Whats wrong with my rb!?!?

[Rb20detboy]

my engine is losing coolant in a matter of 10 to 15 minutes. white smoke is coming out of the side of the engine towards the turbo manifold and out the back of the exhaust (http://zilvia.net/f/#). but this is where it gets interesting. no oil in radiator and no coolant in oil and my compression reads perfect across all cylinders. so wth is wrong!?!? lol what do you guys think it could be. the engine is a rb20det 1994 thanks!!

[varmit]

blown head gasket they don't always present the same way presure test your cooling system it will most likely leak water at the point the "white smoke" is coming between the cylinder head and block. also pull spark plugs they will be overly clean if water is getting into a cylinder and leave them out until motor is cranked over if water is getting into cylinder it can bend a rod. remeber the engine is running and getting rid og the water as it enters cylinder you are presurizing while it is not running and it will collect. I am no expert at the rbs but have seen a lot of hot rods and had to repair a bunch of junk the presure test is a good starting point it is going somewhere

[Chrischeezer]

whats the compression exactly?

has this motor even been disassembled? like replaced the headgasket?

how does the motor run? does it have a "hardstart", or a stumble at idle?

do you have compression bubbles in your coolant? (when coolant is in there?)

[Rb20detboy]

My mechanic said it may be a bad seal by the turbo and coolant getting in the manifold and dissolving. I'm hoping it's not a head gasket. Or even worse a crack somewhere

my compression was 124 all across while cold. Don't want to let the engine warm up and overheat

the cars never been disassembles

the car idles fine but has a hard time starting up. Takes a couple cranks.

[Rb20detboy]

The cars with a friend who will be doing the pressure test this weekend. Just want more theories that could be causing this. I've never seen an engine run with a cracked block. And I've never seen perfect compression with a blown headgasket

[repda916]

124? its suppose to be around 150-170

[Rb20detboy]

Compression always reads low when engine is cold

[nismofo]

the turbo is water cooled also? perhaps theres a leak in the exhaust side of the turbo and taking in coolant.

[eklips3]

hmm kinda odd problem you have. your compression results show nothing majorly wrong , just shows that the motor is well used.
but anyways this is my guess.

the turbo has 2 coolant fittings ( feed and return ). there are hard lines that lead to the turbo and attach to the turbo with banjo fittings . my guess is that one of the 4 brass rings that go around the banjo bolt are cracked or warped or somehow out of shape.

this is definatley something i've never heard of before but could be a possibility.

keep us posted

[repda916]

Compression always reads low when engine is cold
my buddies rb was 150 on all 6 cylinders, car was also cold.

[Chrischeezer]

could be the copper crush washers on the turbo's feed/return lines.

i have never seen a turbo have a internal coolant/water leak or failure. that would be hard to achieve.

If the car has a hard start it could be an indication of coolant in the chamber :\

[Rb20detboy]

thanks for all the feedback guys. My compression might be alittle low but is fine when engine is hot. Not sure if that's even a problem. I agree with you guys about the lines being bad on the turbo. my mechanic and I think it's the turbo having a cracked housing and all my coolant getting through and into my manifold and dissolving before it even leaks to the ground. I ordered a rb25 turbo and am PRAYING that it fixes my problem or i'm straight out of ideas. I ordered all new seals and gaskets so hopefully if it's that it'll fix itself when we change up the turbo.

[GSXRJJordan]

What's wrong with your RB? It's an RB20, that's what's wrong... :keke:

thanks for all the feedback guys. My compression might be alittle low but is fine when engine is hot. Not sure if that's even a problem. I agree with you guys about the lines being bad on the turbo. my mechanic and I think it's the turbo having a cracked housing and all my coolant getting through and into my manifold and dissolving before it even leaks to the ground. I ordered a rb25 turbo and am PRAYING that it fixes my problem or i'm straight out of ideas. I ordered all new seals and gaskets so hopefully if it's that it'll fix itself when we change up the turbo.

Good call ~ go stainless lines/AN fittings for the turbo as well, and you can eliminate that as a possibility. The only place that water goes on that side of an RB is the turbo, so I'm guessing that's where you'll find the problem (unless your head gasket is done for, in which case you should see chocolate milk in your oil pan with that much coolant leaking through).

[Rb20detboy]

Yeah the oil is fine. No milky oil. And the coolant still draining the way it is. I didn't know the turbo is the only way the coolant goes through that side of the rb. This theory is making more and more sense. I ordered all the fittings and gaskets. Are new oil and coolant lines really necessary? Or can I use my stock lines with the new gaskets. I'll let you guys know exactly what the problem is when I slap this turbo on. I think the non milky oil and all cylinders having the same compression takes the headgasket theory out of the list

[TheRealSy90]

I've never seen an engine run with a cracked block.

You haven't seen very much then, i've seen motors run with pieces "chunks" of the block missing, some big enough to see the complete rod moving up and down.

[eklips3]

Yeah the oil is fine. No milky oil. And the coolant still draining the way it is. I didn't know the turbo is the only way the coolant goes through that side of the rb. This theory is making more and more sense. I ordered all the fittings and gaskets. Are new oil and coolant lines really necessary? Or can I use my stock lines with the new gaskets. I'll let you guys know exactly what the problem is when I slap this turbo on. I think the non milky oil and all cylinders having the same compression takes the headgasket theory out of the list


new oil and coolant lines are definatley not necessary. i can almost guarentee that their not whats causing your problem.

[Rb20detboy]

Yeah my mechanic is almost certain it's my turbo. Most likely cracked housing and coolant getting through. Well find out as soon as I receive the rb25 turbo and swap them.