So heres a story i thought i shared yet see that i have did not.

was going up to the mountains to snowboard this year. always check tire pressure and fluids. noticed coolant was a little low so i topped off and we left. about 3/4 of the way there (115 miles) we start to notice white smoke out of the tial pipes. we at first think its salt/snow on the road (its snowing outside). well a car passes and we see no trail behind htem and i become concerned. oil and coolant temps are normal as we continue down the road. then all of a sudden it stops. so we thinks eh whatever. then in about 10 min it starts again. now im concerned as we are far from anywhere and its 3 degrees outside snowing. after about 3 min i get a blast from the car alarm, coolant level low/temp too high. i notice the needle climbing (almost to the 3/4 mark) and put the car into a coast for the side of the road. oil temperatures are climbing as well. pull off to the side of the road and let the car idle for a while. coolant temps stabilize at 3/4 and oil temps at 250. after idling for about 120 seconds, i shut the motor off and check the engine. steam was POURING form the hood (we discovered the "smoke" from the tailpipe was actually steam from the engine getting sucked under the car). i open it up and find the source of my dilemma; the coolant resevoir cap lodged between the hood and the cowl!!! i had noticed the hood was hard to closed before i left but thought nothing of it. i was amazed that we drove over 100 miles with the radiator cap off, the majority of which (about 70-80 miles) was up hill!! long story short, we filled up the car with coolant and distilled water i carry in the trunk for emergencies, got the car cooled down quickly (it wasn nice the ambiant air was about 5degrees!!) and were on our way.


my question is could this have caused any damage to the turbos, especially in regards to coking? im starting to get more intermittent noise from them and becoming concern that they will be an issue. im not sure what the noise is from exaclty, and sometimes its there and other times its not, but it does concernme as it is like a slight whistle.

am i over reacting and this could be something as studpid as a wheel bearing or belt, or is this a legitimate concern considering the engine overheated?


thanks guys

 

Unlikely if you were using synthetic oil.

 

Since you didn't truly overheat, and the nominal sump oil temp only went 50 deg > normal, so long as you are using an oil with a hgih flash point (SAE 40 or better and narrowish range) you should be fine.

I'd be more concerned about the heads, btu you say you never hit the red zone.

The whistle *could* of course be turbos, but it could also be a singing pulley.

More reason to have a margin of error in the oil! (whcih you know well)

Grant

 

Was not using a synthectic per say, more like a HDEO from valvoline, flash point was at 425 for the oil in a 5w-40 weight. thanks for the words of encouragement, is there any sort of testing i can do to check the health of the turbos? like boost deviation or somthing like that?

 

why would you be concerned with the heads? warpage? also, how would i identify a bad pulley vs turbo?

took it out for a spin, in the middle of the rpm band on a hard pull, you get the faint whine

 

Check intercooler hoses for oil. Lots Of oil is a bad sign.

 

how much is a lot? it was my understanding is that the pcv system ventilation gases can cause oil to pool in the hoses, so there will be some oil, but how much is too much, ya know?

 

You should have no more than 3-4 teaspoons at the max. And no the pcv does not pool oil in the intercooler hoses unless it is faulty or clogged. The intercooler should be dry or have a couple teaspoons of oil that have been blow by the turbos.
(Dry intercooler hoses is very unlikely tho, If it is that car is gold.)

 

is there a test of the pcv system to verify its in working order before i check the hoses? thanks for the info!

 

Usually* when the PCV is bad or clogged it will "simulate" a blown turbo without the turbo whine.

It will make oil spew out the exhuast. If you open up the oil cap a big whoosh sound is emitted and the pressure is released from the oil filler cap and the smoking and spewing stops.

It is said that our valve covers leak due to mildly clogged PCV. if you have no leaks then your PCV is working fine.


If you want to check you can always open the spider hose and check for gunk.