86 gl 10 turbo, The owner says the turbo is out so it smokes really bad. i haven't heard it run but it is supposed to. Is there any way to disconnect the turbo and still be drivable? I just want to get it home so I can work on it since it is going to get towed by the city soon. Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks, joe

Edited February 3, 200917 yr by jodaddy

check the oil and hammer down

What color is the smoke? If it's white smoke then make sure it isn't burning coolant. If there is a head gasket going out then you may see water/coolant in the oil or you may see white smoke coming out of the tail pipe. Just keep an eye on your temp gauge if you do drive it. I'd start by checking the oil and the amount of coolant in it first. I wouldn't take someone's word on what the problem is unless you know them and they know what they're talking about. It would be a shame to drive it and cause any other issues if it is something other than just the turbo. Good luck getting it home!

there wasn't any water in the oil but the radiator was definitely low on coolant. I squeezed the radiator hoses and I couldn't hear a gurgle so I guess it could be empty.

it could just be an oil seal in the turbo in that case there would be an oily residue on the back of the car if it has been burning oil. and like bob said if the smoke is white chances are headgaskit good luck the ea82 turbo wag i had was fun then it threw a rod.

How far do you have to go? And on what sort of roads? If you don't have coolant in the oil, and you make sure the oil and coolant is full, and keep an eye on the temperature gauge, and drive it easy, you probably won't break anything more than's already broken.

 

Low on coolant sounds kind of bad -- could be more than just a bad turbo, but do these use an oil cooled or water cooled turbo? If it's a water cooled turbo, then it's possible that it's not the head gasket.

Probably about 10 miles. I can take backroads the whole way so I wouldn't be going over 45 mph.