Do I have a bad head gasket?

[cody95talon]

Hey everyone I just finished swapping out my old T25 turbo for a newer T25 turbo, in my 95 talon Tsi AWD. In my earlier thread I talked about my car smoking blue/white because I thought it was a bad turbo because it had a lot of shaft play, but it didn't really fix anything. The motor still smokes by the exhaust manifold, or possibly under it, and also out of the exhaust. The temp is fine, coolant and oil seem fine (no mixing between the two). I'm leading to think it is a bad head gasket for sure now. I took some videos of the smoking, hoping that one of you guys will be able to help me out again. Here is the link to my photobucket account where 4 videos are.

codypantz's Public Profile on Photobucket.com

I would really appreciate more input, I want to drive my dsm again!

Oh and also, when i finished installing the turbo and started the car, it didn't need to warm up before it started smoking. It started smoking through both places instantly. It just kept getting worse and worse as it warmed up it seems like.

Anyways, thanks alot guys! You guys rock, please feel free to drop your 2 cents in!

EDIT: There is also a dramatic loss in power that I forgot to mention.

 

[Jon91TSi]

You could try a leakdown test, or a chemical coolant test to test for hydrocarbons in the coolant. Those would be good places to start if you suspect the headgasket.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

First of all, you have a horrible exhaust leak up front. As this appears to be pre-02 sensor this can severely throw off the ARF's that your ECU is receiving which COULD be the entire cause of this. The smoke looks more white than anything - What does it smell like? If it's a sweet smell, that's coolant. If it'd a dull smell, you could be running ridiculously lean. Do you have a wideband by chance?

You need to go ahead and do a compression and leakdown test. Pull the cap on your coolant reservoir and check for continuous bubbles in the coolant while the engine is idling. Post your results. Also, go ahead and look into fixing that terrible exhaust leak before the 02 sensor. That's just outrageous and is causing more problems than it's worth. That's unmetered fuel/air that needs to be measured by the 02 sensor in order to maintain proper AFRs. Without it, the 02 sensor is likely seeing that there is a lack of fuel and your ECU is adding a ton of fuel to try to balance things out. Doesn't seem like a bad case, though, as the smoke isn't blackish in color.

 

[KewlWinter]

A head gasket is about the only thing I can think of that would leak both into the combustion chamber and outside the engine. All I can say is wow thats a lot of smoke. Great for mosquito fogging though. I would think a compression check would pin it down for you.

 

[niddydsm]

it looks like its blueish smoke... Seems to me like valve seals are leaking if ## coolant temp is ok,

 

[4Gfiend]

I had a leak similar to that when I bought my GSX. It was an exhaust leak right before that o2 sensor. Fix that and a lot of the smoke should go away.

 

[99EclipseGS-Turbo]

I would agree with doing the leakdown test to narrow it down. As KewlWinter said though I would think that the headgasket is the only thing that would smoke at the exhaust manifold and out of the exhaust like that.

 

[fast420a83]

It could be the headgasket, turbo (oil blow by), or piston ring (oil blow by) Good luck pin pointing 1 of the 3.

 

[cody95talon]

The exhaust leak seems to be coming from the exhaust manifold doesn't it? That's what it looks like to me. What do you all think?

 

[Calan]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/336535-do-you-have-blown-head-gasket.html

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/338152-compression-leak-down-testing.html

 

[AlaskanDsm]

Okay, very first,

Listen to what Kieya has said. Listening to the video, you have a HORRIBLE exhaust leak somewhere. Fix that first. Also, part of the smoking that you see could be due to the fact that it appears that you have some fluids and stuff on the manifold. Being that you just installed the new T25, it would also appear that you may have gotten oil or other fluids on the manifold and even inside the turbo. This can cause a lot of smoking for the first little while of the car running as it burns these off.

Also, if you say that the fluids are NOT mixing in their respective systems, then a compression test should identify if there is a coolant leak or oil leak into the cylinders as well as if you check your coolant while the car is running as Keiya suggested, you will have an even easier test to see if this is a HG issue. I do not believe with the stuff shown that there is enough evidence showing that as of yet. \

It is also possible that you have a large crack in the exhaust manifold that could be allowing the gases to escape.

Try some of the things that Keiya suggested and and the link Calan suggested above get back to us with some results. Then we can begin to narrow down the potential issue.

 

[cody95talon]

I will try these things you guys have mentioned, I only get to see it a couple times a week because of work so it takes a little bit more time. Thanks for all the help though it sounds like we're gonna get this figured out fairly soon. I am leading towards the exhaust manifold or manifold gasket being bad. I will do everything you guys have said though, thanks a lot!

You know after watching my video several times I began to feel a little bit like an idiot. Did anyone else notice I do not have the heat shield bolts on there? Could smoke be coming out of those holes? Lol..

 

[AlaskanDsm]

although it is a good thought, those bolts dont go all the way through unless cracked.