what color is the smoke that your seeing? is it a darker color? if its a bit of a darker color, and a fuel smell with the CEL, it could just be a bit rich. A rich condition like that will trip the CEL cause the stock o2 sensors arent sure whats going on..

 

I have a slightly similar problem hopefully someone can shed some light.

Quick rundown of specs:

T61, SAFCII, Stock INjectors, 12v Mod, Stock gaskets, Stock Boost (7psi), OBD1

My car has been running beautifully for over 1000 miles on the turbo and not a single problem (knock on wood). My SAFC is not tuned except that the Lo-Throttle point is at -5%. (0-1200 RPM). I was idling in the 14's for 1 year and running perfectly with no smoke and no problems what so ever.

Recently, my car started to idle VERY lean to the point where the numbers were showing up as "---" on my AEM Wideband.

Now the car seems like its running a little rich under moderate boost (not WOT). It only feels like everyday its getting leaner during idle and its starting to scare me. Before i take to my buddies shop to diagnose i wanted to hear some of your opinions. Thank you.

No Intercooler leaks, and no vacuum lines are leaking either from what i checked so its not a boost leak!

Help =/

 

Try to not thread jack. Take it to your buddies shop. Try resetting the ecu. If it was running as good as you say it was with the current SAFCII settings, then dont touch those.

Its not like snow white, its hard to describe the color of smoke when the color behind it varies. but its generally a white/light gray. Maybe its rich..but the afr's are reading generally almost perfect. Ill give it a few more trial runs to see if the smoke clears..and as for the CEL, Im gonna bet my money its a misfire code.

 

sounds like you finally did it. I wouldn't worry too much about the smoke. either its a little oil getting past the seals or you just need to break everything in. I also wouldn't be surprised if the walls of your exhaust were coated in a layer of gas from your last settings.
also the popping isnt a big deal, but is probably due to the bov being vented to atmosphere or the unmetered air through the valvecover, the ecu should adjust.
if it keeps persisting then we can look further into it but get some miles on the setup first.

Im glad you are getting good afr's now. the stock ecu is pretty smart in vac if you dont confuse it. you probably threw a bank 1 or 2 too lean code which is common when youre tweaking your tune, its usually when you enter the transition part between vac and boost. not a big deal though, you just need to tweak those TPS point a little bit to match exactly when your turbo starts to come on, or richen up the high settings a bit more. your'e like 90% there man.

 

Didn't mean to jack just wanted to see if my problem could have been related to yours..if its not then i wouldnt of continued to comment!

 

Didnt you do the same to someone elses thread ?
So why knock on someone thats looking for the same help you are ? i thought this was a help thread

 

I Pm'd mortal. you need to zero out your low settings and reset your ecu unless you have one of those magical turbos that boosts or restricts airflow at idle (<-- sarcasm).

 

This is not a court room..thank you however for keeping up with my activity. Im touched. As I am the OP in THIS thread, allow me to have the last word and say that I was at least kind enough to show my presence as a potential thread jacker and said sorry in advance for my "quick question." If you feel it necessary to continue this dialogue, if you will, feel free to PM me. It was not clear that our problems were the same, my goal was to prevent having 2 different problems being solved at the same time to prevent confusion in said "help thread"

 

K Ill put some more miles on her and see what happens. Should I for safety sake get the codes checked out? Also...my boost gauge is reading vac at a steady 15-16..Should it not be at 20? or atleast higher then whats being given? Ill double check all my lines and Im gonna go buy fuel line for my catch can.

 

12-20in/hg for vacuum is ok..and yes get the codes checked out.

 

Will do as soon i get a new battery...the a$$hoewls at the shop left my door open for 2 days straight..so tomorrow its brass knuckles or a new battery for free from them.

 

yeah, first thing to do would be pull the codes, but they are probably gone now with the dead battery. you may have to drive it around again cause the ecu probably just reset.

I find that when my car is cold it pulls like 16-18 or so in vac, but when it warms up its around 18-20. are you using a mechanical gauge? those things are usually a bit off as well.

 

Autometer mech. boost gauge. Almost identical to what I am using, but my vac is exactly like yours, 16-18 on cold starts, then 18-20 at operating temps.

 

so what could possibly be causing my vac reading?

 

if its still that low when fully warmed up, it could be due to an intake leak, any kinks in the vac line to the gauge, the spot your reading the vac from (should be direct into manifold, or T into a line going right into the manifold) or even the dreaded low compression (not likely in your case).
come to think of it mine was a little low at first with the Safc. give it some time to learn and it will run better, which will make it pull more vac. i think.

what did you do with the vac lines going to your power steering idle up valve. if you dont cap those off you could be pulling air through there as well. remember in stock form it pulls air after the air flow meter from behind the filter and diverts it past the throttle plate and into the manifold. so in drawthrough you pretty much need to cap it off or you get more unmetered air passing the throttle plate.

maybe I should start a "your maf and unmetered air" thread. I think now we have covered most of them except for egr, which we will just pretend to ignore.