Coolant out of exhaust... wtf?

[Kaane]

I am finishing a motor swap on my 2000 S4, engine runs fine, but I am seeing coolant literally drip out of the downpipe to catback connection. Has anyone seen anything like that? There is no coolant in the oil. I am thinking the turbo seals failed, but is that even possible? Where else could the coolant enter the exhaust?

[Kaane]

To add, I see coolant in both downpipe connections to the catback.

[bwizard]

Turbo seals or head gaskets

Sent from my S4's talk to text broke in my garage.

[Kaane]

Can coolant even enter the turbo housings? I thought there is no such thing as coolant seals?

[Kaane]

Also it's clean coolant leaking out, doesn't even look contaminated. If it ran through the combustion process I'd say it would mostly be burned off anyway.

[jbain2]

I second the turbo seals, especially if the coolant appears "fresh".

Edit: my bad. Don't know what the hell I was thinking. As the others have mentioned and I think you identified only oil can leak through the seals.

[Kaane]

The seals are only for oil aren't they? Where could there be a failure to add coolant to the exhaust stream?

[LightningLou]

Those new coolant lubricated bearings are cool... Like seriously wtf are you guys serious? Lmao

[vavJETTAw36]

Pretty sure the turbos simply have channels the coolant runs through. No way you're going to see coolant coming from the turbos.


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[themadscientist]

Those new coolant lubricated bearings are cool... Like seriously wtf are you guys serious? Lmao

LOL'd

[ElementR]

Unless you have massively cracked turbo housings (doubtful)....it's the head gaskets.

[Kaane]

Unless you have massively cracked turbo housings (doubtful)....it's the head gaskets.

I'll run a leakdown test tomorrow and see. I just don't think both failed on a stock car at the same time.

[MacDaddy]

No coolant seals in the turbos, its a water jacket.

[Kaane]

Here is a video with catback off.

[Kaane]

I tested compression on drivers side and I got 155,152,155, also plugs looked good and didn't smell of coolant. Could the intake be ingesting coolant somewhere? Any other ideas?

[rguil]

You sure it might not just be condensation in the exhaust?

[Corradovolksb]

If you had coolant being introduced into your combustion chamber you would have wire smoke from your exhaust. That looks like condensation to me. Your engine is running near perfect 14.7 causing h2o to be created and condensing into liquid.

[Kaane]

If you had coolant being introduced into your combustion chamber you would have wire smoke from your exhaust. That looks like condensation to me. Your engine is running near perfect 14.7 causing h2o to be created and condensing into liquid.

It smells like coolant. Engine was cold when I shot the video.

[LightningLou]

It smells like coolant. Engine was cold when I shot the video.

So you're actually losing coolant and the tank is low?

[rguil]

Your car is fine, its just condensation

[zillarob]

Watch the 1st ep of The Grand Tour. Those cars were dumping way more coolant out the exhaust, and they were brand new

[Trb1]

Condensation. Water is a product of combustion. I don't understand why this still scares people. It's probably pretty cold where you're at, or that car/motor has been sitting for a while. Or both.

[landfill]

What Lou said. Are you loosing coolant? Is your res going low or empty?
If not then it's condensation and just forget about it.

[mikeb17]

C8H18 + O2 -> CO2 + H2O (not a balanced equation). This is the chemical reaction that takes place inside of your engine. The liquid you see is just water which is supposed to happen. When your car is hot you won't notice it because it just evaporates to steam from the hot exhaust.

[JustManson]

Watch the 1st ep of The Grand Tour. Those cars were dumping way more coolant out the exhaust, and they were brand new

HA!


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[Kaane]

It smells like coolant that was my only concern. Since this is a new motor, I was a bit concerned. It's possible I am crazy and it's just condensation. I pressure tested the cooling system and it maintained pressure just fine. I am finishing the rear suspension and will drive the car hard next week to test it for sure.