Hi guys bought a 90 tt with 98xxx on it. Has a sticker from unique autosports that was serviced at 90,000km and as far as I can tell the timing belt was changed then (was written on belt). However the exhaust has a leak and the car hasnt really been driven over the last 4 years. I drove it home and it was blowing smoke occasionally, most on deceleration. The fluids definitely need to be changed I know that. It is also running 15-16psi with a greedy manual boost controller. I was thinking of pulling the engine out and replacing all the gaskets, plus refurbing the turbos. Would this be recommended? Is changing the gaskets worth it with an engine with this low kms. Or should I just pull it out to inspect it plus do deletes and give it a deep clean (its very dirty). Cheers
Drop me a line if you want some seals I have some leftover OEM ones and cheap. Recommend you do a little more due diligence first though; check intake for oil, leakdown test, check dump pipes for oil.
What colour is the smoke? I'd suggest changing fluids first and maybe use a heavier weight engine oil (nW50 or nW60).
Do a normal service first before you anything else, oil, filters, check the plugs, gap them to .35mm for that boost pressure. Get a can of deoxit, spray all the connectors you can see, especially the coil pack connectors easy, and the injectors connectors, which can be difficult to remove if their the old style connector. In general spray every connector you can, and tighten every vacuum/fuel hose you can,then drive it round for a week or so, remember its been sitting round for 4 years, the engine needs to be run before you make any decisions like pulling it out.
After 4 years of not driving, no oil in the top of the engine the valve stem seals will be dry and hard. Definitely change your oil and then try a seal rejuvenation product, there is a specific one for valve stem seals. Worth a go for about $30 a bottle. Valve stem seals cost SFA but it is a hell of a lot of work to replace them, you don't have to pull the engine out though if you have the correct tools.
Blue smoke when coming off throttle. I am going to change all fluids, busy with uni and just collecting part at the moment. Ill check out the heavier oil cheers. this car is the most dirty used under 100k car in the world if the odo is true hahah Its been run occasionally but I will check this out. Ordered deoxit just then. Problem is it hasn't been registered and needs a blue slip, hard to get that driving time in when its still blowing smoke.
Often if the speedo numbers are not nice and straight it is a sign its been tampered with. With earth moving equipment we used to look at the pedals. cars interior is a pretty good sign. Obviously anything can be not original. To be honest sitting around is worse. Im on an oil rig built in 2006 but left cold stacked in a shipyard for 2 years. It looks like the Titanic and probably has just as big a hole in the side going by how hard the bilge pumps are running. Seen less rust on rigs twice the age of this that have been kept working. Anyway good luck with the car. As Rob has said check the car out a bit before you go fixing 1 thing. there might be a few things you can do together while you have bits apart. If your pulling the plenum there will be a list on here somewhere of all the items to check or replace if you've gone that far. Drive it a bit you might find it needs a gearbox or diff or compression is stuffed. Might be easier to get a second hand motor , who knows
Decided in my long term interest of tracking the car to rebuild the engine. Will be changing all seals and gaskets. This is more a preventive maintenance issue than fixing this exact one.