Aaaaaaaaaargh (part 27)

[Nik da Greek]

Well, it\'s been all of a month since I got my FD back and on the road, all mapped up and running like a dream, random annoying second turbo woes all sorted, no more dumping all the boost out of the still-open switching flap, re-re-furbished wheels all beautiful and corrosion free, oil leak from the sump gone, etc, etc. Basically the culmination of a year and a half\'s slog to get all the catalogue of problems that\'ve dogged it constantly sorted out. And, small potatoes  to what some people spend, but it\'s took me a good few grand that I couldn\'t afford to get there......

Anyway, to cut a long story short, since this was the first day free from monsoon deluges for a long while, I thought I\'d go for a spin, burn some ever-increasingly expensive hydrocarbons, run some errands. You just know what\'s coming next, don\'t you?

That\'s funny, I thought, can only manage .2 bar boost on the first turbo. Hhhmm, that\'s not right! A brief stop off via the ever-patient and helpful Jason at Super 7 confirms that the first turbo should always be running, and the only possibilities are that maybe it\'s sucked in something that\'s locked up the shaft. So, I took it home, slowly, lol, stripped out all the gubbins, to find this:

[ATTACH]39844[/ATTACH]

Oh, for ****s sake. What do you want from me, God? Blood?

Dunno if I\'ve mentioned it before (actually, I\'m fairly sure I have) but there are times when I ****ING HATE THIS CAR!

[Dan Norton]

Man....thats bad luck buddy!

I feel for you.

I had an mr2 which was one thing after another for 6 months (before the fd), i just had to call it quits in the end

[Nik da Greek]

Thanks for that, Dan. Yeah, I have to say that this is very close to the final straw. In the past year and a half I\'ve had this car, I\'ve literally put about two and a half thousand miles on her. That\'s been the few times she\'s been on the road and working right, not a lot to show for all the aggravation and expense. I love it to bits when its all up and working, but I\'m really starting to feel that those few fleeting moments simply don\'t add up, financially or emotionally!

Trouble is, I\'m stuck now. I\'ve got to fix it again, cos what\'s it worth in the current state and current market? Two grand for spares? Again, can\'t justify that after all the money already gone into it, so I have to spend more money I don\'t have, just to get it to a saleable state. And then I know I\'ll enjoy it too much to want to sell, until it goes pop again...

I should never have killed the Motego blue one, that never went wrong ever!

[ro284]

Bad luck Nik, Just how much of a job is that? does it mean the turbo pack off altogether, replace the turbo pack, or can you take out the spinny thing off it\'s shaft and replace just that from the front? hope no small bits have broken off it!

[Nik da Greek]

Got to take it all apart to see what\'s broke. The compressor wheel\'s obviously buggered, but dunno about the bearing or the housing. Doesn\'t look good, the whole lot\'s flapping around like a pr!ck in a shirtsleeve, and the blades have enough play to touch the housing. Which is presumably what\'s stopping it boosting, lol. Dunno how much shrapnel from the compressor got how far through the system. Whatever needs swapping, gotta take the turbo pack off either way, I thinks. Deep joy :Laugh!

[karl_tate]

what is the second turbo like, has it been reconditioned??

 i would just buy a new turbo pack, im sure you will be able to pick one up fairly cheap,

sngle all the way though

[Nik da Greek]

Yeah, the secondary turbo\'s only done 17k. The engine blew its guts out via the secondary turbo in the first place, which was why it was rebuilt. The muppet I bought it off should\'ve splashed for a pair rather than just the wanke!ed one, I guess. It\'ll have to be a fleabay special set of twins, I reckon. I\'ve just put two grand into the car already this year, no way I can reach to a single now. It\'d be murder....mine, by the wife! :Giggle

[Laeeq]

bad luck dude.... if you need a turbo pack then let me know as i have just taken a set off and was told they were 99spec.  Although, im not sure how to tell apart from part no on the side which seems different then earlier ones that i also have for sale.

[Nik da Greek]

Sounds promising. What sort of cash money did you have in mind? Presumably they\'re all god, not in need of reconditioning or owt?

[memski]

If you need parts I\'ve got a turbopack sat in my garage you can have for next to nowt, they were working perfectly up until I removed them but have been sat for a few years in the back of my garage :|

[RedRummy]

bad luck dude.... if you need a turbo pack then let me know as i have just taken a set off and was told they were 99spec.  Although, im not sure how to tell apart from part no on the side which seems different then earlier ones that i also have for sale.

99 spec ones will also give you about 30-40 extra hp  
(I know cos I had to remove my 99 spec and go back to early spec..   )

[RedRummy]

Yeah, the secondary turbo\'s only done 17k. The engine blew its guts out via the secondary turbo in the first place, which was why it was rebuilt. The muppet I bought it off should\'ve splashed for a pair rather than just the wanke!ed one, I guess. It\'ll have to be a fleabay special set of twins, I reckon. I\'ve just put two grand into the car already this year, no way I can reach to a single now. It\'d be murder....mine, by the wife! :Giggle

Gutted for ya mate.

Similar thing happened to mine, not quite as catastrophic turbine damage, but melted interior and fins touching the casing...

If you could drop a recond\' set of twins in its place, it might not be as bad as it sounds...

Just hope there is no internal damage (looks OK though)

[Nik da Greek]

Cheers for all the help, guys, I appreciate it!

RedRummy, why did you have to swap back from the \'99 spec? Was it cos they were the ones that blew up, or some other reason? Looks like i\'m gonna be spending more time up at Super 7 imposing on Jason\'s better nature!, Drop by and have a laugh at my expense if you\'re passing :Laugh

[RedRummy]

well, mine turned out to be completely melted inside, probably cos the previous Jap owner drifted it round the downtown streets of Tokyo... or something.  All the inside of the casings were cracked from getting too hot and the turbine ended up fouling the case.

I couldn\'t afford to replace them with a set of recond\' 99 spec so went back to standard spec.

It was just what was available at the time..     New set of 99 Spec is  very pricey apparently

In hindsight, I kinda regret not just ripping it all out and going with a nice single tubby.

[Nik da Greek]

Hurrah! Ruby lives again, back from being a single tubby for all the wrong reasons to running like a dream as Mazda intended! Can\'t say enough thanks to Laeeq and Memski who both stepped up and offered to help out with spare turbo packs, particularly to Laeeq, whose rather fine twin pack is now powering my red rocket up the road! Thanks, guys :Thumbs-up!

The state of the busted primary was just horrible. Apart from the missing chunk that you could see, the wastegate housing was, well it wasn\'t actually. Not so much a manifold as a cracked, mullered, pitted, split and generally nadgered collection of holes held together with a bit of charred metal! The bearing on the primary shaft was so knackered you could press the compressor wheel right into the housing face by hand! Just nasty! Not sure what caused it all to fail so badly, whether it was just wear and tear or what, but it\'s a good job it didn\'t do more damage, the entire wheel looks like it was close to turning itself into shrapnel and then it may well have took the engine with it. Scary stuff.

Once again (and I know I sound like a stuck record) I have to give a big up to Jason and Chris at Super 7 for resurrecting the evil thing again. Jason in particular was there til late at night doing the swap for me so as it\'d be done for RS5. Can\'t believe how much better it is to drive now, it must\'ve been on the way out for ages and all the other problems I\'ve had had been masking it. The damned things\' a flying machine now! Reminds me just why we put ourselves through all the grief and expense these cars cost us, when they\'re all up and running sweet, there\'s nothing to compare! I is a happy bunny :yes

Till the next time.....:Giggle