turbo issues, i think?

call me a ding dong but im trying to learn this stuff as fast as it comes/happens. i dont even know where to start here honestly lol. well anyways i had to pick my girlfriend up at her house and take her with me to my MX race, well when i pulled into her driveway and stopped i noticed steam coming from under my hood and could hear it bubbling, but temp read fine the whole time. popped the hood and coolant was coming out of the cooling lines going into the turbo, evaporating off of it. i kinda said oh well, checked my fluid, added maybe 2 pints, and left. about a mile down the road the engine temp rose almost to the red, i pulled into a gas station, bought some coolant and added about half the jug into it, then babied it to where i needed to go adding coolant on my way, then put it on a roll back and got it home after my race.

(by the way its the 2nd gen twin vein ct26 )that is the situation that got me to tear into it, and when i did i noticed i had oil coating the insides of my intercooler lines after the turbo, and now that the lines are off theres oil that slowly seeps and drips out of the compressor, and the turbine shaft has play in it, i can take a air compressor nosle to it and as it spins watch the shaft move around in a clockwise motion. and when it ran i could get it to max out at 20psi, then as i pulled the gears and stretched them out to 5-6k it would drop all the way down to 13-14psi -.- That is why my first instinct tells me hey, the bearing started to go bad, making the seals start to go bad, and charging my coolant system (since it has the coolant lines running into it). the cool thing is my engine oil is clean, no coolant in that. but i have not checked my compression to see if i have a blown head gasket, which i kinda doubt bcs ive looked into that on here and havent found many if any blown head gasket issues reported by people.

so i bought a turbo rebuild kit off ebay, i honestly just want to get it running again so i can sell it or something. am i headed in the right direction? if not please save your bad comments and try to show me in the right direction, cause i would love to learn more! thanks

Your gonna fix and sale huh... Downer

Sounds like your headed in the right direction. Just make sure the coolant feed and return going to the turbo are not leaking themselves also. Oil in intercooler/pipes is a sure sign your turbo is in need of som help.

~James

What sort of mods do you have to be running that much boost through a CT26? Does it have steel wheels or ceramic?

Oil in the intercooler piping can be caused by the crankcase breather which is feed into the turbo intake, but could also be a bad turbo seal, would just depend on the amount of oil in ya piping?

Small amount of oil, probably just the breather
Alot of oil, most likely a turbo oil seal

As for the coolant temp, whats the condition of you coolant, is it the same colour as when you put it in, or is it all brown and rusty looking?

20 psi on a stock ct26!

Shenanigans!

The fueling system and turbo can't handle more than 15-17 psi at full rpms...

The water jacket on the turbo is physically separate from the bearing assy, it's likely boiling because the turbo is usually so hot that the coolant boils it anyway... I suggest just replacing that seal. I have one I'll send u for free...

ATS had to add an extra wastegate spring to get to 26psi but it can be done.

I think you have some problems however some things you note can be considered normal. Running high boost and having it drop higher in the rev range is completely normal because the exhaust housing is too restrictive. Having a thin coating of oil (within reason) in the intercooler and inside compressor housing is often normal due to the stock PVC.

Heaps of turbo shaft play and coolant going everywhere is obviously not normal. Do compression, people blow head gaskets often in modified 20+ year old cars, especially running that sort of boost.

In future, run 14psi max. If you want to seriously modify then you need a turbo kit, fuel injectors, pump, better intercooler, ecu, tuning, estimate $5000 to do it properly and reliably.

The fuel system is not stock lol. Bigger injectors, bigger pump. It also has a 3in down pipe with 2.75in exhaust with an actual muffler and then fart can end. Also to add to that I have stainless headers. I'm not sure on what exactly is sone o the turbo to make it run that much boost but it does it, have gauge to prove it and also tested it electronically. The guy I got it from said it was tuned for 25psi but who knows. I also have an hks intercooler and greddy type rs BOV. Those are the mods I have that would effect this. I should have posted my parts list to begin with. I was also thinking taking he muffler of and only running the fart can would free it up a bit too. Thanks for the help. I'm pulling the turbo off tonight and having a my friend rebuild it, he's going to school for diesel mechanics so I figured I'd let him have his shot at it, he said he's rebuilt one turbo so far and would like to learn about a turbo running coolant lines into it.