'05 OB XT turbo oil leak...classic

Hey y'all. New here. Looking for an information third opinion on my subie.

 

I just had it at the dealer for new tires and when they had it lifted up, they told me that a head gasket was leaking on the passenger side. I saw for myself -- the bottom was pretty well covered in oil and a touch of coolant. It would be a $2000 repair.

 

I'm a poor graduate student, so that sounds like a real no-go for me.

 

My SO called another dealership near him to verify and ask questions, and the gal there told him that the head gaskets on turbo's don't leak externally and thinks its something else. Has anyone else heard of this? I can't verify it anywhere. Any guesses what my leak is?

 

[[backstory: I bought the car used this summer and after a week the turbo went out. (Also a fun way to find out the hazard lights weren't hooked up either). The dealership did me a solid and offered to replace it for free. However, the labor they did was really crappy and they left a loose nut in the system, so the whole thing seized going up a mountain pass. They insisted it was fine to drive, so we limped all the way to OKC on a consistently overheating car in the summertime before pulling into a shop. The turbo got fully replaced a second time for free because it was under warranty and the work was bad. (Happy to show fun pics of the pulverized metallic dust and the seized nut if anyone is interested). ]]

The head gasket is not as common of an issue with turbo vs the NA. It could be the valve cover gasket which is a much cheaper fix and could be done yourself. Both gaskets would just be $40. Pressure wash the engine bay and use some degreaser to pinpoint where the leak is coming from exactly. However you said there is coolant which is a big clue of a head gasket.

The head gasket is not as common of an issue with turbo vs the NA. It could be the valve cover gasket which is a much cheaper fix and could be done yourself. Both gaskets would just be $40. Pressure wash the engine bay and use some degreaser to pinpoint where the leak is coming from exactly. However you said there is coolant which is a big clue of a head gasket.

 

How long will coolant hang out underneath for? (Like would the rain ever likely wash it off underneath?) I ask because we had those major coolant issues this summer when the turbo seized and we overheated in the mountains. There's a part of me that's hoping the little bit of coolant we saw is just leftovers from that.

How long will coolant hang out underneath for? (Like would the rain ever likely wash it off underneath?) I ask because we had those major coolant issues this summer when the turbo seized and we overheated in the mountains. There's a part of me that's hoping the little bit of coolant we saw is just leftovers from that.

 

If coolant is coming out from the head gaskets, which is rare, it's going to be mixed with the oil. You would see the coolant be separated from the oil since water and oil don't mix obviously. Rain wouldn't get up there to wash off the oil/coolant unless you/re going through a flood lol.

 

Wash it out and degrease, drive it and take few trips to the store or something and try to locate it where the source is.

Clean oil can be hard to see, this might help:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Interdynamics-374CS-Certified-Fuel-Systems/dp/B002M4G24U/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1513427758&sr=8-7&keywords=oil+dye

The fact that you drove your engine while it was overheating indicates that the head gasket is a probability. By "overheating", do you mean slightly above the mid-point between H and C or pegged/near H?

The fact that you drove your engine while it was overheating indicates that the head gasket is a probability. By "overheating", do you mean slightly above the mid-point between H and C or pegged/near H?

 

So the first time the turbo went, it squealed like a pig and lost power. When they did a shoddy job of fixing it and it seized the second time, it didn't make noise but we just lost a ton of power and were slow getting up hills. We never let it get into the red zone, but it sure as hell was trying to boil itself. (This was also at 9000 ft altitude so the care was choking itself out a bit too). We had to refill coolant twice. It stayed above mid point and we'd pull over to cool down whenever it got too too hot, ran the heater, all the tricks.

 

tl;dr it got really flippin' hot but we knew better than to let it go defcon

 

Bonus pics of the nut the left in the system and the shredded turbo.

 

 

The turbo is on the passenger side. See if it is leaking from the coolant or oil lines. If there is a trace of either going up the backside of the cylinder head, you might luck out.

 

Are there any other symptoms that would indicate the head gasket is actually bad? Is there oil in the radiator coolant?

Crossover pipe seals on top of the block occasionally leak down the rear of the engine as well.

Driving while overheating is a good way to pop the head gasket. I'd talk with the dealer about replacing it since they told you to drive and it was cause of their shoddy work. However I'm not sure I'd want them to replace the head gaskets either if they could replace a turbo without f-ing everything up.

Hi, don't know where you stand with this repair, but the 3 (tiny) oil filters inside the turbo/AVCS supply banjo bolts can clog, taking out the turbo.

 

... And subsequent turbos installed, until the blockage is cleared.

 

This should get you started:

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/2-5gt-turbo-oil-supply-banjo-bolt-filter-removal-61689.html?t=61689

Quick update: went to a new dealer for a second opinion and they determined it was probably several smaller leaks from throughout the engine. Not a head gasket! Yay! Also they threw so much shade at the other dealership for trying to say it was. They said we could remove it and do a total reseal -- or because I'm not losing at a huge rate I could just keep an eye on it and have a leaky 12 year old car. I went for option 2. Thanks for all the input folks. I wrote it all down and it gave me all the right things to say and ask when I talked to them.