Making smoke

I had a great drive to Melbourne. It would definitely seem to be an eight hour drive with Albury as the half way point. It wasn’t such a great trip back. The smoke coming from my EXA had increased, and on the way back to Canberra the situation became much worse. Well, what do you do? Stop in the middle of nowhere or keep going. Well, keep going of course. Thankfully, it was in the late evening when I noticed the smoke. The headlights of vehicles approaching from behind lit up the pall I was making as though driving through a dirty fog. It was embarrassing.

I knew exactly what was happening. The turbo was worn out, and the oil from the engine that’s used to lubricate the turbine was leaking into the exhaust gasses, which as you might imagine are very hot. Hence the smoke. I had been trying to pick up a second hand turbo from the wreckers, but without success. Up until this point I would drive the car gingerly, feathering the throttle which prevented any smoke from being issued. Anyway, most of the smoke would occur when decelerating, with steady throttle openings there was little if any smoke, and acceleration producing only a little smoke. I would drive steadily, accelerate gradually, and put the car into neutral when coming to a stop. It was manageable.

On the trip back there something must have gone wrong, and a steady stream of fumes began pouring from the back of the car in volumes akin to that of a steam locomotive. It looked as though the engine had ‘blown’ in some really bad way. Ironically, the engine performance was as good as ever, and if I could get my eyes away from the rear view mirror I would have had no idea this was occurring. The occasional motorist that would catch up to me might flash their headlights or wave madly at me on their way past. I wasn’t sure whether this was to indicate something of the notion, “excuse me sir, I think your engine may have a problem.” As if I didn’t know, but more likely, “Pull over you stupid bastard. Stop polluting the environment.” Well, sorry but I need to get to where I’m going.

I was about half way home when I spotted the problem, which meant I had another four hours drive to go. Was I going to pass a police petrol car along the way? Well, I didn’t as it happened and I promised myself to get the car to a repairer with a priority.

Driving through country towns became precarious. Reducing speed from 100k/hr to 60 meant decelerating. And when did this little car put out most of its smoke: when I decelerated, of course. I tried various strategies for driving through country towns. Braking hard a long way from town and powering through helped somewhat. Freewheeling only got me so far and was a plan doomed to failure. When I dropped it back into gear an even greater cloud of smoke issued. I think the oil may have been dribbling, building up in the turbo, and when I put my foot back on the pedal there was even more oil to burn. Under the city street lights, and bright lights from shops and service stations of the towns I drove through I could see the smog trail. I would have likely left the streets in a cloud of pollution and stink that would have caused a few people to look up and wonder what was going on. Thankfully, there were hardly any people around and little traffic.

I took the car to a repairer the next day, but driving in bright light of day was a sight to behold. I could have cringed, and I apologise to the unknown motorcyclist who had little option but to ride behind for part of the way and breathe my smoke. I had previously been getting quotes from companies that could repair the turbo, none of which were cheap, but there is no choice now. At least I know where to take the thing. I wonder how I’ll be paying for it. Most of my money is going back to Melbourne to fund the renovations.