I NEED Boost... Opinions puh-lease

[Nexus1155]

I don't know if theres any silicone that will handle the heat back on the turbo.

[pimp my yaris]

That realy sucks, I thought U would have found something obvious. If it were me I would try switching the copper washers and retry it. Watch that thing like a hawk with plenty of light and see exactly where the oil starts to leak. When you thread the bolt into the turbo without the line and washers, does it go easily? Or does it bind up? Mabe the thread pitch is wrong on the bolt. Thread pitch is the number of threads per. mm or inch. Mabe the bolt is stoping before the washers get tight. I allready ran into this problem with a oil line kit for my turbo. Report back

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Yeah the washers are only very slightly chipped on the outer edge from where I was using a chisel, so no big deal. I honestly think they needed to be tighter. The way I had it earlier was such that the banjo fitting was still able to rotate with some force applied. I took the turbocharger apart so I could more readily get a wrench around the banjo bolt and tightened it a turn or two more.

The return flange is.. eh. I couldn't tell if there was a problem, mainly because I don't know what to look for. I'll be replacing the paper gasket, and using silicone on the bolts. I'll also start off by tightening it a little less...

The nice thing is, since everything is now installed, I can just put the turbo assembly on the engine block and attach the feed and return lines, then crank the engine. This will make it MUCH easier to spot any and all leaks.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. The return line runs very close to the axle. I was looking at it earlier and it sheared some of the steel braided line. The inner liner is untouched and appears to not be leaking. Since it's the return line, I'll be leaving it for now and designing a bracket to keep it AWAY from the axle.

[pimp my yaris]

Sounds like your getting it under control. I would put some silicone on that return line gasket too. As long as their is coolant going through the turbo it should staw cool enough to work. Make sure the gasket surfaces are clean and smooth. Free of jb weld and chisel marks. Good luck and lets see a video!

[Nexus1155]

Hmmmm, if the seals are blown they're blown. its only about a $30 fix but still shitty to do. Otherwise try to run it some more to see if it still smokes alot. If it isn't grinding or making wooo wooo noises, the turbo should still be good just the seals may be bad if the problem persists.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Yeah no noises or anything... I guess I have no choice but to take it out... AGAIN.

I've read white is usually coolant though. I don't know what to think

Ah something else I just remembered - the radiator fan kicked on to full speed within 5 minutes of idle. I think this may be coolant and oil related. GREAT.

[pimp my yaris]

Engine burning coolant will be white smoke and smell like rotten eggs at the tail pipe. Realy foul. Hope your head gasket is ok. A bad head gasket or cracked head could be another cause for oil or coolant in the exhaust. Did you hear any engine pinging "detonation"? This thread is starting to make me nervious about my own project. Say it aint so Jerzy.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Haha you're nervous? Imagine how I feel.

I highly doubt there are any issues with the head gasket. I know when I pulled the coolant lines to get the turbo out, I leaked ALOT of coolant because I didn't even realize it was slowly leaking for a few hours. Maybe some found its way into the charge piping? There's also a crap ton of oil residue left from when I was driving around with an oil leak.

I don't really know how to go about this. I think I'll check all my coolant lines, make sure the oil return isn't plugged at all, then off comes the turbo again. This kinda sucks

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Ok figured it out most likely. The paper gasket I used had flaps around the hole that actually blocked the oil's return for the most part. Currently trying to figure out how to cut those out, but I'm still worried the pressure build up may have blown the seal in the turbo? Guess I won't know until I lessen the restriction on the return.

Uh, on the positive side, the previous leaks I had are definitely dealt with at this point. I'll be more happy about that when I know for a fact that I don't have to rip the turbo out, pull it apart, and replace the seal.

[pimp my yaris]

Just wondering, have U installed the 1zz injectors yet. Also have U made any adjustments with the FIC

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Originally Posted by pimp my yaris

Just wondering, have U installed the 1zz injectors yet. Also have U made any adjustments with the FIC

1ZZ injectors (and tb) are in. No adjustments to the FIC yet.

Here's where I stand now:

I unplugged the return, primed the turbo, fired up the car. Within a minute it stopped the white smoke, so that appears to be solved.

However, I was about to take the car out and now have a new problem. I tore out of my neighborhood and blew a ton of white smoke out the exhaust. It appeared to stop about a minute later, but then the oil idiot light came on? Came home, popped the hood, and nearly passed out by how much white smoke came out from under the hood. I'm 100% sure the smell is coolant burning... so... interesting... lol. I definitely hear some sort of bubbling noise happening around the engine block as well. Bubbling + burning = boiling? But why coolant, WHY?

I'll be checking all the coolant lines and blah blah blah. Anyone feel free to throw me some ideas. I also have a CEL again, and was about to go to advance auto to check it out but... not now.

[pimp my yaris]

Well I would say you need to start thinking about the head gasket or cracked cyl. head or possibly a massive coolant leak under the hood. The bubling sound was the engine overheating. I use a funel that attaches and seals directly to the radiator neck. After I have filled the coolant and blead all air out of the cooling system, I check for air bubles coming up from the radiator. If the bubles never stop. Their is a good chance of a blown head gasket or cracked head.
Clean the engine compartment with a hose and fill the engine back up with a 50/50 coolant, water mix. And first check for under hood leaks. It sounds like it overheated bad and possibly blew the coolant out of the resivoir bottle.

[pimp my yaris]

Its also possible that when U installed the turbo coolant lines, U may have created a large air pocket in the cyl. head. This would cause some bad over heating as well. When filling coolant U must keep engine runing long enogh for thermostat to open so coolant will flow through the cyl. head and push air pockets to the radiator filler neck. This will take about a half hour. During this time U must monitor engine temp. and make sure U dont over heat. If your fan has turned on and off a couple off times this will be long enough. Dont rev. your engine during this time. And make sure You keep the radiator full.
Sorry for long explanation. Hope this is helpfull.
Good luck in this mission as U have allready accepted it.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Haha you're making me nervous man. But...

I checked the coolant lines on the turbo and (thankfully) they're leaking. They only seem to leak while the car is in drive though, because during idle there is no smoke. If the engine was overheating, wouldn't it throw the engine hot light? I wish I knew what this CEL was...

I'm still worried about what you're saying though. The smoke does seem to be isolated to behind the engine block, and the exhaust. I'll work on the turbo coolant leak and hopefully all will be resolved.

cdydjded, are you saying it HAS to be this toyota brand coolant? I was using something else, and at this point most of the OEM coolant has leaked out or evaporated.

I'm also still confused about the oil idiot light. What would cause it to come on if the oil level is adequate?

Also if it's of any importance... The car drives absolutely fine currently.

[coheed]

Cant find it at walmart. From what Ive heard its cheaper to buy the red coolant at Mercedes dealers then Toyota. Not to sure on that one bc I havent had to buy any yet.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Is it possible I could get an oil idiot light from too much oil? Seems weird, but I have noooo idea what this oil idiot light could be from. My only other thought is the sender is failing?

Just read something interesting - having too much oil causes it to flood over the crank shaft, which whips it up and creates air pockets in the oil. This immediately caught my attention, as I noticed the nylon tube I use for my oil pressure gauge seems to have a lot more air in it than it did when the car is turned off. This seems like it would explain why the oil idiot light seems to freak out and not always stay on constantly, and turns off during idle when it's expecting less pressure. Does what I'm saying make any sense lol?

I think I'm going to do a fresh oil change right now... Only problem is I am NOT looking foward to getting the filter off, as the Zage return elbow blocks the stupid thing.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

After two days of frustration and symptoms pointing to potentially huge issues, it seems as though all my leaks are finally plugged.

Will be taking her out first thing tomorrow. Wish me luck guys.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Good news and bad news.

First, the good. The leaks are definitely plugged (except for an exhaust leak where the downpipe connects, no big deal) and no more white smoke.

Now, the bad. I had to have my car towed.

I was driving and heard a loud popping sound when I entered boost, and immediately pulled over. Car starts, but idles like crap. Decided it was best to have it towed...

Here's the ridiculous part that I'm never going to forgive myself for. That light... It isn't the oil idiot light... IT'S THE OVERHEATING LIGHT. One of the guys at the shop pointed it out by unscrewing the radiator cap. Sure enough.. it was overheating bad. I pray that my stupidity didn't just cost me a crap load. How can someone install a turbocharger with no expertise, but be stupid enough to confuse two dashboard lights lol?

Anyways, this is out of my hands at this point. My fingers are crossed and I'm hoping the diagnosis they run isn't absolutely terrible. I'm having the guy do a compression test and check the internals / head gasket, so we'll see. Then there's still the issue as to why it's overheating. I doubt it's simply because I'm using the wrong coolant, but with a turbocharger in.. who knows.

On the plus side, my install has run on the cheap side so far, so I still have some cash that I (reluctantly) can throw at this still. After two weeks of incredibly hard work, I'm ready to do what's necessary to just get the car up and running successfully.

I hope I'm not discouraging anybody that wanted to do this... I know this all sounds scary, but my car isn't kaput. Also, if you're not a total f-up like I am, you won't have problems where you mix up the oil and overheating lights. God I wish I had my water temp gauge installed before all this...

Anyways, you guys will be the first to know when I have updates. I feel so crummy right now, because all I can do is sit here and hope for the best.