HOW DOES TURBO WATER COOLING WORK ?
 

I have water leaking from my turbo area, the water ends up on the exhaust manifold and then burns off. I have checked the banjo bolts etc. I even pressure tested the turbo when it is not in operation. It was fine. My question is , does the water cooling actually come in contact with the turbo moving parts, or does it just cool the metal block which in turn keeps the turbo cooler ?

Thanks

The water enters and exits a small pocket built into the centre housing, it doesn't go near moving parts, and yes by cooling the centre housing it coos the important bits (bearings etc where the oil could otherwise cook!)

Have you checked the metal pipe to rubber hose joints?

Simon

I have checked a joints , when im under the car the water runs down the left hand side of the turbo and onto the manifold cover . i cant think what else it could be

Have you changed the crap spring type clips on the water hoses? They can cause leaks that are hard to spot.

I have changed all the water connections to jubilee clips . I started the car and felt below each connection and cant find anything. I have also changed all the copper washers. Nightmare, any more ideas ?

just seen a turbo leaking water on the actuator arm where is goes into turbo.

wot the milage on the car. my facelift done 73k an mine leaked everytime i started car. could feel water between the exhaust gasket an turbo. i eventually replaced it for bigger an got a remap. my oldtd04 turbo had excessive shaft movement an think water was coming through seals. maybe the same with yours but where ya say water leaking it doesnt really

from the rubber hose ?

The water cannot come out through the shaft seals, it goes nowhere near them - and that would be inside the housings anyway and wouldn't come out a sealed exhaust until the tailpipe, what a ridiculous and unthinking and uneducated piece of trash information! Why not say the remap fixed it!

If there is water on the actuator (nowhere near water cooling hoses on mine - although different MY's are different), that implies it may be dripping from the bonnet? Washer lines perhaps?

Simon

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remove the water feed pipe to the turbo and the return and put a bolt in the pips then start the car and see if its still leaking ,

Is it ok to run the car without the cooling ?
What do you mean put a bolt in the pips ?

Thanks to everyone for your help .

just block them off as a temp measure. And run the car at idle to see if the water is still dripping if it is its not the turbo. dont run the car hard though with pipes disconnected as it'll overheat the turbo

calm down there lad im just saying wot i saw. maybe it is stupid trash. did i create the turbo? no but since changing the gaskets an turbo nothing has came out so therefore im saying what i saw. also i had the remap because i changed turbo. i never said the remap fixed otherwise it wud of leaked when i replaced it. i exchanged turbo an it stopped leaking.

so what you are suggesting is join the water inlet and outlet hoses together and drain the water from the turbo ? if there is no water leaks the turbo is fooked .

You could do that, but what ever has happened to the turbo (unless the centre housing is cracked, in which case you would know - no boost, siezed or very noisy turbo and oil all over the place) it won't and can't make it leak water, I'm away from home so can't photo my spare centre housing, but if you had one apart (and done a home hybrid and rebuilt it as I have) you would see what I've said is 100% true!

Where the water enters and leves the turbo there is no internal sealing at all its a cast in pocket with only one way in and out via the banjo bolts.

If you block the pipes you won't overheat the turbo at idle any more than pre watercooled turbo's overheated - I wish people would use some logic sometimes.

Simon

I answered your question re. leaks from the v-band and a broken centre housing in the last thread you started on this subject. To echo Simon's comments, the centre housing is a solid cast component - and the water jacket is cast in. The only way water could leak out would be if the housing had cracked, and it's next to unheard of for this to happen. If it had, your turbo would be totally knackered and as has been said you'd know it. You wouldn't be trying to localise subtle leaks.

If you try this remember that you need to partially drain your coolant system first, or you'll lose the contents of the header tank + more when you take the coolant supply pipe off the turbo.

TBH there's not a lot of point doing it. You'd be better off getting a torch and a dentist's mirror and poking around actually looking for drips. If it isn't the banjo bolts connecting the hardpipes to the centre housing, it'll be coolant seeping out of the one of the hardpipe-softpipe joints.

Also don't forget to examine the banjo bolt connecting the supply pipe to the cylinder head. Wherever it's coming from, if you're running the correct percentage of coolant in with the water, you should see white dried deposits of it around the source of the leak.

Careful or someone will set the moderators on you. This is Scoobynet, the place where bull and rumour take logic out for a fight and duff him up, and where "fact" is defined as "any old sh*t that gets repeated often enough for people to accept it without question". If you want logic, try 22B. ;)

Checked every connection with a mirror . I cant find any leaks, i need professional help.

anyone in the strathclyde area ?

Start by drying off every joint/part with kitchen or loo roll - scrupulously, run if for a bit (keep turbo temps down!) and repeat, paper towels show up the tiniest damp spot.

Also check its not coming from above such as washer lines and dripping on the turbo by coincidence!

"Careful or someone will set the moderators on you. This is Scoobynet, the place where bull and rumour take logic out for a fight and duff him up, and where "fact" is defined as "any old sh*t that gets repeated often enough for people to accept it without question". Metal pinning device struck firmly on the crown there splitpin.

Simon

"Careful or someone will set the moderators on you

well that wouldnt be me. im not a grass but at end of day it basically not nice to be called an idiot

I changed the copper seals on the banjo bolts again. It still leaks . It must be leaking from the turbo , there is nowhere else it can be . looks like i need a new turbo

If it's leaking, you must by definition, be able to see water dripping from somewhere. If you have a centre housing that has cracked in such a way that water can leak from the jacket to the outside, but oil doesn't, while the turbo remains fully functional, you are probably in a minority of one on the entire planet.

If this liquid is coming from the turbo assembly it is coming from one of the following places:

1. supply/return hardpipe banjos on the centre housing
2. supply pipe banjo on the back of the head
3. supply/return hardpipe to softpipe joints
4. any press-fitted blanking plugs in the turbo centre housing (almost impossible)
5. return softpipe to expansion tank joint

If you have positively ruled out all the above, there's no point shelling out on a new turbo, because it's almost certainly not at fault. You might as well stick with the diagnosis until you're sure it's nailed down rather than replace bits in the blind hope of fixing it.

What's happening to your coolant level, by the way, does it constantly need topping up?

Simon didn't call you an idiot, so not quite sure where you got that from. What he said was perfectly accurate; your suggestion that coolant was escaping from the turbo shaft seals isn't possible, period.

It might have seemed that way and you were right to post your experience, but one of the practical realities of forums like this is that if you post something that someone else thinks is incorrect, it's likely to be corrected, and frankly that's as it should be - as in this case you'd have sent Rossco on a wild goose chase looking for something that isn't there.

It's entirely up to you if you want to take it personally, but that's not how it's intended, and if you're going to get all dramatic every time something you post is discussed, you probably won't learn much.

i havn't been driving the car , i turn it off when the burning starts. The water is running down the right hand side of the turbo as you look at the front of the car. The water appears on the exhaust manifold heat shield , runs do the ridge part then burns on the exhaust . I can see it under the car but nowhere else.

change all the the stock clips with jubilee clips, i had the same problem and that sorted it. the leak was so small it took ages to find as i could only hear it dropping on to the exhaust.

All connections are jubilee clips, I thought it might be that.

Unfortunately not though.

I have seen a couple of Impreza's leaking from the Coolant header tank and running/spraying back onto the turbo.
Just my 2 pence worth.

Mick

had 2 header tanks let go,one leaking on the exhaust manifold(leaked from the join and only when hot and under load) and one on the top return pipe sprayin back and dripping down(this one was a pig to find).replace all standard tank's with alloy is what i say. you never know if your lucky it could be htis as it's a simple bolt on job.good luck.
mik.

Will check out the header tank.

Thank you everyone for pointers