Serious turbo problems...HELP!!!

cjthor · Post by **cjthor** » July 2nd, 2006, 8:50 pm

OOOOkay so I finally started my car today. Fired right up and was running good. I noticed a small coolant leak so turned it off and began to investigate. It looked as if the coolant was running down the exhaust pipe and on to the floor. Come to find out the coolant was running OUT of the exhaust side of the turbo..WTF?? I pulled the plugs to make sure I dont have a blown head gasket...negative. What could cause this??

nos92mx3 · Post by **nos92mx3** » July 2nd, 2006, 9:13 pm

How long did you let it run for?
Could be condensation?

cjthor · Post by **cjthor** » July 2nd, 2006, 9:53 pm

nos92mx3 wrote:How long did you let it run for?
Could be condensation?

if condensation is green...we got probs. its definitely coolant

ryanlindenberg · Post by **ryanlindenberg** » July 2nd, 2006, 10:28 pm

do you know if there are seals inside the turbo for the coolant passages? i'm guessing there aren't but my turbo was doing that with oil because of bad seals.

nos92mx3 · Post by **nos92mx3** » July 2nd, 2006, 11:32 pm

well what i would do then is block off the coolant passags running to the turbo, If it goes away its something in the turbo, if not, time to look elsewhere.

cjthor · Post by **cjthor** » July 3rd, 2006, 2:28 am

That is exactly what I was thinking. I thought it stopped but then i noticed a puddle under the car where it was dripping. Its safe to only have it oil cooled for a short while right?

cjthor · Post by **cjthor** » July 3rd, 2006, 2:37 am

PS i doubt its the head gasket. wouldnt the car get hot at idle if it was? I was filling the cooling system and it seemed to cycle the fan and stay cool...

babyblueMX3 · Post by **babyblueMX3** » July 3rd, 2006, 8:07 am

ya you can run it oil cooled if you want for a shortwhile.
Coolant is actually dripping from your tail pipe ? or you have an open downpipe and it's dripping out of there ?
Did you wait till the engine reached its working temperature ?

JWMotorsports · Post by **JWMotorsports** » July 3rd, 2006, 8:58 am

What size coolant lines did you run to the turbo? You may try running a larger return line...also where did you run the coolant lines from and where did you run the return coolant line? I think what is happening is possibly you feeding both sides pressure which is pressurizing the turbo's CHRA (Center Housing Rotating Assembly). This is something you usually see oil do if you run to small of a return line or don't have the proper restrictor in the oil inlet. The seals aren't actually blown they are just leaking because they are seeing to much pressure internally. See the last FAQ question on Forced Performance's site http://www.forcedperformance.com/faq.aspx

The water return line needs to be routed to the water bypass pipe. If you have it anywhere else then thats probably the problem. Anywhere else will create positive pressure on both the inlet and outlets of the CHRA water connections building a lot of pressure inside the CHRA causing the leak. By putting the return line on the water bypass pipe it creates a negative pressure on the outlet line because the water pump is always running and drawing coolant. If you have your return line there already try a larger return line.

cjthor · Post by **cjthor** » July 3rd, 2006, 10:55 am

JWMotorsports wrote:What size coolant lines did you run to the turbo? You may try running a larger return line...also where did you run the coolant lines from and where did you run the return coolant line? I think what is happening is possibly you feeding both sides pressure which is pressurizing the turbo's CHRA (Center Housing Rotating Assembly). This is something you usually see oil do if you run to small of a return line or don't have the proper restrictor in the oil inlet. The seals aren't actually blown they are just leaking because they are seeing to much pressure internally. See the last FAQ question on Forced Performance's site http://www.forcedperformance.com/faq.aspx

The water return line needs to be routed to the water bypass pipe. If you have it anywhere else then thats probably the problem. Anywhere else will create positive pressure on both the inlet and outlets of the CHRA water connections building a lot of pressure inside the CHRA causing the leak. By putting the return line on the water bypass pipe it creates a negative pressure on the outlet line because the water pump is always running and drawing coolant. If you have your return line there already try a larger return line.

The water lines are coming from the head off a nipple from the thermostat housing and go back to the top of the bypass hose.....the same spots where the throttle body were. I am using 3/8 hoses. should i make the supply line 5/16? If so boy am i gonna have fun squishing a small line on a banjo fitting! Are the seals damaged?? Does anyone have an exploded view of a BB turbo?

cjthor · Post by **cjthor** » July 3rd, 2006, 4:31 pm

found this with a quick google search...
http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1672288&page=2
guess im not the only one.

nos92mx3 · Post by **nos92mx3** » July 3rd, 2006, 8:44 pm

Have you tried running it without the coolant line run to it?

cjthor · Post by **cjthor** » July 3rd, 2006, 10:31 pm

nos92mx3 wrote:Have you tried running it without the coolant line run to it?

just got home...gonna change into my grungies now and go check her out!!

cjthor · Post by **cjthor** » July 4th, 2006, 3:13 am

OK here goes..
When i got home i took the hoses from the water in and out and took them off the engine. I then took the downpipe completely off so i could see the exhaust wheel. I fired it up and it did have a fair amount of water initally come out(few tablespoons) then it just dribbled a drop here or two. it seems to have a drip or two here or there coming out. I then decided to say screw it and take it alll the way apart. when i took the turbo off the manifold it looks like there is a bit of wetness on the exhaust inlet....like where it was wet it put a slight amount of surface rust. I looked at the head and all four ports look normal..

Franko · Post by **Franko** » July 4th, 2006, 6:19 am

Your turbo has to be defective. Is it brand new? Ive heard of this happening on the gtx forums. People see white smoke coming out of their exhaust and it turns out to be the turbo crapping out on them. What you can do is pressureize your coolant system with a system pressureizer. You can get them at princess auto for like 50 bux if youre so enclined. I bought one to find a coolant leak I had.. turns out my rad was screwed.
I think its pretty safe to say that your turbo is screwed. It should never leak coolant. Even if you had both lines hooked up wrong.. The pressure wouldent get to a level high enough as to cause it to leak out the side. The most that turbo is gonna see is 15 psi or so of coolant pressure.. I wouldent think it would pass that even if they were both hooked up wrong.. The coolant would just sit there and not circulate if they were like that.

The turbo must have warranty. call the company and see what they say.