if you just read each of the stock 02 sensors, that will show alot.

 

Comp test checked out good, plugs and coil packs good, timing chain checked and all matched up. Could it be an issue with one of the turbo's not working correctly and thus not making the power it should? I saw in another post that someone that just had their engine built had an improper ground and his car blew a fuse near where the battery is. Could this be the culprit of making the engine run like poop? Bad UTEC or wiring? The shop is going to pull the down pipes to check for oil and to see if the turbo's spin.

Could this possibly be related to the follow incident? A few weeks ago before the car was done, the shop was installing heat wrap around the stainless steel fuel line on the passenger side of the car when the wrap touched an open wire on the starter, which caused a small fire (I was not there when it happened). The fire burned straight through the stainless steel oil return line to the passenger side turbo. They installed another stainless steel oil return line later that day. Could this have messed up that turbo or ceased it up where it would not be functioning right or producing the power it should?

If it turns out to be a bad turbo - where and how long would it take for me to get 20g turbo's put into my 18g's? Thanks again for all the help Kyle from Import parts prop, Sharif from forgedperformance and Todd from builtzmotors.

 

they heat wrapped the starter or touched a wrench to it. If your car caught on fire, im sure something aint right where that turbo is

 

www.turbochargers.com can have your turbos rebuilt very quickly...1-2 days from when they receive them..
-TODD

 

if the fire was burning long enough to burn through the ss line, i would suspect some burned wires for sure! i highly doubt anything could even happen to the turbo, unless the flames were huge and hitting it directly and heating it enough to warp the housing, but unlikely. directly above the starter is the main engine harness. starting to think there may be more to this after hearing about the fire. doesn't take much time to melt the tape and wire insulation off of a harness. far less time than it would take to burn through a ss line.
good luck, hope they get it figured out for ya.

 

BAD news today The turbos were checked and there is nothing wrong with them and no oil leaking from them either. I had a call later in the day from the shop and was told that they saw coolant leaking from the passenger side turbo and wastegate. Since the greddy turbo's are oil cooled only, they say that the coolant must be coming from the engine/exhaust and leaking into and out the turbo and wastegate. Obviously with coolant in the combustion chamber, major power would be lost since coolant won't combust in the cylinder. Now they want to pull the engine to see what the cause is - sleeve issue, cometic headgasket issue, arp head stud back out or similar issue, leak or crack in the heads issue?

Although the compression on the engine checked out earlier in the week, I've been told by the shop and another source that the compression could be fine with no evidence of leakage because the lack of load on the engine when the comp test is done, but once the car is run or put on the dyno under load the pressure under load could cause the expansion that would allow coolant to flow into the combustion chamber and out the exhaust manifold into the turbo and wastegate.

This is one of the most dissapointing things that I have ever had to experience and I just want it to be over ASAP. Not looking to blame anyone but just want the issue taken care of so I can get my car running and back to me in operating condition. Just a horrible feeling after dropping so much coin in the last 2 months.

 

On a positive note though, it has been extremely pleasant to see that guys like Sharif and Todd have really helped me out and assisted me with brainstorming the possible issues. Kyle has been a big help brainstorming the issues too. I've talked to these guys several times now and I have to say that they are great for our site and I thank them all again for their time and input. Kyle, I'll be sending you the email shortly with the contact info for the shop.

 

Man, sorry to see you're having all these problems. This is exactly what I don't want to go through with my build. This is why I'll probably go to one of these guys you've trusted for advice, for my eventual build. I hope you can get things figured out.

 

You also might want to look into the possibility that the cam sensors are installed incorectly or are bad.

 

Yancy...
so sorry to hear about this...hopefully they get the motor pulled, disassembled, and diagnoses as soon as possible so you can get back on the dyno!

call me anytime if you need any help...

-TODD

 

Well, the car wasn't thowing any codes regarding the cams? However, even if the cam sensors were installed incorrectly or were bad, that wouldn't make the coolant come out of the passenger side turbo and wastegate would it?

 

Thanks Bro. I actually went down to the shop today to talk to them and look at the car. The coolant was definitely coming out the passenger side wastegate/dump- I have the SVRT dumps and the coolant was coming out of the passenger side dump pretty clearly. Nothing out the driver's side though. I spoke to the machanic that worked on the car and he said that he would have the engine out of the car by the end of today. He's going to look for the coolant in the turbo, manifold, exhaust ports in the heads, then likely pull the head on the passenger side to see what's going on.

While they have it out should I get rid of the ARP head studs and get the L19 studs so they can be torqued more? Will I need a new cometic head gasget if they remove the head from the block? Thanks Bro.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't wish this situation on anyone. It's just horrible I saw your sig. Sorry about your motor as well. I feel your pain Bro.

 

WOW that stinks man. Please keep this thread active with any info. Good luck on this one.

 

If the head gasket is still intact and unharmed you can reuse it...if there is coolant coming out of the wastegate, then it is most likely that the seal between the head and the block has been severely compromised...allowing the coolant channel to now communicate with the cylinder(s)...allowing coolant to flush out the exhaust...

if you need new gaskets, let me know (I have a few sets sitting here for our next motor build)..If you need L19 head studs, let me know as well (we have a few sets here as well)....good luck, and let me know what they find once they get that head off

-TODD

 

Thanks man, seeing all the problems you're having makes me very hesitant to go with someone local in the NW Ohio/Southern Michigan area, like you're using. I definitely will be going with builder who knows the VQ very well.

 

Ive been down that road Yancy as have alot of others here. Projects like yours are a huge undertaking and it only takes 1 mistake to ruin 100s of hours of work. Keep at it, and work things through step by step. In the end you will have that dream car we all want to hear about.

 

If coolant is FLOWING out the exhaust ports, id say the head is severly damaged.

 

Sorry to hear this Yancy! I would pressure test the coolant system before pulling the motor just to get some more information on where or what might exactly be causing the situation.

 

yancy sorry to hear man
now you got me worried about my motor !
hope all goes well and its a simple fix