the leak:



history:

1st (and last time) i saw this leak was ~6k miles ago (August 2006) when the motor was flooded. leak was at the waterpump gasket.. patched that. has been okay since.

current problem:

started car in morning.. engine was stuttering at lower rpm than usual ~500rpm, couldn't stick around to fix it so i shut down, took the other car.. hoping the fd wouldn't be flooded when i got back

when i came home, i charged the battery, tried to start. flooded.

checked under the car as in the picture, noticed the leak is back. whats going on?


is it possible that coolant is leaking into the engine somehow via a leak that can also be seen externally?

 

 

I'm guessing that's from a bad turbo coolant hose. Flooding caused by the immediate shutdown, not the water leak.

 

eggie, i'm pretty sure its not a turbo coolant hose for a few reasons, the first being that the last time it had the exact some leak, i tore everything down so i could inspect the hoses.. and nada, didn't find any holes, leaks or coolant trails. the second reason is that i've driven it for the past 8 months or so without any leakage at all.. i don't think this would be the case if it was a hose?

that being said, i'm going to start removing parts to inspect everything again, including the coolant lines and surrounding areas. im puzzled why this leak comes and goes, why i can't pinpoint the site of the leakage, and curious if anyone has had this exact experience.

 

I am currently having the same experience. I am stuck on how to figure it out. My car was running great last week. I am driving down the free and it wouldnt boost past 5lbs in fifth gear. Now it idles like **** and the is a leak somewhere around the turbos. I didnt know if the leak could affect the way the car runs though. Any input would be awsome.

Jeremy

 

If you take off the intake and its piping and the air pump you can seem most of the hoses at that corner of the engine. Its either the turbo cooling hoses or lines, the hose underneath the alt or the hose on the back of the engine on the passenger side. They could be leaking on top and find its way to the turbo. You need to pressure test the car to find the leak, or take everything off and run the car till it leaks. I would not drive it it you found and fixed the leak. Leaks dont go away for long. And they always get worst.

I had a very small leank in the turbo area one time. I could not fiqure it out. I would smell a faint hint of coolant, but no obvious leaks or marks. It turned out the my turbo coolant metal line had a very very slow leak. It would drip onto the turbo and evaporate. Turbos had to be removed inorder to change that line.

 

okay the motor is most likely toast. maybe 1/8 cup of coolant shot out the spark plug holes when i cranked to deflood. unless someone can tell me how coolant can get into the motor via other routes(via turbos?)

 

up ^

 

if coolant is shooting out of the spark plug holes that is bad times. if that is the case you definitely need a rebuild

 

is it foolish to only replace the soft seals during a DIY rebuild for a coolant leak? assuming compression etc are still good.

(not sure whats going on the the search seems like im only getting results from 2003 or earlier, and ones from the past month or so, so i did not find any threads pertaining to this topic. although i do remember seeing this question in the past )