Tuesday on my way into work I had a cloud of white smoke following me, which would turn into a huge cloud if I accelerated at all. Popped the hood, and there was oil all around an on top of the valve cover. Had the car flat-bedded home and ordered a new valve cover with gaskets that afternoon.
Thursday night I installed the new valve cover, but when I turned on the car it was idling a bit rough. Something about the way it sound was a bit off. When the valve cover was leaking I believe that's when the idle got rough, but I was more concerned at the time about the oil loss.
Today I finally hooked it up to my AP, the car has been sitting since Thursday, and I got the code P273F Ignition Coil Cylinder 4 Error. All the connections are secure and plugs look fine. Swapped coils around and still getting the same error on cylinder 4. I'm also getting a misfire on cylinder 4, but that comes up after the coil error. Makes since why its idling rough and the sound was a bit off, its only running on 3 cylinders...
Any ideas on what to check next?
Thanks.

Dan

 

Potential failure of the inlet oil line of the turbo causes oil spray to the engine cover. The valve cover by itself maybe induces oil leaks around its flange. Now, let's go back to the turbo. If the line fails, apart from the oil spray from the metal oil tube, seizure of the turbo may occur. If the turbo is not being lubricated correctly, the white smoke from the exhaust is the result.
Now, as far as cylinder No.4 is concerned, do a cylinder leak down test on all 4 cylinders and a compression test to see the differences between the cylinders, if any.
Check the spark plugs as well.
My personal opinion, bearing in mind what you stated, is that you've got a turbo problem.

If you need any more help please feel free to ask.

 

I'm not sure how to do a cylinder leak down test, but I did do a compression test this afternoon. Here's how it went:
Cylinder 1 - peaked at 190psi
Cylinder 2 - peaked at 160psi
Cylinder 3 - peaked at 150psi
Cylinder 4 - peaked at 120psi.

Cylinders 1, 2, 3 would start at 135 when I first cranked the motor over but after a few seconds would rise up. Cylinder 4 on the other hand started at about 80, peaked at 120, then stayed at about 100psi.

 

I tried posting last night, but apparently it didn't take...

I'm not sure how to do the cylinder leak down test, but I did do a compression test yesterday. Here are the results:
Cylinder 1 - 190psi
Cylinder 2 - 160psi
Cylinder 3 - 150psi
Cylinder 4 - 120psi

Cylinders 1, 2, 3 started at 135psi when first cranked over, but after a few seconds peaked at those numbers above. Cylinder 4 however started at 80psi, peaked at 120psi, and then stayed at 100psi.

 

Yesterday I did a cylinder leak down test, and with cylinder 4 at TDC I was getting air leaking into the crankcase. Since I couldn't see the valves to see which if they were all closed, I did the leak test at 6 TDC positions, and all of them leaked into the crankcase. I could hear and feel air coming out of both the PCV and the oil dip stick tube. I was running out of day light, so I only got to test cylinder 1 for a comparison, and doing the same process there was no air getting back into the crankcase. So after these tests, and some threads I've read on here, it sounds like cylinder 4's piston broke.

 

The most important is for you to find the cause of your piston failure.

What power mods do you have?
How often do you check your oil level?
Did you run low on oil?
How frequent are you oil changes?
How many miles does the engine has?

Good luck with the overhaul...

 

What power mods do you have?
VIP Intake, Alta turbo inlet, Alta boost tubes, Forge FMIC, Alta BOV spring, OBX Downpipe, OBX Catback, Alta Access Port (Stage 2 tune). I also have an M7 OCC to help with the carbon issue.
How often do you check your oil level?
Usually every other week. I've had oil issues in the past, so I stay on top of it.
Did you run low on oil?
After changing the valve cover gasket, I was 2qt low, but I dont know how much I lost due to the gasket going bad. My OCC had about 6oz of oil in it, which I figured was due to whatever happened the the valve cover gasket. I hadn't checked it in about 2 weeks, so I was due to check the level.
How frequent are you oil changes?
I've gone by when the car tells me to change it.
How many miles does the engine has?
84k.

The engine has always consumed some oil, and the dealer has always told me that it's normal for it go to through 1qt every 1000 miles. I usually go through a quart every 1500-2000 miles. I've had the oil pan gasket leak, oil cooler gaskets leak, and now the valve cover gasket go...not to mention many other issues that didn't involve an oil leak.

I'm debating on what I should do...I just paid the car off and I'm trying to purchase a house...

 

There you go...this is your cause of failure! When you make oil changes every 15000-20000 miles the oil induces microparticles. This contaminated oil may cause damage to your engine.

 

what was the out come? i may have a prob like this but i change oild every 5500m

 

He never said he went that far...he said the car uses a quart every 1500 to 2000 miles....
Extented oil change intervals like mini reccomends, while not liked by many, MAY cause extra wear, but not sudden castrophic breakage....
More frequent changes are imo important, especially for a car making more power than stock, but when a car comsumes a bit of oil, the added makeup oil helps keep addatives levels in the oil high, keeping the tbn's good if the oil was tested....
Just my guess, but i bet the skirt on the piston broke...been a few on tuned gen2 cars.

 

Not sure yet, I began the tear down, and to order the tool to hold the crank and cams in place, and haven't been back out to the garage yet. I'll update when I finally figure it out.

 

I just stuck a screw driver in the rotor fins and that holds the engine fine for the cam. Crank was air gun off no problem and screwdriver for on.

 

thanks DTSJR. i think i may have to take mine into mini but of course its out of warranty but has only done 25000miles

 

So here is the much needed update:

After finally getting the engine torn down, I was able to confirm that piston #4 was missing a chunk. I found chunks of it and the rings in my oil pan and oil pump filter. Luckily the cylinder wall was scratch free!
I put together a nice $700 parts list which my dealer was able to fulfill within days. I spent last weekend reassembling the motor, cleaning out any carbon buildup I could find (on the pistons and head).
The motor fired up fine right away and ran pretty good...until I noticed the turbo oil feed line leaking oil at a good rate. That was Sunday afternoon, so Monday evening I went out and got a new oil line and installed it that night.
Took the car out for a test drive and noticed it wasn't making more than 1-3psi of boost. Tuesday night I started to troubleshoot that and found two of the vacuum lines had become disconnected under the intake manifold. Reconnected those and now the car is back to normal.
Besides a loose heat shield after all this, the car is running pretty good, and I really hope its done giving me issues for a while. Since November I've done the o2 sensor, plugs, HPFP, water pump, coolant temp sensor, valve cover, piston #4, turbo oil feed line. I know the clutch is coming up and I need to get it in for the aux water pump recall.