So i took my car out for a 30-45 minute drive and it was running fine, till the last 10 minutes. i was cruising going about 70-75mph and all of a sudden i felt a slight rumble in the engine and right after my vacuums read 10-13 and it started to shake and idle roughly. i let it rest for 2 hours to cool down then i checked my engine bay and saw a splash of coolant near the turbo's and on the intakes, i started up the car and smoke came out the exhaust (which is sometimes normal lol). cleaned it up and took it out for another drive and the smoke went away, my vacuums went somewhat back to normal, about 16-18 and when it drives it goes to 20. btw, i wasn't hitting any higher then 4-5rpm the whole time, cud there have been coolant in the turbo's to cause this which burned off or can it be a blown seal??

 

Don't think it's apex seal my car hasn't even dreamed of pulling 18" of vacuum after rebuild.

 

Compression test.

Was it white smoke?

 

It is not a blown apex seal. When you break an apex seal, compression does not come back.

 

do a coolant system pressure test.

 

The only thing was somewhat similar for me was a bad spark plug wire. It was really corroded so the contact was bad, and eventually came off the plug completely. However I didn't have any leaking coolant or smoke.

 

^ (Karack) Good advice. If you are having any coolant problems, and the symptoms are such that the motor is running poorly, definitely do a compression test to either rule out or confirm a blown coolant seal.

 

ill start my car up and see what my vacuums read again today

yeea it was a grip of white smoke, what does that mean??

sounds good lol compression doesnt come back even after driving?

how do i do that?

it might be bad spark plugs, i havent changed them out in a while

ill do that asap, how do u do it again? it deals with taking out something and starting up the engine and listening to clicks?

 

Oops! Sorry, I meant coolant system pressure test, as Karack stated. Basically, you remove the cap from your thermostat housing, place a funnel in the housing, then start the car. Watch the coolant in the funnel for an excessive amount of air bubbles rising up. You could also rent a coolant system pressure tester to test the motor for internal/external coolant leaks.

Although, it wouldn't be a bad idea to do a compression test to confirm or rule out a broken seal. You would need a rotary compression tester, and it doesn't necessarily have to be an apex seal that's been broken or gotten stuck. It could be any seal which seals compression...

However, you could also do the poor man's compression check. Make sure to take out your EGI and FUEL pump relays before you start, and then pull the rear trailing plug and cycle the motor. You should hear 3 even pulses. Following that, replace the rear trailing plug and do the same procedure to the front rotor housing. The pulsing/compression should sound uniform across both rotors, otherwise there is a problem with your compression.

 

most parts stores rent tools, which include a coolant system pressure tester. hook it up and pump the pressure up to 13psi or so and look for external leaks, then take out the EGI fuse and crank the engine over for a few revolutions and pull out your leading plugs and check them for any wetness of coolant.

any small drops in pressure in less than a 5 minute period means there is a leak somewhere, this test verifies internal and external engine integrity.

 

thanks guy that helps a lot
ill do that as soon as i get the chance to

i jus started my car and vacuum reads 15-17, a puff of smoke came out with the initial start up and a light constant smoke was coming out..the constant smoke is not normal..shud i use sea foam??

 

What color is the smoke? Is it white/grey, blue, or black? Mine will burn a small amount of oil on startup (blue), but this tapers off as it warms up. Are you by any chance seeing constant white/grey smoke? If so, does it have a sweet (coolant) smell to it?

My guess is that your apex seals/corner seals/side seals are perfectly fine, but you have a coolant seal that's starting to fail.

 

save the sea foam and see what the test results come back with. if anything i suppose using the sea foam will help in your cleaning process if it does have a faulty coolant seal though, but it will not help seal it back up, rather likely make it worse.

 

^ Agreed. If you do in fact have a blown coolant seal, the only (or I should say right) way to fix it is to pull the motor, disassemble it, replace the coolant seals, and put it back together....I've been there and done that, unfortunately.

 

Check your coolant hoses to and from the turbos.