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Technical Turbo running woes.. bugger

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Technical Turbo running woes.. bugger

blu73

blu73

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So been driving the turbo around for last couple of weeks, finally got it registered and taxed and insured and new shiny number plates :)

The car is a bit lumpy when cold but has been driving nice but has got more and more lumpy over time and doesn't seem to idle brilliantly.
It didn't have a dump valve, so got an old one out the shed and gave it a clean up and polish and went put it on. At this point i noticed some oil in the in the boost pipes didn't think much of it, not having a catch tank on one of these a bit of residue is to be expected. Having covered about 50miles after fitting the dumpvalve however, it stopped 'tischin' so opened the bonnet and the dumpvalve is all covered in oil stopping it from sealing properly so whipped it off to drive home, this is too much oil for sure! On the way home it felt hesitant on the throttle and cut out a few times when idling (n)

So not really sure what this is, only thing thats been changed since it was running last is the fuel pump to a new uprated one. It hasn't been on the rollers yet but have at least properly set the pressures. I know it needs to go be setup but there is something else afoot here. Opinions on this please, i'm happy to takes things apart and stuff but diagnosing problems is not a forte of mine. I can see that the oil in the boost piping is a symptom but of what i am unsure. I presume though that more oil vapour in the intake must cause a worse burn in the cylinder and add to the effect of bad throttle response. So come people what should i be checking here?
 
blu73 said:
So been driving the turbo around for last couple of weeks, finally got it registered and taxed and insured and new shiny number plates :)

The car is a bit lumpy when cold but has been driving nice but has got more and more lumpy over time and doesn't seem to idle brilliantly.
It didn't have a dump valve, so got an old one out the shed and gave it a clean up and polish and went put it on. At this point i noticed some oil in the in the boost pipes didn't think much of it, not having a catch tank on one of these a bit of residue is to be expected. Having covered about 50miles after fitting the dumpvalve however, it stopped 'tischin' so opened the bonnet and the dumpvalve is all covered in oil stopping it from sealing properly so whipped it off to drive home, this is too much oil for sure! On the way home it felt hesitant on the throttle and cut out a few times when idling (n)

So not really sure what this is, only thing thats been changed since it was running last is the fuel pump to a new uprated one. It hasn't been on the rollers yet but have at least properly set the pressures. I know it needs to go be setup but there is something else afoot here. Opinions on this please, i'm happy to takes things apart and stuff but diagnosing problems is not a forte of mine. I can see that the oil in the boost piping is a symptom but of what i am unsure. I presume though that more oil vapour in the intake must cause a worse burn in the cylinder and add to the effect of bad throttle response. So come people what should i be checking here?
Click to expand...

One of my dumpvalves i ran while i had the cinq struggled to open when it started getting a small film of oil, it was down to the spring being adjusted too tightly holding it shut even after letting off the throttle. Is it an adjustable dump valve?

Trying to think what caused mine to start spitting oil out of the dump valve also, but have a bad feeling it was around the time i had my piston melt :(

Is the Sei low boost or? (cant remember sorry :eek: )
 
@ Alex, its high boost ;)

@rallycinq, i thought that myself.. if it is smoking it must only be a little, i'm on my own so a little hard to look at the rear at same time..

ok so will get the compression tester out and report back soon.. an excuse to put some 16v pistons in if i try look on the bright side, its currently running the VA machined standard items which i never liked the idea of personally.
 
turbo oil seals can go on either side, you get a lot less (virtually non) when it goes on the compressor side but you will get lots of oil residue in the intake pipework.

do you have an oil vapor return that goes back into the intake system before the turbo?

check for oil in the pipework before the compressor and just after

Ry
 
i would check if there is oil in the pipework before the turbo, if there is i would do a compression test.

if that checks out i would probably install a catch tank.

if there is no oil before the turbo but there is after it then you may need to start saving for a refurb.

Ry
 
how much oil? is it dripping? if i pull out my dump valve or remove the "bob" there is a very light (silicon hoses feel slimey inside) coating of oil which as far as i know it totally normal.

there is no seal as such on the compressor side it just uses centrifugal disc thingy to stop oil getting past... so when the engine is at idle or very low loads, the turbo can be spinning slow enough to leak a little.

ALSO before pointing fingers at the turbo. make sure the oil drain is ABOVE the oil level of the sump. There is not much room from the turbo drain to oil level on these cars so its very easy to have a small restriction on the drain
 
Start simple first, what state is your air filter in? if it is grubby or it is a restrictive filter then it can lead to this as it causes a vacuum on the intake side that can suck oil past the seals, It is a well know problem on Turbo cars.

Both me and Jason have had the same problem with oil in the inlet and in my case i cleaned the filter and it when away and Jason changed his filter for a huge free flowing one with the same results. Both our cars have catch tanks as well

But as Craig said a little film of oil is quite normal if you are using thin oil 0W or 5W then this can leak past easier so you would see more
 
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cheers for that peeps, yes i'm aware there will be some oil there and its to be expected. The amounts i'm talking about aren't huge, its not dripping out everytwhere or anything, but it is alot more than normal. The whole top of the engine has a light spray of oil and the rocker cover is really quite covered.. I'm working from home today so might get chance to go do compression test on it which will give me a chance to check the plugs.

@ Martin: dunno how old the filter is tbh, doesn't look bad but i'll try find out if its a washable one.. I suppose being that its not had a dump valve for ages then its probably as dirty on the inside as the outside as well.. Also I have been messing with the leaking oil cooler setup and intend to put that on soon and am intending on relocating the air filter at the same time so may get a new one anyway. Should be a catch tank arriving today or tomorrow as well.
 
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O-K-A-Y..

my fpr is fubar'd, went and started the car to get it warm to do a compression test. Noticed a slight weep from the fpr, but coming out the thread of the adjuster (its a sard one btw) which to my mind should be an empty chamber.. presuming this is so i pulled off the vacuum hose and sure enough it squirted petrol all over the place so since this has broke its been sucking fuel down the vacuum hose into the inlet mani at a constant stream. So this probably explains the rough running. I'm not sure this cause loads of oil down the breather would it? I still intend to compression test it anyway but i will replace the fpr first. Unfortunately i cannot afford to get a fancy nice one so might have to get a cheapy one off ebay for now.
 
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The level of oil on the dip stick is more critical, petrol will mix with the oil and would not smell like normal petrol.

But the petrol oil mixture does not have the same lub quality, if the oil level is detectably higher I'd drain, empty the filter and run for a few minutes with 20-50 chepo at tick over drain that and start again, with a synthetic.

Sorry

Noel
 
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