turbo is leaking coolant into exhaust

[sonicnofadz]

Argh. Can someone help me out with this one, I'm not sure if my turbo needs a rebuild or not. Its a 16G, it was doing fine, then one day I unbolts my exhaust manifold and took off the turbo in the process. When I put everything back, I noticed that steam seemed to appear in my exhaust, and when I start up my turbo blows steam like crazy. My head gasket is NOT blown, there is NO coolant in my engine oil. I think I may have messed something up when I unbolted the coolant line to the turbo, and maybe something is cracked internally inside the housing???? Or maybe a seal is worn out ? In other words, what could be wrong with my turbo if it's leaking coolant into the exhaust stream? Can it be fixed? HELP!

 

[LightningGSX]

Make sure the coolant return line isn't plugged, if plugged it will force coolant into the housings.

 

[sonicnofadz]

Hmmmmm....well I have my turbo sitting on my kitchen table here, and when I blow on the one end of the coolant lines, it flows very freely to the other side (return line) without any obstruction. So if there is some type of blockage in my coolant system somewhere (and pressure is too high) you are saying that coolant can be forced past some of the internal o-rings? I've never opened the turbo before and I am not sure if there are o-rings inside that seal off the coolant passages from the exhaust housing. This may sound stupid but, is there anything I've could of done when refilling the radiator to accidently induce really high pressure in the coolant system ? I just poured the fluid into the radiator, I'm not sure if your suppose to bleed air off or what. So perhaps the pressure in my coolant line is too high (but no blockage in turbo itself) OR maybe my turbo needs to be rebuilt (change o-ring). I just don't understand why my turbo would start doing this right after I unbolting it from the exhaust manifold and putting it right back on again. It just doesn't make sense for it to fail because of that. The person who had the car before me did some work to the turbo, and the compressor side has a brand new 16G blade, neither the turbine or compressor blade have ANY type of play in it. Does anyone have any ideas about what I could have done wrong to cause the turbo to leak coolant past the o-rings?

 

[LightningGSX]

There aren't o-rings inside the turbo.What I was saying was , you might of kinked or crushed the coolant return line(from turbo to engine).I had a clogged oil return line once, and it forced oil into the intake and exhaust(tons of smoke), when I fixed the clog everything was fine.

 

[ShapeGSX]

Generally you use a lot of liquid wrench and anti-seize when you remove and install a turbo. The "steam" you see floating around your exhaust manifold is the liquid wrench and the liquid in the anti-seize burning off. It will go away in a couple days.

 

[LightningGSX]

I believe his "steam" is going through his exhaust and out the back.

 

[sonicnofadz]

Yeah, the steam isn't coming from the exhaust manifold, its coming out my rear pipe, and no, I didnt use a liquid wrench, and the fluid that is exiting my exhaust is indeed coolant fluid (anti freeze + water) because it smells like it. At this point, a damaged or clogged coolant return line seems like the most likely suspect. I left the lines in the car, so I will have to go grab the and inspect them....which line is the coolant return, the one mounted on front of the turbo (facing the nose of the car) or the one at the rear leading upwards towards a hose? I cannot really think of any other explanation for the coolant leak....

 

[ShapeGSX]

None of that would send coolant into the exhaust.

There are no seals in the turbo that keep coolant out of the exhaust.

If your turbo is really doing this, it would be dead. The center section would need to be seriously cracked.

 

[LightningGSX]

Not true, too much pressure will force fluid pass the bearings. I've had it happen to me,I've seen it happen to others,I've read about it happening to others.When the obstruction was removed, problem was solved.With oil, that is.

 

[ShapeGSX]

Originally posted by LightningGSX
Not true, too much pressure will force fluid pass the bearings. I've had it happen to me,I've seen it happen to others,I've read about it happening to others.When the obstruction was removed, problem was solved.

There is no seal that separates the coolant and the exhaust. Just iron.

 

[sonicnofadz]

Hmmmmm....yeah I am starting to think what shapegsx is saying is right, my turbo center is cracked. I checked the coolant lines, and there are no obstructions. My only question is, what are my options? Perhaps I could take the turbo apart and use quiksteel on the crack in the center piece to seal it up? Or should I just say screw it and fork out $600.00 for a new turbo? The compressor housing and wheel is brand new, the center piece and exhaust turbine however are stock. Lemme know what you think. Thanks guys.

 

[LightningGSX]

I guess I can't really say thats the case with coolant , but true for oil.I think you can buy rebuilt or new center sections only.This site has part#'s
http://www.stealth316.com/2-turboguide.htm

 

[eclipse0508]

MY CAR DID THIS A FEW MONTHS AGO AND IT WAS MY HEAD GASKET. MY HEADS WERE ALSO WARPED, SO I HAD TO HAVE THOSE MACHINED. THE WHOLE JOB WILL COST ABOUT 900-1000 BUCKS. THE WHITE SMOKE IS MOST LIKELY YOUR HEAD GASKET LEAKING. NEED ANY MORE INFOR HIT ME UP.

PEACE

 

[Cirus_93TSI]

chances are its your head gasket, just because you dont have any coolant in your oil yet doesnt mean you wolnt if you drive it around for another week

my car was doing the same thing a week or 2 ago, and it was a blown headgasket, it was leaking coolant into the engine and a wet steam/smoke was comming from my exhaust when i first started the car, but oit went away when the car warmed up
it was doing that since i bought it a few weeks ago, it just wasnt blown apart that bad yet, still ran strong and there was no water in my oil. now the gasket is pretty much gone, its been sitting for about the last week, i started it up and took it for a drive 2 days ago and a milky mix of oil and water seaped out of my valve cover breather

oh, and eclipse0508, a dsm only has 1 head, unless your talking about a V shaped engine

 

[sonicnofadz]

Hmmmmmm...I think you guys are right. I've completely dissembled my 16g and there appears to be no internal cracking in the water line (basically destroyed my turbo in the process, for some reason the shaft nut on this turbo was REVERSE threaded....sigh....oh well time for a garrett anyway i suppose) I just remembered that the car had always had the white smoke out that back, so its probably the head gasket. I've never changed the headgasket on a 4g63 before, but I've read the shop manual and it looks fairly straight forward. It can be done without dropping the engine out of the car so it should only take a mininal amount of time. Has anyone done this before? How difficult is it, and what are some things I should look out for?

 

[ShapeGSX]

Uhh, most turbos are reverse threaded so the nuts don't back off. www.vfaq.com is your friend.