Jump to content
LegacyGT.com

Removed heatshielding now my car is dying


Recommended Posts

ripped off a small 1 foot long piece of heatshielding that was rattling, came from the front half of the exhaust under the front seat area. car ran fine after and sounded much better without the intense rattle. drove the rest of the day maybe a total of one hour non stop no noticeable difference besides the better sound.

 

this morning, thick white smoke coming out of he exhaust. looked underneath the car couldnt see an exhaust leak, looked under the hood everything looked normal (edit: upon further inspection definite spillage of coolant around the overflow/battery/headlight area). i took her for a drive to the store anyway, noticeable loss of power. RPMs go up and down irratically when idling and it feels like it wants to stall. always used to idle strong before.

 

check engine light is on but thats normal except now its flashing. normally the check engine light goes on and off every few days always P0507 high idle. i had it looked at and its just the sensor the car has no problem with high idle. i will try to nurse her down to advanced later today after she cools down and have them pull the codes again.

 

thats the other bit, shes overheating (maybe 15 minutes worth of driving) and also the heater appears to not work anymore.

 

somebody anybody how can removing a small piece of heatshielding cause all this over night???? what can i do to start trouble shooting?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Possibly the O2 sensor wire came unplugged when you ripped the heatshield off?

 

Thick white smoke is bad, sign of a coolant leak, possible blown head gasket - might not be related to your exhaust.

 

Check your collant level - did the smoke smell sweet?

 

Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the smoke almost had a steamy water vapor type scent to it but it hung in the air like smoke. i didnt stick my nose in it will do next time.

 

is the O2 sensor plug under the car around the front seat area? or under the hood?

 

im afraid to check my coolant right now i wanna let her cool down a bit more. will update.

 

and thanks!

 

EDIT:

 

OK

 

definitely coolant spillage around the overflow area (by battery and headlight). inside the coolant tank it looks brown with bubbles sitting on the surface of the brown "coolant". it almost appears soupy.

 

somebody give me good news.. :redface:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • I Donated

Removing the heat shield didn't cause all of this.

 

Your best taking it to a mechanic to have coolant system pressure tested to try and find the leak. It is either leaking, or over flowing.

 

The flashing check engine light is from a misfire. When a car misfires bad enough, the check engine light will start flashing to warn you to shut the car off to prevent immediate damage. This could be happening because one of your head gaskets blew allowing coolant into the combustion chamber. This as well would explain the white smoke / steam coming out of your exhaust...and over flowing coolant....and the brown gunk in the overflow bottle.

 

Have you ever mixed dex cool with the green coolant? It will gunk up and cause all kinds of problems if you do

-broknindarkagain

My Current Project - Click Here

COME AND TAKE IT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

no i havent mixed anything in the coolant. i didnt hear a misfire either but thats not to say i dont believe you.

 

anyway this is looking like a bummer.. almost to 200k looks like i might not make it :( she was running so strong before all this. gonna try and get her down to my mechanic today its not far i think i can make the drive. now is the time to think positive thoughts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • I Donated

Just cause you don't feel the misfire doesn't mean its not there. The check engine light flashing means that its severely misfiring.

 

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070327121952AAweLQX

-broknindarkagain

My Current Project - Click Here

COME AND TAKE IT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When your coolant turns into a chocolate shake, you've got a problem.

 

Usually a head gasket. Worst case, cracked block or head.

 

On my 944, the oil cooler 0-rings went. This drew coolant into the intake and through the engine. I went ahead and pulled the head to clean everything up. Still need/want to replace the cat.

 

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t317/UJMsRule/Porsche%20944/CoolerSludge.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are the bad gaskets/o-rings from the 944

 

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t317/UJMsRule/Porsche%20944/OldSeals.jpg

 

Here you can see the o-ring is not really an "O" anymore, thus, the leak.

 

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t317/UJMsRule/Porsche%20944/ORing2.jpg

 

Here is what I found in the intake, thus made the decision to go ahead and do the whole upper end.

 

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t317/UJMsRule/Porsche%20944/Cave01.jpg

 

Here is where the oil cooler is on a 944 -

 

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t317/UJMsRule/Porsche%20944/BackTogether.jpg

 

If you track the pics back to photobucket, the password for the 944 file is motohorseman, feel free to look around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the good news is you did not cause this with the heat shield removal. but that's the end of the good news.

 

have the codes read, you will find more than the p0507. but regardless, you have much bigger trouble.

 

so far, the only thing you have said that does not shout HEAD GASKETS are the words ''heat shield''.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He could try using the headshields as headgaskets

 

Although that would just be silly.

 

Yeah that is def headgaskets, cousins wrx did the same thing but the idiot left it for so long the cylinder like fused and became a new engine job :/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • I Donated
They probably have already been done...but the dude didn't do them right. I've seen countless people not torque down the heads right, and that will lead to premature head gasket failure. I would put my bets on thats your case with this.

-broknindarkagain

My Current Project - Click Here

COME AND TAKE IT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They probably have already been done...but the dude didn't do them right. I've seen countless people not torque down the heads right, and that will lead to premature head gasket failure. I would put my bets on thats your case with this.

 

I've not done a Subaru, but many motorcycles and that 944 of mine, and it is critical how you torque the heads.

 

The 944 is done is three phases, in that pattern that must be followed.

 

And you are to wait 15 minutes between "torques".

 

Nothing to rush through, that is for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sounds to me like a vacuum leak. my legacy was doing the idle thing too. i found that a hose on the intake came off. but the rest sounds like a head gasket, also happend to my legacy. burned up all the coolant and blew the motor. currently running engine number two. these are great cars but they like to die when not perfectly taken care of
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use