Well, another 2.6l headgasket is dust. Unfortunately, this is on Pearl, my turbo daily driver. In the last 5 days, she has used 4 gallons of water and antifreeze in about 100 miles of driving. I'm pretty sure (that is hopeful) the head will be ok as there have been no overheating or high water temps.

My question to the board is this, have I unwittingly damaged the turbo?

I have all the other parts for the gasket R&R. I am fortunate to have my new Ramcharger to drive, but was trying to get as much mileage out of the Mighty Max before having to smog again/license. Still contemplating the turbo engine swap into my Raider...silly vehicles breaking down on me. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Russell

I'm sure more turbo oriented folks will chime in soon enough.

If the water was going into the combustion chamber, the likelyhood of there being damage on the exhaust side of the turbo should be minute to nil. It may have gummed it up a bit depending on how much coolant was in the system, but I don't think anything would be terminal. Now if there was water getting into the oil, there is a good chance that the turbo impeller bushings were underlubricated and a rebuild is in order. Rebuild kits are relatively inexpensive last time I bought one. I think I paid under $150 for a OEM Mitsu kit. But like I said, I'm sure those with more turbo knowledge will provide better info.


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Hey Russell, not much into alchemy, but this is some magic stuff.

Don't know how it worked, but it did.Have been driving on it for about a month now, and it totally stopped water issue. Towed with it, played off-road, sat and idled with it, and it seems to have cured the problem. Researched it for about an hour and a half on the web, a nd took a $70 chance.

How are you, Russell? Sorry about your truck.

If there was no (very little) water in the oil, I doubt seriously if you did any turbo damage.

That damn turbo truck of mine sucked coolant for a year, but I never could find "the milkshake" that I was fearing. There would be a puddle under it after every drive (not often because it mostly sat). I kept looking for a bad hose, fitting or something, but never could find it. Turned out, the gasket was breached, but no coolant was getting into the oil. Also, it appeared the exhaust mani had pulled away a bit, cracked the head and opened up a water passage, hence the leak I could hear, but never see.

Check the turbo bearing for front/back play (push/pull test) and if it's OK there, I believe you'll be good to roll. Mine was fine.

I'll pull the engine apart this weekend. Shucks, had other things planned.

I'm not sure how these engine have their fittings, but I take it there is an oil and water line as in most 80's turbos?

I think if it spins freely, with minimal/no shaft play, it shows that it had adequate cooling and lubrication despite the HG issue and didn't stress or significantly expanded/distort the metal/fins while in use.

Do you have another turbo engine to place it under boost and see if it holds the set psi without excessive lag, drop-offs or bleeds? If not the only way is to re-install and find out after the HG job.

I got my fingers crossed your head is still within spec, I gave my Mercedes a viking's funeral when I realized the head was warped after overheating it. I kept the revs at rev limited until it overheated and died a smoky and flammable death. In retrospect I probably should have tried that wizard-fluid mentioned above, since I was left walking for awhile until I found the Montero.

Turbo shaft play is normal at about .5mm or so. I believe it's uphill to the turbo wheel, so the likelyhood of liquid water hitting the fins is very low. The temps in the exh mani are high enough to vaporize the water almost instantly, unless you had a gusher. Since the loads on the turbo bearings are constant, not cyclical like the rods and mains, not likely you fried them either.

Ditto on the 100-150 buck cost on the turbo rebuild kit. Pretty easy to rebuild if you have the stout snap ring pliers to get the big sanp ring off the housing. Little touchy putting the piston ring type sealing rings on the shaft, but not terrible.

I rebuilt mine and was not bad at all Russ, this is like the kit I bought, Just make sure you mark the shaft and impeller before you remove the shaft nut they are balanced from the factory:)

Linky: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TDO5-TD05-turbo-...8cc&vxp=mtr

All this pause and opportunity makes me think I should decide what to do with the Mighty Max. I wish someone had purchased the truck before I had trouble with it (<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" />). I like the turbo power, just not the truck. This leads me to the think'in about repowering my Raider and ending with a MM chassis. To be determined, I guess.

The truck looks like an ideal vehicle. I had a '93 which I liked. Are there specific reasons, or does it just not suit you?