Headgasket, how to tell if its blown.

[JoeScooby]

Well I have 2 ideas on my I have smoke comming out of the exhaust side on my turbo, Only when I'm on boost.. If i keep it out, the smoke is no more.

1 - turbo seal = shot. Purchase turbo from deadbolt

2- Headgasket blown - Deep shizz, I will go broke.

How can you tell if your headgasket is done for

[2point4DSM]

Sometimes a compression test won't show anything. Best way to check for a blown headgasket is to rule out any other external/internal coolant leaks. Look for oil in the coolant and the coolant system getting pressurized enough to push coolant out the reservoir when driven hard.
(more info found here: http://www.tristatetuners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11854&highlight=blown+headgasket )

Pull the intake hose and see if there is a lot of wiggle on the shaft. If you can push/pull the shaft up and down and spin it at the same time and hear the blades hitting then it is bad. Or if there is ANY in/out shaft play, that is bad. (more info found here: http://www.tristatetuners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10218&highlight=turbo+seal )

[2point4DSM]

Simply put, if our losing coolant and can't find any external leaks then think blown headgasket. Otherwise, think blown turbo.

[JoeScooby]

my coolant level is good, no gunk. No coolant in the oil either.

[2point4DSM]

my coolant level is good, no gunk. No coolant in the oil either.

When you say coolant level is fine are you checking the overflow bottle or under the radiator cap? Just checking the coolant overflow is not enough.

No gunk? A motor with a slightly leaky headgasket that has been driven around for years will show gunk. A motor with a badly leaking headgasket will show oil mixing. A motor that only leaks under boost will have black specs probably the size of a grain of sand in the coolant that might look like dirt.

If your changing your oil often enough coolant won't show up in your oil either. There are enough additives in good oil to absorb a certain amount of coolant. Still, it is hard to see coolant in oil since it normally sinks to the bottom of the oil pan when it seperates and won't stick to the dipstick.

I'm still betting leaky turbo at this point.

What kind of turbo is it... garret, mitsu...?

What color is the smoke?

Does the car start to smoke bad if you let it sit idling for a long time?

[JoeScooby]

I checked both for the coolant, i guess i wouldnt be able to see the black flecks. The turbo is a stock TD04 with about 50,000 miles on it. Umm smoke looks white with blusish tint. If I dont boost it dosent smoke at all.. if I boost it will come out of the hoodscoop and out of the tail maybe once (thats if I floor it). Opened the hood when it did smoke and its radiating out of where the downpipe meets up with the turbo, smells of oil. I looked around nasioc and there are about 30 posts about the same problem I have (stock td04), every one points to the turbo seal. Deadbolt has been contacted and standing by with my rebuilt td04 or monster td04 if i want.. I'm just hoping its not the gasket cuz I Cant afford that much work. No car dosent smoke if I let it idle, well actually... only sometimes. I think it happened once or twice a week since I went stage 2 full catless. I'm going to pull the DP off tomorrow to see if there is any oil pooling in the turbo, if not im going to redo the gasket, maybe add some sealant, then invest in a catch can.

[ej20wrx123]

sounds like a blown turbo to me. A leakdown test could tell you if your haveing a headgasket problem. I know when the RS's have headgasket problems there is oil present right where the hg is. So look on both sides of the motor for oil and a leakdown will tell you whats up. I would do a comp test too while you got those plugs out.

[JoeScooby]

Well, drove it home... no smoke, I stayed totally out of boost. Opened the hood and a slight smell of oil was present by the turbo.

[ej20wrx123]

i bet its the turbo then. It never hurts to get a comp/leakdown test tho

[2point4DSM]

At this point I doubt you will need a headgasket or turbo. 50k miles on a mitsu turbo is not much at all unless you are over boosting it a lot. Sounds to me like you've got an exhaust leak and therefore probably making under hood temps a lot higher than normal therefore causing rubber products to become brittle and or crack. Maybe a breather hose, valve cover gasket, etc.

Still, I would pull the intake hose and check the turbo shaft for play.

And at this point completely forget about a blown headgasket.

[JoeScooby]

Im going to do that tomorrow, I have never overboosted before.. Im going to throw the stock d/p on as well, change a gasket and see if it goes away. Thanks for all your help.. see what I find tomorrow and take it from there.. O well back to stage 1 for now.

[ej20wrx123]

the stock wrx turbo is a mitsu?
are you running close to 20psi?

[JoeScooby]

no, tops 15/16 PSI. TD04 is a mitsu turbo, yes

[ej20wrx123]

let us know how it works out because like 2point4dsm said 16psi and 50k is nothing on that turbo