What would be the most likely cause for an ea82t to smoke? I'm looking at buying one with 175k on the clock. I would say ring job on any other vehicle but this is a subie. How can you tell if its the turbo?

diesel

well there could be a very bad oil leak, from the cam cover seals, leaking onto the exhaust or rear main, or 1/2 in hose underneith the turbo leaking coolant , look under oil cap, look in radiator , pull dipstick for water , if your going to buy it , also look at the drive axles, any past records , look for any rust , all depends on price

Sometimes the oil return on the underside of the turbo will spit oil all over the up pipe and smoke like hell. The last car i bought for a friend billowed out smokey exhaust and when we pulled the turbo off the oil return line had swollen and distorted so bad that the oil couldn't return to the pan and was leaking through the turbo and all around the bottom. Replaced line for $8, no problems. HE GOT THIS CAR FOR CHEAP, the guy thought either the rings or the turbo were shot.

I think the smoke is out the exhaust. I'm guessing its the turbo.

Pcv?

As northwet said, the most common cause of exhaust smoke on subarus is a bad PCV valve. Something about the way the system was designed makes subarus especially susceptable to this, and this condition is aggravated by using anything besides a genuine subaru PCV valve. Look in the PCV hose and see if it's got a bunch of oil in there. If so, that's probably your culprit.

 

As for a turbo subaru, it's quite possible that the oil seal(s) is leaking and spewing oil either into the intake or the exhaust. Take off the intake plenum and see if it's coated in oil inside. Having very little experience with turbo cars, I'm not sure how you could go about checking the exhaust side seal other than wiggling the shaft to check for excess play, which would indicate a bad turbo.

Thanks snowman that's what i'm lookin for: a where and a how and a take this apart. I just hope the guy lets me at the car with some tools befor I buy it.

 

byron