legacycentral bbs

I just did a turbo swap and intercooler install. The turbo is a JDM TD04L with the 90 degree inlet. Everything seems to be hooked up OK, start it up and there's a coolant leak.


There is a line that goes to the bottom of the turbo, facing directly downward and connects to the block via a hose.

At first I was under the impression that it was a coolant return line. After lots of research here and from what it says in the Haynes manual, it's an OIL return line

This is where it looks like coolant is leaking from. When I installed the turbo I had a hard time getting the vertical hose all the way on the metal pipe protruding downward from the turbo. It's on there but not as far as it should be to get a tight seal

Here's the confusing part.....

Looking at it right now there is green fluid that is seeping from where that pipe meets the hose under the turbo. I'm assuming that is where my coolant is leaking from since i dont see coolant anywhere else. The smoke I get is white and it smells like coolant, why would there be COOLANT coming from there when it's an OIL return line?


I'm soooo close on this install. A little insight might help me get it done

Never mind, the leak was coming from my coolant tank. Easy fix. The lower hose is on fine. The fluid must be from the leak in the tank that is running along the block and winding up there.

Coolant is tricky like that. You call your car the devil car, thats great.

Coolant issue solved, now I have an oil leak. I would think that since I saw fluid seeping out the OIL return line from the turbo, that's the likely culprit

This will be the THIRD time pulling this turbo. Hopefully the last

Ran great when I test drove it today. Turbo was already broken in. Boost came on very quickly and went up to 10 PSI with partial throttle.

Sounds SWEET, Can't wait to get this issue squared away and start enjoying it.

I have the same turbo and had the same issue with the hose being too short. I replaced it with 5/8 heater hose, because it is in fact the coolant line. The hard lines with banjo bolts are the oil lines, because oil pressure is about 3 times what the coolant pressure is. Dont skimp on hoses and clamps, man, leaks mean shortage of fluid, and shortage of fluid means seizure.

Did you use new washers on the upper banjo bolt? That lower line (the one that runs straight out the bottom) is the oil return line. The small hard line that comes from the passenger side head and runs to the top of the turbo is the oil feeder line. Is the top line where the oil is coming from? If so, it's probably the washers. If it's the bottom line then maybe you didn't get the clamps on tight and it's seepage. That or iirc there's a small gasket on that lower oil return line tube that comes off the turbo where it bolts to the turbo. Maybe that's bad?