Turbo line busted, leaking oil all over. Water line?

[jumpfroggy]

Hello all, I've had my car for about a year now, and hit my first real snag. I was driving down the highway for about 20 minutes when I noticed a haze behind me. It was light, but seemed to be following me so I figured it must be a smoke cloud from my engine. I pulled off the highway and stopped as soon as I could. At this point I noticed my engine temp was high (3/4 to the top) and climbing slowly. I turned off the engine and popped the hood, and there was oil all over the right side of the engine which was still smoking.

I can clearly see a busted host coming off the turbo with a rip/hole that looks like someone took a razor to it.

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There was oil all over, and oil leaking on the ground. Even now there's oil all over the transmission case. The oil is centralized around that burst host, so I'm assuming right now that's where it all came from. I just looked it up, and that small hose is supposed to be a water line for the turbo. I didn't see or smell any coolant in the spill. Is that wrong? I know most of the oil lines are hard metal pipes, whereas this one is soft rubber. Could I be getting oil back through the water line? Does this mean the turbo is shot?

The oil was changed the day before (coincidence?) so the oil still looks new (clear, amber). I checked the coolant reservoir, it's perfect clear/green color. I popped the radiator cap, and the coolant looks low (can't see any in the pipe under the cap) and more alarming is that the cap has what looks like... sand or granola clinging to it.

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The stuff is wet, has the consistency of sand at first, but when you lightly rub it with my fingers it breaks down into a fine powder. Weird. I haven't noticed this before, and I know I've checked the radiator cap before. It doesn't seem like anything I've seen, sediments, etc. Don't know what it is.

Engine is stock, a few free mods. I can easily replace the hose that busted, but I want to make sure I'm not ignoring signs of more than just the busted hose. If that hose is a water line and oil was spilling out of it, that makes me think that the turbo internal seals are busted and that the turbo is shot or needs a rebuild. Am I worrying too much here? Any suggestions for troubleshooting this before I just replace that little hose and hope for the best?

As an aside, thanks to everyone on this board for making it a great place to bring questions like this. It's been a holy grail for me ever since I got my car and found out about this site.

PS. Don't know whether this goes into the turbo category or bolt-on tech. Move if necessary?

RECAP: Rubber line off of the turbo busted, spraying oil everywhere. Is it a water line? Also, radiator cap has gunk in it.

 

[andymoraitis]

Those rad caps deposits are pretty nasty and I'd take the time to fully flush the system including the radiator core since there's likely more in there. In any case, that was a water feed line that let go and I know you'll be taking care of that. I had a similar issue when I bought mine of having the previous owner use silicone hoses. It took a while to figure out why I could smell coolant, but never saw a drip. A pinhole leak is all it takes.

After you're done repairing the line and completely flushing the coolant system (I'd do that twice just to be sure everything's out), I would run a compression test to make sure that you didn't lose the headgasket or verify that it's not pushing any coolant out of the overflow. Take a look at your dipstick as well and see if there's coolant mixing with oil (this will create milky colored oil). Also, tap water has natural heavy metals and sediments in it so I'd recommend hitting the supermarket and using distilled water when refilling the cooling system. As far as the oil leak, I'd go ahead and check the feed lines to make sure that something didn't come loose and create the spills you're seeing.

Keep us posted and good job on catching that quickly,

Andy

 

[jumpfroggy]

My main concern is with the oil coming out of that line. If that is a water line, and if oil is coming out, does that mean my turbo is shot? I want to make sure I'm not going to patch up that line and then drive around with a huge problem in the turbo or seals. Any advice appreciated.

 

[99gst_racer]

"Busted turbo line leaking oil..... is is a water line?" <-------- I got a good laugh out of this when I first read it.

My main concern is with the oil coming out of that line. If that is a water line, and if oil is coming out, does that mean my turbo is shot? I want to make sure I'm not going to patch up that line and then drive around with a huge problem in the turbo or seals. Any advice appreciated.

Unless the internal casting of the CHRA cracked (which I've never ever seen before), your oil and coolant will not mix inside of the turbo. There is no "seal" between the two chambers. Rather, the chambers are casted to be seperated.

If your turbo has a wet CHRA, then there should be 4 lines connected to it.
1 - oil in
1 - oil out
1 - water in
1 - water out


Are you sure that oil is leaking out of the line, and not simply oil leaking from something else onto the line? Oil shouldn't be coming from that line, and if it is, then you have an engine problem, not a turbo problem.

Also, definitely take Andy's advice on the cap replacement and system flush.

 

[jumpfroggy]

I'm definitely going to flush the system. The whole thing has accumulated that whitish powder, plus some brown gunk. Yuck. That's later though.

I replaced that tube, the old one was soft/flexible and tore easily. It just wore out. I also discovered that there's no coolant left in the system that I can tell. Also, I'm pretty sure that line is a water line. This is the stock T25 (2G TSI), and on CAPS I can see two lines, the thick oil return to the oil pan, and the thin (all metal) oil feed from the oil filter. Then there are two other lines, both rubber. I'm assuming these are the water in/out lines. This is what's busted.

There was oil everywhere, and from where things were wet it sure seemed like it came out that tube. I'm not positive about this, but I can't yet see any other leaks (obviously I could be missing one).

I filled up the oil (only took a quart, so it didn't all leak out) and the coolant (took a whole bottle, still needs more). Hopefully that tube is all I need, and it hasn't overheated & damaged the engine or burnt out the turbo. If the turbo is gone, it's upgrade time. If the engine is gone... well, someone is selling a built 6 bolt locally for cheap. Hmm. I'll update after I replace fluids and run the car (tonight hopefully). Thanks all.

 

[jumpfroggy]

Update after 1 month, looks like it was just that stupid little hose. The old one tore apart easily with no force, was worn out. I replaced it with fuel line, that should hold for a little while. I havent had any loss of coolant or oil since, so looks like Im in the clear. Thanks for the feedback and help.