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99 c2 106k miles. I believe I found the cause (or result) of my recent coolant system issues. Coolant is getting into the exhaust from one of the 3 cylinders on the passenger side of the engine. This causes white smoke to come out of the driver side exhaust pipe. This is not overflow dripping down, because I found coolant leaking out of the exhaust at the gasket on the opposite side of the car from the coolant tank. I have included a picture. I tasted the fluid coming out and it is definitely coolant.
Obviously I am thinking cracked head or head gasket but I just wanted to see if there is any other possible cause. This does make sense since, as Ahsai pointed out in an earlier thread, my coolant system pressure has apparently been getting too high. I have read things about the AOS but I do not see how that would allow this much coolant into only the passenger side of the engine. I thought the usual cracked head was on cylinder 1 which I thought was on the driver side, so I am leaning towards a blown head gasket on the passenger side. Any other ideas?
Thanks for that info. In that case it sounds like a cracked head I guess. I just want to make sure there is nothing else that could cause coolant to enter the exhaust on only one side.
For a cracked head, there's only one guy to go to - Len Hoffman at Hoffman Automotive Machine Group. He'll fix it and have it better than new. 1-3 bank cracks are common on the 996.1 heads, I'm told (no direct experience).
For a cracked head, there's only one guy to go to - Len Hoffman at Hoffman Automotive Machine Group. He'll fix it and have it better than new. 1-3 bank cracks are common on the 996.1 heads, I'm told (no direct experience).
Looks like that is what I will have to end up doing. The coolant is getting into the passenger side of the engine which I thought was the 4-5-6 side. That is the only weird thing.
I am having problems with what I believe is cylinder 2. I do not see an easy way to get in there. I have the boots off the other plugs, but it might be a moot point.
If this is a cracked head or cracked cylinder (damaged intake or other major engine damage) I will not have the time to deal with it now anyway so I will be throwing in the towel on this.
I just want to be sure there is nothing else that can allow coolant into the passenger side of the engine before I give up on it. The other strange thing is the fact that the coolant system held pressure of over 20psi for over 20min when I tested it recently. If coolant is getting into the engine from a cracked head or cylinder how is the coolant system passing a pressure test?
What I was trying to say is that if it is something that will require me to pull out the engine I will probably not be the one doing it. I would have to bring it to the indy either way at that point.
The thing that confuses me is that the coolant system passed a pressure test. So how is the coolant getting into the engine? Maybe something to do with vacuum, or maybe the compression stroke temporarily opening a crack up, I have no idea. It seems to stop consuming coolant when it heats up so maybe it is a small crack somewhere just barely opening up when it is running cold.
Either way, if there is no way for coolant to get in absent physical engine damage, then I think it is time for me to bring it in.
Pedal: If you have time do as Jake(Flat6) suggests. Don't know if you know, he is the M96(and many other engines) Engine Whisper! I.E.: He knows his stuff!
I am having problems with what I believe is cylinder 2. I do not see an easy way to get in there.
Do you have a universal joint set for your sockets? Those and set of hex metric sockets work great with a 1/4" driver and extensions. I've had really good luck with buying Tekton tools off of Amazon.
Thanks guys. I unbolted the exhaust and one of the bolts between cylinder 5 and 6 was wet. I could not tell if it was coolant or condensation, but it looked suspicious. I can not pull the exhaust very far down to see in or get a good pic, but both 5 and 6 look about the same to me, I can not see inside 4 at all.
I pulled the plugs from 5 and 6. Both boots were covered in oil, so there is another obvious problem, haha. 6 looked cleaner than 5 but did not quite have that typical "steam clean" look you would usually see when the combustion chamber is filled with steam.
08-20-2016, 09:48 PM
Coolant in exhaust
