JAPSU

Hi I'm trying to decide if I should buy a Turbo repair kit or upgrade for my TD05 which doesn't seem to be boosting up.

Am I better off sending it off for repair for about £100 + Postage ... or buying a repair kit for £55 or upgrading it to a 18g whilst I'm at it ** (can I use 18g on standard injectors and fuel pump and manifold) however I was thinking of changing manifold at same time as someone said it was easier to both at same time... or should I just go the whole hog and buy a brand TD05 16G from the USA at £190 inc shipping complete with actuator?

If I get a repair kit does anyone know how easy they are to fit ... the kit people say you don't really need any particular skills or tools providing you have some mechanical knowledge.

Also I notice if I go for an upgrade you can get different housing sizes 3" or 2.5" what impact or issues will the size of housing give

Any advise would be welcome ... or even anyones knowledge on if the turbo is at fault for not boosting or could it be something other than that?

Cheers
Paul

silent running

Quite a lot of questions there that really need a lot more knowledge about turbos - it'd be time well spent to learn a little more about the subject before considering rebuilding a turbo or the pros and cons of different housings. Rebuilding to 18G spec is not a drop-in conversion requiring no other changes.

First thing to do is make sure that the turbo is the problem - which means if you don't already have one you need to fit a boost gauge. Do this before anything else and see what's actually happening.

JAPSU

OK yes I have a boost gauge and only boosts to .05bar ... I had it on a rolling road at prosport on a charity day and only achieved 190bhp and the guy doing it said it wasn't boosting up ..

I then took it to Rick Woods for diagnostics and £200 later he said he THINKS its the turbo at fault ...

silent running

0.05! Not even 0.5? If it's 0.05 it's making as close to no boost as you could get (taking gauge error into account). At 0.5 that's close to wastegate pressure which would suggest to me that there's no control over the boost and it's defaulting to a straight through connection between compressor outlet signal and actuator, cracking it open at half a bar or a bit more and holding boost there.

If it's showing 190 bhp though, that does sound as if it's making some boost - the 2.0 lump can't make that sort of power if the turbo is just not working.

JAPSU

Sorry yes I did mean 0.5 bar ... my trigger finger got itchy with the 0's ... The car seems to me to boost although the gauge don't show it is and obviously rolling road proves different ... however bov releases pressure ... at the same time it accelerates like a rat out of a drain pipe ... however it is very light so maybe it just seems that way...

after what your saying could it point to the boost controller (standard) .... or what about the actuator could this not be working ...

I was looking through the workshop manual and understand that vacuum pressure can diagnose problems like that ... ... but cant understand why Rick woods didn't do a vac test ... or maybe they just thought here comes another sucker.

silent running

Well £200 to be told it MIGHT be your turbo sounds like a rip off to me. Ask if you get a £200 refund if you fork out to change the turbo and it doesn't fix it! You know as well as I do what'll happen...

Anyway, I am no expert but I'm used to fixing things on my own Scoob with the least possible expense (i.e. other people's time). The fact that you've got half a bar showing, 190bhp and a dump from the dump valve, suggests to me that your turbo's fine or at least working. The very first thing I'd look at is boost control.

Now I'm gonna give you some 'dangerous' advice that you can try out to determine if the turbo is definitely in the clear. The nature of Scoobynet means that someone will come on and whinge about it even though they didn't until now offer any helpful advice, but there you go...

Take a look at your turbo compressor outlet (right hand end looking from the front of the car) and the actuator (top left). Whatever vacuum pipes are connected to these, disconnect them and bung the compressor outlet signal pipe in some way (a short length of vacuum hose with a bolt jammed in the end will do). The actuator input is not so important, it can be left open.

Now go for a run. Take it easy at first, gentle throttle above 3500 rpm to check if it's boosting OK up to half a bar. If all is well, give it a little more pedal and see if you are now able to go beyond half a bar. Take it to 1 bar if you can, that's all you need to prove that your turbo is OK. If this works, then basically you've locked your wastegate shut allowing you to see if the turbo's boosting properly. To get it back to working order, just reconnect everything. Don't leave it like this or it will overboost next time you really floor it, and damage your engine or at best hit the fuel cut.

Try connecting the compressor outlet signal to the actuator directly with nothing else teeing off it. Use a short piece of vacuum hose again. You'll find that boost holds at no more than around 0.7 bar, if that. At least the car's safe to drive in this state.