blown Turbo or Head gasket?

[jackalopeTsi]

this morning on my way to school i heard a funny sound coming from my turbo, i didnt think much of it because it was kinda cool outside, probably a bad i dea(has made a similar sound before but stopped after the car warmed up), later on i still hear it and when i hit some boost, more than 5 or 6 psi after i let off the next time i get on the gas a puff of white smoke comes out of the exhaust. there is no smoke at all until i spool the turbo. its a white smoke. i thought it was a head gasket at first but wouldnt it smoke more frequently, it only smokes after the turbo is spooled higher than around 6 psi. is my turbo or headgasket fried, i didnt see anything wrong with the oil but ill check it again after it cools off.

it is a 1991 fwd( if that has any relevance) with around 160,000 miles on the odo.
not sure if its the original turbo, previous owner may have rebuilt it or replaced it. it is a 14b and there is a significant amount of shaft play, much more than i remember. what couls cause this, not allowing it to warm up when starting, not letting it cool down,or just being that old.

mods:
RNR 2.5" catback
K&N Filter
boost controller(around 15 psi)
logger doesnt show hardly any knock
temp. guage hasnt moved

Update:
is it normal for steam or small amounts of smoke to ocme from the dipstick tube and out of the valve cover when you take the oil cap off( maybe im just paranoid and detailing everysmall thing that has a possibility of being bad)

thanks

 

[unior]

look for coolant in teh oil , oil in the coolant

if you have a bad HG it might not smoke till you make boost - since thats putting more pressure on teh HG

what you really need to do is a compression test

 

[jackalopeTsi]

im goin to see if i can have a compression test done tomorrow, i checked the oil and i didnt see anything wrong, and the coolant looked ok but i will check again in the morning.

should i take it to a shop or buy a compression guage and do it myself (article in vfaq)

 

[G_S_X]

im actually leaning towards the turbo being blown, but get a compression test then you will know

 

[jackalopeTsi]

thats what i was thinking but id like to have a compression test just in case and it wil give me an idea of what condition my engine is in

this kinda stuff always happens to me, i was about to order a turbo timer to keep my turbo healthy,

 

[jackalopeTsi]

with whatever the compression test shows me wil i be able to drive the car for a few weeks to a couple months with out damaging it more.
i dont have another vehicle and it wil take me some time to get the money to do the repairs. just in case what does it cost to do the head gasket on average, labor and parts

 

[1Gtuner1G]

Depending on shop prices in your area, anywhere near $1000+ total price would not surprise me. Do it yourself if that is the problem. Not all that difficult, just a lot of things to remove.

 

[jackalopeTsi]

just checked everything again and the oil and coolant look good, but the turbo i cant say the same. the shaft moves alot up and down, and the blades hit the inside of the inlet. im gonna do a comp. test on thursday just in case. time for that new evo16g.

 

[SwiftKidGSX]

just checked everything again and the oil and coolant look good, but the turbo i cant say the same. the shaft moves alot up and down, and the blades hit the inside of the inlet. im gonna do a comp. test on thursday just in case. time for that new evo16g.

Dude get a new turbo...

I had a dying turbo on my 2g...wasn't in the states and a close friend needed car and father said take the 2g. Dude raced the shit out of it and turbo died on him. To sum it up...i ended up getting a whole engine swap...engine was FUBAR.

Dude get a new turbo, I dont want this happening to you.

Joey 99GSX

 

[jackalopeTsi]

i know this is probably a stupid question, but will it hurt the motor to drive it? i have a 15 minute drive to school and work every day and dont have another car?

 

[unior]

dont boost if you must drive it

 

[nolimits]

I don't see what the turbo going out has to do with damaging the motor..unless it spit all of the oil out....in which case you'd be driving with plumes of smoke first. If it's the turbo, then it won't hurt anything. If it's a headgasket, it will finish off soon...be ready for a huge cloud of white smoke...a quick shutdown should save the engine for the most part. If the turbo's that bad, I'd be looking for a replacement, or just rebuild the one you've got. Do yourself a favor and do a compression/leakdown test anyway....that's always good info to have.

 

[jackalopeTsi]

im having a shop do a compression test tomorrow just in case. i should have results by 5 o'clock. i have to drive it and try not to boost it. im pretty sure its the turbo and getting a evo3 b16g within the next week or two probably. id like to know if its got good comp. just to have an idea of what condition its in and see what i can throw at it.

 

[GSTSleeper]

prolly leakin oil in the turbo.


i woudln't drive it....only 15 min drive..ride your bike

 

[95kate]

ok here's my 2 cents. i'm 98% sure you're turbo is gonna go soon. wanna easy way to check? take your intercooler out and pour out the oil. see that oil??? yep that's oil from your turbo. see that smoke come out every time you let off the gas after revving it up??? yep. that's oil in your intake. i blew my turbo it really wont hurt the engine if you stop it right away. drive it if you need to but if you never had a turbo go. here's when you know it's gone. you're gonna be driving and you'll hear a thump sound and feel a lil bump. not much but enough. you'll look behind you and where it blew you'll see a cloud of smoke. if you're goin fast you wont see a lot, just where it blew at you see a cloud there. you'll notice a huge power loss and if you listen you'll hear a grinding noise. it took me about 10 min to figure out it was the turbo because i thought it was coming from the bottom end. assuming you keep plenty of oil in it a lot of oil will be in your intake piping. i had over 2 quarts in mine from the turbo to the TB. you will have to tow it once it goes or then you will mess up your engine. if you really really really have to drive it after it goes make sure you have 2 5 gallon containers of oil and drive slow. it'll smoke like hell. lucas stabilizer helps it smoke less but i think it clogs up your turbo makin it go out faster. i'd stop every mile or so and check to see if it has oil. i also connected my intake directly to my TB and bypassed my turbo and intercooler altogether turning my eclipse into a NT. i blew mine at 5000 rpm accelerating. i was at WOT. going about 60-70 mph or so. as far as driving it... you'll be fine as long as you make sure to have oil in the engine. if you need to drive it on a regular basis after it goes just recirculate your oil lines (dont plug them up) hook up your intake to the TB, plug up the holes in the intake from the BOV and recirculate your water cooling lines (if applicable). take your wastegate and open it all the way. and you have your daily driver back. but that's my 2 cents

 

[jackalopeTsi]

ill take the actuator arm off the wastegate so it wont spool up. has the actuator arm ever fallen off one of yalls car, anyone. that happened to me when i first got the car. i was drivin and the turbo wouldnt spool because th wastegate was stuck open. it scared the shat outta me.

thanks for all the input guys

 

[95kate]

haha nope.... the only thing i ever had fall off is my wheel. i was lucky i was only going about 10 mph

oh yeah.... if you convert it to NT for daily driving the engine will sound a lil more bad ass. it'll be a lot louder than you're used to

 

[jackalopeTsi]

i couldnt do the compression test because there is no anti-sieze on my plugs and my plug wires, well, siezed and wont come off. the mechanic said i need to get a new set of plug wires cuz he'd have to break these to get them off. what would cause them to sieze up like that?
my dad said my engine may be over heating but my temp. guage hasnt moved it stays in the middle or to the left a little.
anyways, im certain its the turbo. the compressor blades hit the inside wall of the inlet when i checked for shaft play on tuesday. should i go ahead and try to do the compression test?

 

[95kate]

well if you can afford it then yeah do it. if not go ahead and change your turbo first and then save up for it. it's better to fix the problems you know about first.

 

[Skillz]

Those plug wires appearing to be "siezed up" it just because you used cheap plug wires. Just get some needle nose pliars, and take them out. You can put them back together, and cramp them so that it will "work" but I'd suggest investing in some NGKs.

I really don't think you have a blown headgasket, but I am almost postive that your turbo is done for.

 

[jackalopeTsi]

i know the turbo is done for, going to get a new evoIII 16g soon. what will i need for the install, in terms of gaskets and bolts and stuff. should i go ahead and buy the manifold and turbo bolts. i dont want to have to order some halfway through the install. i need as little downtime as possible.

also, i dont want to start another thread so im going to ask it here. should i get a upper ic pipe or just wait a couple months and get a fmic this winter sometime?

 

[95kate]

ok here's what i did and my probs i had. went on ebay and got a $300 t4-0b turbo, turbonetics wastegate, and cheap no name brand BOV (which sounds bad ass but i have to change b/c it vents to atmosphere). ok when i tried installing the turbo i noticed the holes didnt match up to the mani. i could either

a. buy a mani that fits it (couldnt find one)
b. make it fit using an adaptor plate.

i picked b. went to an exhaust dude and got him to make a plate to fit my turbo, ext wastegate, and mani for $100. went to install it. i ran into the problem where the turbo didnt fit because of the block. it had to be angled slightly toward the radiator. also noticed i couldnt connect the turbo to the downpipe. also noticed the turbo was not water cooled, also noticed that i needed new oil lines. so i took my whole car to the exhaust dude and got him to fabricate the turbo and wastegate to downpipe adaptor (whatever that's called) and run my oil lines. all my gaskets for the turbo came with it and the same for the wastegate. the only gasket i needed (and still do) is a plenum gasket (mani to stock turbo gasket) because mine was old and worn and thought it would be best to get a new one to avoid possible leak. everything total was like $400 (i also got my entire exhaust redone but shhhhh). before you go and buy new stuff go ahead and check out the possibility of fabrication. usually it's more expensive, but there's that chance you might run into a quality person that needs a lil money, and will do it for cheap.

as for ic stuff... that turbo is gonna be blowin some pretty hot air, espically if it's not water cooled. i have a stock ic and my BOV get's about 100-110 degrees not moving. iono about your turbo really but i suggest you get a fmic ASAP. if you're low on cash, just use pvc pipe and radiator hose. cut it up and reconnect it the way you need it. that's what i did with my ic piping. it's ugly but functional. make sure you find out wether or not you're turbo is water cooled or oil cooled. make sure you have oil lines to run to it. make sure your turbo dont wind up hittin your block and/or your motor mount, and/or you're dipstick, and/or your ac. make sure to have plenty of vacuum hose and t-lines. once you look into all that, go ahead and start ordering what all you need and when you have everything you ordered then get your parts fabricated (if applicable). go with that and let us know how it turns out.



edit: oh yeah make sure to pour some oil into your turbo just before installin it and spin it for a bit to get it lubricated. and when you go and start it back up and fill the radiator back up watch your temp guage closely. if it starts goin above normal cut it off and make sure you have coolant in it. sometimes you get air bubbles makin it look like it's full and it really aint.

 

[unior]

ok here's what i did and my probs i had. went on ebay and got a $300 t4-0b turbo, turbonetics wastegate, and cheap no name brand BOV (which sounds bad ass but i have to change b/c it vents to atmosphere). ok when i tried installing the turbo i noticed the holes didnt match up to the mani. i could either

a. buy a mani that fits it (couldnt find one)
b. make it fit using an adaptor plate.

i picked b. went to an exhaust dude and got him to make a plate to fit my turbo, ext wastegate, and mani for $100. went to install it. i ran into the problem where the turbo didnt fit because of the block. it had to be angled slightly toward the radiator. also noticed i couldnt connect the turbo to the downpipe. also noticed the turbo was not water cooled, also noticed that i needed new oil lines. so i took my whole car to the exhaust dude and got him to fabricate the turbo and wastegate to downpipe adaptor (whatever that's called) and run my oil lines. all my gaskets for the turbo came with it and the same for the wastegate. the only gasket i needed (and still do) is a plenum gasket (mani to stock turbo gasket) because mine was old and worn and thought it would be best to get a new one to avoid possible leak. everything total was like $400 (i also got my entire exhaust redone but shhhhh). before you go and buy new stuff go ahead and check out the possibility of fabrication. usually it's more expensive, but there's that chance you might run into a quality person that needs a lil money, and will do it for cheap.

as for ic stuff... that turbo is gonna be blowin some pretty hot air, espically if it's not water cooled. i have a stock ic and my BOV get's about 100-110 degrees not moving. iono about your turbo really but i suggest you get a fmic ASAP. if you're low on cash, just use pvc pipe and radiator hose. cut it up and reconnect it the way you need it. that's what i did with my ic piping. it's ugly but functional. make sure you find out wether or not you're turbo is water cooled or oil cooled. make sure you have oil lines to run to it. make sure your turbo dont wind up hittin your block and/or your motor mount, and/or you're dipstick, and/or your ac. make sure to have plenty of vacuum hose and t-lines. once you look into all that, go ahead and start ordering what all you need and when you have everything you ordered then get your parts fabricated (if applicable). go with that and let us know how it turns out.



edit: oh yeah make sure to pour some oil into your turbo just before installin it and spin it for a bit to get it lubricated. and when you go and start it back up and fill the radiator back up watch your temp guage closely. if it starts goin above normal cut it off and make sure you have coolant in it. sometimes you get air bubbles makin it look like it's full and it really aint.

you bought a random garret t3/t4 off ebay and got that GHETTO installing it

LMMFAO!!!

 

[95kate]

you bought a random garret t3/t4 off ebay and got that GHETTO installing it

LMMFAO!!!

yeah but it works. and no not a t3/t4. a full t4. not all of us are full of money

 

[jackalopeTsi]

as i stated before im gettin a EVOIII B16g this week and i need to know if i should go ahead and get ready for broken bolts or studs. i know i should replace the stud in the turbo flange with a bolt, and im going to buy new gaskets for the manifold, turbo and o2 housing.
i need to know if i need some supporting mods ASAP after this install. i have a 3kgt vr4 fuel pump that needs to be installed, and i will be getting a FMIC in the next few months. would it be ok to run it with stock IC piping and sidemount until i get the fmic or should i go ahead and buy an inexpensive uicp now?