I took the turbos off and ported the wastegate. After a few seconds of idling the turbos start smoking real badly (smoke is coming straight from the turbos in the engine bay). I thought maybe i just spilled a little coolant on the by accident but after 5 minutes of idle they are still smoking very heavily. Any ideas? Could the coolant lines be leaking on the turbos?

 

Also, after I shut down the engine i could hear a hissing sound and they continued to smoke.

 

sounds like your coolant line is leaking a little bit...

 

It could be coolant leaking, yes.

It could also be penetrating oil causing the smoke. But if it's hissing I would look for coolant.

There are coolant pressure tester kits out there. I would try to get one of those and find the leak with the engine cold rather than risk a fire.

 

The turbo coolant hoses are known leak points. As Dave G. said, do a pressure test.

Dave

 

i've search around but i can't find a how-to on pressure testing. I have a mityvac so i just need to figure out a way to hook it up. any ideas?

 

Typically you need some type of adapter which is basically a modified coolant cap.

 

Mityvac won't pressure test a coolant system. Autozone has a specific tool that can be used to pressure test the coolant system. It replaces the filler cap on the water pump and attaches to a pump. You can rent one for basically free.

jack the car up so you can see leaks from underneath, attach the cap, pump to 10 PSI and look around; if no leaks pump to 20 PSI and look/listen for leaks. Let it sit for 1/2 hour or longer at 20 PSI to make sure its holding pressure.

Mine leaked coolant from the worm type hose clamps I had been using when I did the above test. They tend to loosen up after some heat cycles fyi.

 

Did your temp gauge go through the roof? I am having the same thing problem, but my temp gauge is red lining. I'm just trying to figure out if I should try these suggestions.

 

well, i didn't drive the car. it was just idling in the garage. it did reach operating temperature but did not continue to climb.

I got the pressure tester from autozone and found not only the leak on the turbo coolant lines but the pressure cap and radiator hoses are needing replacing as well. When will it end...