I bought a 2008 outback xt at the auction a while back. It smokes a lot right after start up.
My initial thought is head gasket. But I would like to rule out the turbo being bad and dumping in coolant.
If it would be the turbo I would take on that replacement at home. If it were the head gaskets I would need to take it somewhere to be fixed.
Is there a way I can rule out the turbo being the issue? Or put another way know that it is a turbo issue and not a head gasket issue?
I can't smell your video. Does it small like oil, or antifreeze? Is it pressurizing the cooling system?
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Smells like antifreeze. I don't have a coolant pressure tester, so I don't know if it is building pressure.
Have you tried the gum or maybe a patch?
I know ejs are notorious for blowing head gaskets. That would be my guess. If it's only st start up it probably only a lil bit honked right now.
Turbo EJs are less likely to have headgasket issues.
Can you remove the turbo and plug the lines to run it briefly without and see if it still smokes?
Somebeach (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Smells like antifreeze. I don't have a coolant pressure tester, so I don't know if it is building pressure.
a failed head gasket might be apparent without a gauge/tester ... I've seen constant flow/pressure at the cap, whereas normal pressure from warming up is typically a one-time event
Bad valve stem seals will smoke like a chimney on a cold start, after all the oil drools out of the head into the exhaust manifold. Won't smoke much when running.
Is there a known failure of a turbocharger that injects coolant? I've certainly never encountered that. I'd be more curious about a pcv heater setup that might rust through or crack and inject coolant into the intake manifold. Ran into that on a Tempo way back.
Put the rad cap on, zap the throttle hard three times, and see how firm the rad hoses are before and after. That will tell you about pressure in the cooling system.
To addendum to that, this only really works on a cold engine, because cracks and such can seal up with heat.
When I very gloriously cracked the cylinder head in my Volvo (cracked clear through from one exhaust valve, across the chamber and deck, to a water jacket hole) it only leaked combustion when cold. Once warmed up it was fine. But until then... oy!
Pressure testing the cooling system on a cold engine and using a borescope found the leak.
If it's coolant, it's probably a head gasket. I have seen a couple EJ255s lose head gaskets, but they both also created a righteous milkshake in the oil in addition to leaking into the combustion chambers. Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence, though.
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