Mystery coolant leak, billowing white smoke/vapor

[washwagon]

89 gl turbo. I'm having a leak somewhere on the passenger side rear of the engine. Close to the turbo. I just replaced the turbo gaskets and coolant houses under it. I was thinking exhaust port cracked? It overheated before I worked on the turbo.

 

It's billowing white vapor from the engine bay and exhaust. Especially when giving throttle. Thanks for the help everyone!

[Naked Buell]

I would guess that it probably has a crack in the head between the valves. I had one in my Rx and I searched for other heads and every motor I checked, it was cracked in the same place. Just my 2 cents but I saw that those engines were problematic.

[Len Dawg]

Could be leaking from the crossover intake where it joins the cylinder head.. thats where my problem started once before...

[DaveT]

EA82s almost always have a hairline crack between the valves. There is a tsb about it, it's normal. Bad overheat cam make a big one that causes coolant leaks. Turbos are at higher risk and more troublesome than spfi and carb.

[washwagon]

Thanks for the pointers! Are any of those repairable? Any way to test for sure which it would be? I'm just a diy guy and have never pulled an engine. I'll try to find that thread.

[washwagon]

I should add that the oil looks great. And the car runs and idles normally.

[john in KY]

White smoke under the hood and out the tailpipe is rather odd.  A cracked head/failed head gasket would produce white smoke out the tail pipe but not under the hood. The only way to have both happening in my mind is the turbo housing has a crack. 

[DaveT]

Headgaskets typically fail to outside of block and coolant passage. You really have to cook one to get coolant in the oil.

 

I'm not specifically familiar with turbos. Technically, anything is repairable but my hunch is that it's cheaper to find a usable head, if it turns out that it is cracked.

 

Try to verify the exhaust gaskets are all sealed. Need to find the coolant leak under the hood, if it is that. If it's a bad exhaust leak, then the smoke could be coming from it and obviously out the tailpipe also. The smoke out the exhaust could be a cracked head or bad intake gasket. Maybe pull the exhaust off the heads, look up the ports for coolant dripping down....

[washwagon]

Ok, let's say there is coolant dripping out when I take of the exhaust from the head, what does that tell me? cracked head? Is replacing a head a feasible task for a driveway job? Thanks for the help!

[DaveT]

The one I had that cracked, the coolant was dripping out of the exhaust port.

 

Replacing the heads / headgaskets can be done with the engine in the car.  I prefer to pull it and have easier access to everything, but I have the setup and space for doing it.

[washwagon]

DaveT, you've been so helpful! Yes, there is coolant leaking down the passenger side exhaust. The pipe was quite full of coolant and oil. Also, the exhaust pipe was broken off below the turbo mounting flange, which explains the smoke in the engine bay. Do you recommend a place to get heads? I would probably do it with the engine in.

[DaveT]

Try posting on the buy sell section?  It's going to be hard to find anyplace that still has these old parts.  Maybe carpart.com?  Other people on here that have turbos may know of a place.

One of the things I've done to deal with this sort of problem, is is be watching for local cars.  I've had things happen a few times - Back when I was driving my 76 and it was around 10-15yrs old - A guy saw me in a parking lot and long story short, sold me a 78 for $1.00.  I didn't need it, but it was a bunch of parts.

Another time, similar thing - a guy saw me with my old GL, his family was closing their small repair shop.  Had several GLs and parts out back.  "Go take whatever you want."  I got a few sets of usable fenders, couple of heads, and other removable engine parts.  Headlights, etc.  Spent a day pulling off whatever I could, and that I figured might someday need.  I tried to arrange a car trailer to grab a whole car, but the plans fell through.

point is always be watching, and ready to jump.

[scoobiedubie]

You are overlooking the biggest problem.  The cross over pipe.  Subaru does not make them anymore.  The coolant in the cross over pipe most likely came from a cracked fin in the exhaust port.  Which is unrepairable.  There are two other sources of coolant in the exhaust.  One is the crack between the valves, and the other is lose intake manifold bolts that causes coolant to be pumped into the intake air.  You can also have a cracked turbo that allows coolant to be boiled into white smoke and exhausted.  Were you racing this car before it fried itself?

Edited April 12, 2017 by scoobiedubie

[wagons]

Hey wash wagon. Contact mr whirly here, here has a great set of dual port heads. Sent me pictures, not a crack to be seen in the pics i got. Im buying a single port set from him and i can tell you hes legit.