pixogen Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Driving to work, my 1983 Subaru GL Turbo wagon took a crap on itself. I pulled over after I saw a white cloud of steam billowing from behind my car. I popped the hood and all I could see was coolant leaking from somewhere on the passenger side of the motor. After further inspection, I noticed that there was a stream of coolant coming out of the back-side of the motor on the passenger side. It looks like it's coming from a bolt that holds turbo-charger on, but that doesn't make any sense. I consulted a chilton's, but it's too vague & there isn't enough diagrams. Does anyone have experience with this? Is there some hidden coolant hose near the back-passenger side of the motor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_talk Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 The turbo is water cooled and has an upper and lower coolant hose, the connections at the turbo are on the drivers side of the center cartridge (remove thr heat shield to get a good look). The upper (coolant out) is easy to trace back under the manifold back to the thermostat area, the lower (coolant in) routes back under the turbo next to the block and down to the passenger side head. I'm betting its one of the two, the upper isn't to bad to change, on the other hand the lower is a bit of a bugger... the turbo has to come out. Note: the lower hose in covered with heat shielding where it passes under the turbo, parts store replacements may not have this... the OEM part would be a better choice here. Good Luck Gary P.S. just saw your car is a EA81T, my description relates to the later EA82T but I believe its the same layout, if it differs significantly I'm sure someone will correct me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixogen Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 The turbo is water cooled and has an upper and lower coolant hose, the connections at the turbo are on the drivers side of the center cartridge (remove thr heat shield to get a good look). The upper (coolant out) is easy to trace back under the manifold back to the thermostat area, the lower (coolant in) routes back under the turbo next to the block and down to the passenger side head. I'm betting its one of the two, the upper isn't to bad to change, on the other hand the lower is a bit of a bugger... the turbo has to come out. Note: the lower hose in covered with heat shielding where it passes under the turbo, parts store replacements may not have this... the OEM part would be a better choice here. Good Luck Gary P.S. just saw your car is a EA81T, my description relates to the later EA82T but I believe its the same layout, if it differs significantly I'm sure someone will correct me. I know that the turbocharger is on the passenger side & according to... this image, the turbocharger is oil cooled. Granted I only see an oil return pipe, but... That still doesn't explain why I would have coolant running out near the rear of the motor. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 There were issues with the turbos in 83. In 84 the factory started authorizing a water cooling package be installed on all EA81Ts that were sold or whose owners brought them in. My 84 turbo is watercooled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixogen Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 There were issues with the turbos in 83. In 84 the factory started authorizing a water cooling package be installed on all EA81Ts that were sold or whose owners brought them in. My 84 turbo is watercooled. This car wasn't well maintained by the previous owner, so I doubt that he took it in to have the watercooling option installed :-/ I am just trying to get some ideas of what could be the problem before I tear into the motor tonight. So far, I think I am just stuck with taking all the hoses/elbows off between the aircleaner & the turbocharger in order to see if there are any hoses below that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 I would check for the water cooling lines - if they are there they are pretty obvious. If not, i'd be looking at a head gasket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSSLGECKO Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 My car is an 83 Turbo and has the factory recall water & oil cooled turbo. I had a leak about a week and a half ago. It came from a turbo coolant line. As far as I know there is no heat shielding that needs to be removed. I removed and replaced the hose w/out removing anything else. It was a hell of a little doosy; I spent about 4 hours removing and replacing the short hose. It was undude to say the least. However, it can be done - I had to access it from both above and below. (note: I have a slim build and w/out my skinny arms, I would have had a rough time comparatively.) Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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