled and the oil light comes on - it took a full litre to top it off . It appeared to get worse as I did a local trip (around 50kms) and burnt another 1/3 of a litre . Sled runs good other than the oil consumption. Just today once up to operating temp it starts smoking steadily -a white haze out from under headlight area . Has a bit of a sweet smell - not mixing any oil/ coolant that I can see .

I started assuming it had blowby past the rings on a cylinder or two - now I’m not so sure . Is it possible that I’ve popped the headgasket and it is burning coolant / oil but not mixing ? No oil leaking anywhere - oil filter checks out / nothing in bottom of belly pan -mpi tig welded oil tank isn’t leaking anywhere . I’m positive it’s burning it and I was convinced it was blowby . I planned to drive this thing and finish the season just topping it off , however , the smoking / smell of coolant & oil . Rings?Headgasket ? Combination?

I checked coolant level and for mixture of oil when I added the initial litre to top it off (0W40) . Coolant level was fine - I’d say it looks like it’s gone down maybe 1 1/2 - 2 inches in the coolant reservoir since it started smoking out from under the headlight today.

I apologize for the lengthy post. Wanted to give a detailed description and backstory on the sled. Thanks in advance for any insight / advice .

 

[17RTXSidewinderLE]

I let the sled idle until the coolant temp hit 155F, it starts pouring out white smoke under headlight area around 130. No obvious leaks or wet spots - looks like the smoke is coming out from underside of the exhaust ports off the engine just above or around the headgasket. I assume it has just progressed from burning oil to now burning oil and coolant. I will pull the plugs tonight - I assume i'm going to find at least one very white from burning coolant. Compression test after that ....broken ring land(s) on one piston? Not sure what to expect yet - I will say boost sure seems to hide a lot of problems. Aside of the oil consumption (unaware until half way through a 500km trip) this thing never missed a beat and pulled hard. Still starts/idles fine with no unusual noises ... here's to hoping its a relatively cheap/quick fix so I can make the rest of the season.

 

[kinger]

Sounds like a head gasket. On my nitrous RX1 I did the same thing and it made the same smells and burned oil. Get a leak down test on it if you can.

 

[17RTXSidewinderLE]

Kind of good news - definitely leaking from the headgasket once it’s up to operating temp (good call Kinger!). That explains the white smoke rolling out from under the headlight and coolant smell . However that doesn’t solve my oil consumption problem - I will know for sure what I’m dealing with once I pull the head . Is it possible that my oil consumption is due to running 0w40 full synthetic on a boosted sled ? I see some complain about oil consumption with full synthetic - specifically 0w40 and some suggestions are to run 10w30 semi synthetic . Any insight ?

 

[kinger]

The 0W40 can be thin but if you start your sled in negative temps frequently it will be better for the engine. Once warm the 40 wt is nice and thick to help reduce consumption issues.

Mine was using oil when the headgasket went out. Get that head off and check everything. (big job!) Did you run a Leak Down? What were you numbers? up to 10% is ok. less the better obviously.

 

[steiner]

Kind of good news - definitely leaking from the headgasket once it’s up to operating temp (good call Kinger!). That explains the white smoke rolling out from under the headlight and coolant smell . However that doesn’t solve my oil consumption problem - I will know for sure what I’m dealing with once I pull the head . Is it possible that my oil consumption is due to running 0w40 full synthetic on a boosted sled ? I see some complain about oil consumption with full synthetic - specifically 0w40 and some suggestions are to run 10w30 semi synthetic . Any insight ?

Is it the head gasket that is leaking or one of the two coolant pipes that go into the top of the head? Seen a few posts where the O-ring on those pipes fail and leak.

 

[17RTXSidewinderLE]

Well I had assumed the worst - but now i'm not sure what to think. I've got the seat,tank, headlight and all other shrouds off. A mess of wiring is stopping me from getting a good look at the valve cover. I set the tank on a milk crate next to the sled - hooked up the fuel line and power to the fuel pump. I then extended the return line with another piece of hose and hooked it to the return nipple. I removed the heatshield that covers the manifolds as well. This allows me to get a good look at everything.

I start the sled up and let it run like that keeping an eye on the coolant temp gauge until it hits 155F . This is the 5th time i've done this. Previous attempts were prior to having everything removed just trying to get a good look. The white haze is almost nonexistent I had the slightest hint of white smoke and the sweet smell is not near as strong as it was. I noticed some coolant stains on the heat shield ...it looks like the coolant came from up top but I can't visually see anything leaking . Keep in mind this is at idle under vacuum , i'm assuming the system is being pressurized due to a blown headgasket and blowing coolant out of the overflow down onto the heat shield. Unless of course the issue is one of those two coolant pipes but as it's idling I am no longer seeing the white haze nor am I seeing anything leaking. Previously when it was smoking like a sieve it was after getting back from that short 50km drive (hard driving at 6 - 6.5 psi). I let the sled cool off 4 or 5 times after that trip and each time I let it warm up to 155 and it would continue the constant white haze and awful sweet smell.

I'm torn - I know there is an issue obviously due to how much oil it is burning. I figure i'll do a leakdown and compression test tonight - IF those check out i'm going to throw 4 new plugs at it and do another local trip. If it starts smoking bad again then I assume it's forcing coolant out of the overflow under boost ....right? Sled has 8500 miles on it - not sure how many of those were boosted . Stock CR as far as I know. I spoke with someone locally who is VERY knowledgeable and he said it doesn't sound like a headgasket - told me to look at the coolant pipes / hoses as steiner suggested. He seemed to think that my oil consumption is due to the cylinders being out of round .

I appreciate the input - apologies for lack of testing . I've been busy at work with little time when I get home and just trying to do process of elimination in my head given what information I have. Plan to do the leakdown/compression test tonight for sure and go from there.

 

[17RTXSidewinderLE]

Well I couldn’t find my adapter hoses for my compression tester . Didn’t have the right size thread - I did pull all of the plugs just to see . I will post them from left to right (sitting on the sled ) . I posted two pictures of the last plug as it almost looks like coolant is laying on the bottom of the crush washer after I pulled it out and flipped it . The first cylinder and final cylinder (two outera) both look like they possibly have burnt some coolant ..thoughts ?

Edit - I also noticed the plug gapping was way off ..closest was the final I believe around .028 and the others were 0.030 + the worst being the first if I recall at 0.035.