breckboarder55

So ive finished a turbo swap, and was running a 4in. downpipe. I went and had the rest of the exhaust made and had a borla xr-1 muffler put on.

I had to leave town, and called and asked my dad if he could pick it up and drive 20 miles or so back to the house.

When he got to the shop the shop owner said it had been leaking coolant.

It started smoking rather heavily after it had warmed up at the shop.

Now after about a minute or so it starts smoking heavily, ive drove it for a while and it still hasnt stopped...

so any ideas on the problem?

oh and it sounds amazing btw

sidewayz_FC

leaking coolant to where??and what color smoke, has the motor been rebuilt? this sounds like the typical blown coolant seal to me..

congrats on being boosted!!

breckboarder55

the motor has about 2k on a rebuilt, it was never over heated that i know of...

the smoke appears white... So im hoping its not a coolant seal... I will do the pull the cap and turn it over test tomorrow...

breckboarder55

oh and the car is a turbo... by swap I meant big turbo swap...

anewconvert

iTrader: (1)

white smoke is usually coolant..... sorry.


BC

eriksseven

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, if it's smoking sweet-smelling white smoke out of the exhaust you're basically screwed... However, it would only smoke on the initial start-up for about 10 seconds to a minute depending on how bad it is. The *only* other thing it might be is if the LIM O-rings were not installed (on not installed correctly). If this happened, coolant could be seeping into the combustion chambers.

Oh yeah, and if it never did it before--I'd ask some serious questions about that shop you took it to... Something doesn't add up.

breckboarder55

well im not to conserned about it being from the rebuilt... it ran fine till now, done by steave at gotham...

the shop is pretty reputable, but i am thinking about that...

eriksseven

iTrader: (6)

Well, what shop did you *just* pick it up from? Gotham?

The list of ways coolant can seep into the combustion chamber is pretty short... Have you even confirmed that it's coolant you're seeing/smelling? Also, you haven't been fully clear as to whether or not the smoke is coming out of the exhaust, or somewhere else.

eriksseven

iTrader: (6)

Oh yeah, it was probably a REALLY bad idea to let your dad drive your car 20 miles if it was leaking coolant... Like, a really bad idea. Even if the coolant seals weren't blown before--they might be blown now if the motor was overheated on the way home.

If Gotham let your dad drive away in a leaking car--that's bad.

sidewayz_FC

just out of curiousity what kind of condition was this turbo that was installed?

ROTARYROCKET7

Pictures!!!!!

arghx

iTrader: (3)

oh and you better be running a GT42R on c16 to have a 4 inch downpipe...

anewconvert

iTrader: (1)

Could it be that you have a water cooled center section that is possibly leaking coolant into past the seals into the turbine??? Or the water lines aren't sealing well and its burning on the turbo?


WHERE is the white smoke coming from exactly?


BC

RacerXtreme7

iTrader: (2)

NO, its not possible. There is no seal between the water passages and any moving turbo parts. Its all seperated by cast iron lol.

The only possible leaks for coolent in a wet CHRA are were the coolent lines plumb into the CHRA itself.

Did guys from the shop take it for a "test drive" after they installed the exhaust?

~Mike..............

hondahater

iTrader: (2)

yeah thats what I'm thinking. I will NEVER let anyone work on my car unless it is something I can not do and with that I will sit wherever the car is at until it is done.

B_Rock

I'm sorry to hear that you're having issues with the car. If I'm reading this correctly, the problem started after your father picked it up from the exhaust shop? Not to point unnecessary fingers, but it would appear that maybe somebody had a little bit too much fun with the car, and the issue was probably compounded by the lack of rotary knowledge (or just plain common ******* courtesy of another person's property). For all you know, they could have gone for an extended joyride and let the car overheat - I'd definitely be asking them some questions. Please let us know if we can help you out in any way.
-Brock

iceblue

My first incline was the shop wanted to drive that car and they got it to hot and blew it.

The posible leaks are the manifold and the coolant seal.

breckboarder55

The motor has about 2k on it built by steave at gotham. Race port, dowled, 3mm seals, fd springs, oil passage mod, exc.

And it is coming from the exhaust..

My dad picked it up from the exhaust shop ( texas quality, closest place that will a.) work with no cats and b.) do mandrel bent piping.)

I was unaware of the leak, seeing as i was not informed about it.

The turbo is a newly rebuilt T-70 BB (rebuilt by Majestic)

The exhaust dosent smell unusal, and only smokes after several minutes when the car has gained some heat.

The guy told me before about taking a customers cyclone out and giving it some gas... I was quick to let him know the car was in no shape at this time to take such abuse and that he was not to drive it. (no bc, or tune with new setup.)

My dad was aware not to go into boost, and to watch the temp. He swears it didnt overheat while he drove it... How ever his rotary knowledge is very minimal. He does have a bit of automotive back ground, how ever mostly with small block chevys way back in the day.

breckboarder55

mix up, I had been convinced the engine was dowled, exc. but was not.

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

If you confirm it is not a coolant leak.

It may be oil out the rear seal of the turbo- looks pretty white on my car. The oil pan/sump area can build up pressure and leak out the rear turbo seal, a low backpressure exhaust makes this worse, I believe BB turbos make this worse as well.

Remove the oil filler cap- does smoke decrease any. If so you may need to vent the oil pan better, limit the oil flow to turbo, increase oil flow out of turbo (better drain geometry or sump under vacuum)- or all of the above.

I believe if it was pressure build up in the oil pan and it was run this way for too long it could damage the rear oil seal so it will won't seal as well anymore until rebuilt.

Why, it doesn't matter how small/large the turbo is a larger exhaust will help it spool faster.

I have run 2.5", 3" and 3 1/2" exhausts on my stock hybrid turbo (and many combinations of the pieces) and the 3 1/2" gives full boost up to 500 rpm faster than 3" and more boost by rpm below full boost threshold.

A larger exhaust will actually work better on a smaller turbo as post turbine exhaust flow has less pulsation than on a larger turbo. That pulsation is what will hurt the low end power and has led to the "backpressure myth".

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

Smoking after it warms up doesn't really sound like coolant leaking (at least bad coolant seals) to me. Mine died of coolant seal failure and it only smoked right after it was started, and only then if it was sitting for a little while, usually overnight. The bad turbo gasket sounds like a possibility to me.

iceblue

That is not true. All that matters is the exhaust has the highest amount of positive velocity without back pressure. To big will slow velocity to small will cause back pressure.

This also means a setup tuned for low rpms high velocity will be bad up top as to much back pressure is seen and one tuned up top will have low velocity down low as not enough exhaust is flowing and gives the gases time to collide and swirl. You want to keep the low pressure zone pulling the next pulses high pressure zone.

BASTARD

iTrader: (4)

do a cooling system leak down test. You will need to get a pressure pump w/gauge tool from kragens or the like. pump the cooling system up (say to 15-16 psi) and let it sit. if it still has 15psi +/- a psi or so in it after 15 20 minutes then your probably ok, but it if leaks down to less then 10 then you have a breach in your cooling system


you can also look for air bubbles in your coolant overflow resevoir

breckboarder55

Allright, been sending messages back and forward with Steave and he said he used teflon (sp?) coolany seals, and it seems to me that he dosent think it is bad seals.

I just started it after tightening the coolant in on the turbo (actually leaking a tiny bit) checking the coolant level, tried removing the oil cap, exc.

It didnt start to smoke untill after it had ran for three of four minutes...

breckboarder55

While looking around in the engine bay i noticed coolant on the block below the intake manifold on the right side... Where the hell could it possibly be leaking that i have coolant on top of the block?