InfamousJamous

Problem/symptoms:
Combustion gases seeping through head gasket into cooling system. Air displacing coolant in system, causing coolant to be pushed into overflow reservoir. Bubbles can be seen in overflow reservoir when engine is running.

results were positive. I didn’t even need to use a vacuum as air in radiator was forced through the detector.

Previously, I noticed that the coolant in the overflow reservoir would go above the Max mark, about halfway up the reservoir, then go back down. **If you notice this then get it checked out before the leak gets worse!** As the leak got worse, more coolant would be pushed into the overflow reservoir where it would top off and spill onto the pulleys while driving, causing them to squeak.

No visible leaks. No oil in coolant or vice versa. No white smoke in exhaust. Air must be seeping through the head gasket upon the compression stroke but no coolant is being sucked in upon the vacuum stroke as the leak hole is probably acting like a one way check valve.

Car has 160k miles with no service records (bought car at 130k miles from a private dealer, had 1 previous owner).


Fix:
Replace head gasket.

alfa75uk

That is a major bummer

wspy

Phuk.......dems some hard knocks..damn

InfamousJamous

Should have the cylinder head off today and prepped by tomorrow for installation. Can't wait to get back on the road.

REVTEC

That actually looks really clean inside there for 160k on it! It's a lot of work, but doing it yourself will save you a ton of $. Good luck!

PhXrS

you might as well have the intake/exhause side ported and polish since its off.

InfamousJamous

Thanks. I try to stay on top of the maintenance even though I drive hard. Frequent oil changes at 30% and a couple of burnouts.


Yeah, I thought about P&P the head and matching the intake but the turnaround time for my preferred shop is 4-5 weeks right now. I can't afford the cost or the downtime at the moment.

I think I'll wait until the head is the point of restriction before jumping on that. Like after a turbo upgrade, uppipe or intake manifold.

InfamousJamous

I'm starting to suspect that the turbo housing is cracked and leaking coolant. Notice the exhaust inlet is sooty but the outlet looks white. That's about where the coolant flows through the turbo.

Another clue is that there's a hairline crack near the middle (barely seen in the last pic at 3 o'clock to the right of the turbine).

What do you guys think?

InfamousJamous

The head gaskets don't look too bad. The material is coming off the steel and there seems to be some blow by between the layers.




The piston on the right seems to have a clean spot.



The valves for that piston seem to be cleaner than the rest too.


Here's a bonus shot of the crank and what looks like an oil pump chain.

InfamousJamous

It would make sense if the turbo housing is cracked as I did previously have a cracked downpipe. Major vibrations due to a bad CV joint and no flex in the exhaust was a recipe for disaster.

BigHatch

hope you get it up and going again soon.

InfamousJamous

Crack kills.






Not sure how long the turbo housing was cracked but I am spooling up much more quickly now with my new turbo.


Edit:
First post: "Problem: Combustion gases seeping through turbo housing into cooling system... Fix: Replace turbo housing"
Thread title: Seeping turbo housing / pushing coolant