STEAm coming from Air intake!!
 

Hey guys long time since i have posted great new layout...



anyway



i have a turbocharged 97 coupe and well finally wound the boost up over 18psi normally at 12.



i heard a slight pop!! at speed



now when i checked my engine i took off my o2rush pod filter and there is a significant amout of steam coming out of the turbo - air intake



whats wrong ???



im assuming my head lifted a bit and i just need a new gasket



the car still drives just a little bit more sluggish almost like its running on 3 cyl or rich and now sounds like a fully fledged wrc rally car



no oil in the coolant and no coolant in the oil (that i can detect anyway) mind you i havent changed the oil



but i have had no loss of coolant level





anyone else had this problem?



cheers in advance

Alz :beercheers:

A little water makes a lot of steam. What did the steam smell like?

did you feel the car react a certain way when you heard the sound? RPMs drop? Are you back to 12psi? Any changes in your gauges?



Good to see you back here, Alz. Sorry it couldn't have been under better terms.

Yes, you probably need a new, better gasket. Possibly the head needs to be studded down as well. What compression were you running, and did you get a boost spike at the time?

Hopefully its just a head gasket?are there any signs of leak around the block?, I'd do compression test first.

hmm been away for a while "better terms"??? what happened to RD tiburon? i just put that in the address bar and assumed that all parties have now joined??

well i was overtaking a few cars on a small rural road, i know the road.. so gunned it and while overtaking i heard a pop! sort of like a back fire not unusual but not while driving like that under boost and at those revs,



so i get to work go to park up and the car stalls, could not hold low revs

finally got it to start again and parked up.



prayed to god that it started when i fininshed work.......



so driving home the sound has completly changed bit more raspy!! chunky



i get home pop the hood and notice steam coming from the air intake.



i havn't driven the car since don't want to do any damage,



steam is just steam no real smell..



i drained the coolant to see if any oil was in there but no..



i checked the dipstick and no coolant in there..



since then i have started the car and within a minute it start to release that damn steam...



gauges are normal at that startup temp.



boost spike at the time i cannot tell you. was watching the road but the car did not buck or lag at the time





any more suggestions?



im thinking the head may have lifted a bit under boost and wrecked the gasket i will replace and check the compression too,



i was also thinking mabey a turbo seal but since i have not plumbed the coolant into the turbo this should not happen



hmmm



i appreciate your guys help

yes, RDT and HA merged for the betterment of the community. More people coming together to a common place. It's a good thing.



By better terms, I meant I wish your car troubles weren't the reason you came back to us. Stick around a while :beercheers:

compression test

160 cyl 1

90 cyl 2

157 cyl 3

160 cyl 4



so i took the head off no signs of damage and all looks pretty good, rings seemed fine seats ok etc



on a closer check - piston in cyl 2 has a hairline fracture and after cleaning the head i noticed that the piston had been just hitting the head slightly



so now i need new pistons grrrrr..

Pistons are cheap, especially from one of the members here. If anyone, Dennisst probably has one but you'll be better off emailing than starting a thread or PMing him



You likely cracked the ring land, and the compression was bleeding around the compression ring. Now would be the time to slap a fresh ring pack on all four pistons, BTW.