I noticed a steam (no coloration) coming from my hood scoop (noted on stops; red lights, etc) and I pop the hood and it seemed to be coming from the turbo area behind the heat shield. Seems to mostly happen when warmed up, but not all the time.
Any known hoses to produce this problem when worn or loose? I took my car into Capitol Suby for the fuel smell in the mornings problem which they fixed and the service writer added that the tube that goes from the intercooler to the turbo was getting worn. Would that likely be the case in this scenario?

 

You've got coolant hoses, oil lines and an exhaust flange to choose from.

 

hmmm well judging by the steam, coolant hose. thanks, ill take a look

 

does it smell like coolant?

 

ive never actually smelled coolant before yet, especially in gas form. But the smell does have a different scent to it as opposed to just plain water into gas form. Ill try to compare next time i get it to repeat the steaming process.
Plus, now I know where to specifically look in order to eliminate possibilities. I found diagrams on the subarugenuineparts.com site

 

When my oil line to the turbo went bad, it looked like steam, but smelled nasty. You're lucky just the line went bad; I had my fuel rails replaced at Stevens Creek Subaru and had to tow my car away, 99% sure they dropped something in one of the cylinders and blew the motor....

 

wow that sucks

ya im trying to make it repeat so i can fix it then install the cobb ap v2 i just got in the mail...

 

Coolant smells sweet, sugar, syrup like. Oil smells like oil, if it's leaking oil you can probably see it from underneath. Just remove the heat shield. Coolant tends to leave a residue behind like hard water deposits.

 

yeah, I'm not pleased. Pulling the heads this week, then off to small claims court.

I only saw the white smoke coming up through the hood scoop when I was at a stop light. Synth oil is a really bitter smell, almost stings the nose. It's a common problem for the OEM line to crack, so I bought a braided hose instead. I may have cracked my OEM line when I added an SPT heatshield and bumped the line, so maybe they bumped and cracked it -- hard to prove though.

How does the tube from the intercooler to the turbo wear out? Doesn't it just carry air?!?

 

I have no clue, thats just the hose the dealer said lol. Im inspecting as we speak and i did find out that my cv boot on my passenger side up front severed mostly because i found the aftermath caked on my oem downpipe lol.
Im glad you used the word "cracked" because i was just looking over rubber hoses. Ill go back out after I look up everything about cv boots and their replacement.

Maybe the cv boot "crud" got onto the turbo and its causing it to smoke? The heat shield does not cover under the turbo, just an idea I am throwing around. A problem is I dont remember the "steam's" scent...

Ipozestu: I found some water residue spots but I am now looking for the source. Its a semi pain because the spots were close to the cv boot "crud".

 

anyone know how long i can drive on a ripped cv boot? I just ordered the axel/cv boot and it will take 3-5 days.

 

You can drive it that way until it fails. The boot keeps the grease in and the dirt and water out. If you plan to replace the whole axle you'll have to return the bad one for a core.

 

ya pep boys does a $25 core

Just got back from capitol suby and discussed with the technician that noted the hose and he said it puts air into the turbo and that it wouldnt throw a "steam" look (obviously lol).
We both agreed that it most likely right now is the CV boot crud on the downpipe (catalytic converter). So I will wait to replace the cv boot and axel and i need to pick up a catless downpipe for my Accessport stg 2 map. Then ideally it wont continue lol