PollyMobiles Rebuild

[h701micra]

ur like a real Ben Kenobi or yoda. such wise words that makes sense and makes me feel better, thanks

indeed I was never like this in school/college/uni cos there was a certain pre-determined path to follow through my education and had security of living at home and was young and focused on work/grades and social stuff like clubbing & women etc weren't of importance, priority or interest (not that I had a chance anyway).

difference nowadays is that I've completed my education path, still have an uncertain career path, an uncertain home coming up, have been stubborn in hanging onto 3 local risky startup companies that's repeatedly crashed & burned and stung me, leaving a very bad taste and loss of trust in myself & others, I'm almost middle aged while similar groups are already dating few times/married/kids.
basically alot of uncertainty = anxiety, danger, the rug underneath has been tugged afew times, so brain tries to protect by emergency brakes.

cos my mind works more visually & imaginatively, it's advantage is gr8 for systematic attention to detail, simulating/planning/predicting scenarios, mechanisms, systems etc but at the other scale when it's not used for work, it's a disadvantage always trying to sim/plan/predict my own life, panics over the results as anxiety and tries to self preserve.

yes I may not be high on autistic scale (everyone is autistic but on different scales), perhaps its just I'm a stubborn introvert, the past failures & mistakes build up "general anxiety" & frustration and the brain tries to pick at my every fault putting blame on some condition to explain the results and regret turns to depression?
aye letting an expert put a label on me won't help.

agree bout the investing high effort/input into work & relations but lack of return/reward beating me down down down.

using my usual roadtrip metaphor: seems I've just took a wrong turn through some rough dodgy neighbourhood where I've been deceived/robbed so I veered off-course in hopes of finding that luvely safe motorway to paradise. but now that I'm lost & broken down, blaming my tools/map/car, the local garage only works once a week and only now that I'm considering asking for directions.

think once I have the right guide, persuade myself to carry on driving through the unknown roads and eventually go back on that rosey motorway with similar ppl, life will be better.
gawd this reminds me of my first solo roadtrips
always wished there was a tomtom / google map satnav to life rather than word of mouth, whispers and the old atlas maps.

thanks to you & everyone for being in my life, believing in me and helping me up after falling

regards to the sill repair, aye twas a quick fix in not ideal cases but it certainly did the job it was meant for (to pass MOT). now I have tools/skills to do it properly and in my own time. the new MIG is the start of something.

The constant beat down of current experiences coupled with having no where to focus such an active mind is a bad combination.
If I've not done enough in a day. Come night time where it's quiet my mind races. Ideas, thoughts, what ifs.. it drives me nutty but it's because I haven't exercised that active mind enough in the day by doing the same mundane tasks that require no thought
Hence I always plan difficult projects. Whether I'm going to do them or not. I like to learn and keep that mind busy. You should try it some time you'll always get people who say you can't do it or that won't work. Honestly sit back and question their credentials. You'll quickly realise their opinion is based on their lack of understanding.
Writing things down to clear my head has big affects on me too. I no longer have ti juggle thoughts or information as it's written down.

With your road trip. You didn't take a wrong turn. You were misguided and that's the key. Put faith into others to be let down. You'll find your way back for sure.
There's no time limit Paul. You haven't got to have certain things done by xx time/date. The realisation of that for me was a great relief. I felt less rushed, less pressure. Job wise I was rejected all over. There was always someone with something better. I turned to self employment. It's damn hard and I'm only just reaping real reward (my fault it took so long). You're set up. You're established here. Get going. You'll not regret it. If ever you're unsure I'm happy to help

I think you've just written the answers you were hoping for from these professionals. You know the causes, you understand the effects. Now it's time to create more positives to outweigh the imprinted negative. Depression isn't feeling sad. A lot of people who've never suffered it or think they have just assume it's feeling down. It's a whole lot worse. You question yourself on multiple levels and generally feel down about most aspects and it snowballs.
The only way to beat it is to prove to yourself you can do it. And that all comes from taking opportunities you come across. Which of course is hard as you sit believing you can't do it. You will

No need to thank me. It's just what proper friends do

 

[pollyp]

The constant beat down of current experiences coupled with having no where to focus such an active mind is a bad combination.
If I've not done enough in a day. Come night time where it's quiet my mind races. Ideas, thoughts, what ifs.. it drives me nutty but it's because I haven't exercised that active mind enough in the day by doing the same mundane tasks that require no thought
Hence I always plan difficult projects. Whether I'm going to do them or not. I like to learn and keep that mind busy. You should try it some time you'll always get people who say you can't do it or that won't work. Honestly sit back and question their credentials. You'll quickly realise their opinion is based on their lack of understanding.
Writing things down to clear my head has big affects on me too. I no longer have ti juggle thoughts or information as it's written down.

With your road trip. You didn't take a wrong turn. You were misguided and that's the key. Put faith into others to be let down. You'll find your way back for sure.
There's no time limit Paul. You haven't got to have certain things done by xx time/date. The realisation of that for me was a great relief. I felt less rushed, less pressure. Job wise I was rejected all over. There was always someone with something better. I turned to self employment. It's damn hard and I'm only just reaping real reward (my fault it took so long). You're set up. You're established here. Get going. You'll not regret it. If ever you're unsure I'm happy to help

I think you've just written the answers you were hoping for from these professionals. You know the causes, you understand the effects. Now it's time to create more positives to outweigh the imprinted negative. Depression isn't feeling sad. A lot of people who've never suffered it or think they have just assume it's feeling down. It's a whole lot worse. You question yourself on multiple levels and generally feel down about most aspects and it snowballs.
The only way to beat it is to prove to yourself you can do it. And that all comes from taking opportunities you come across. Which of course is hard as you sit believing you can't do it. You will

No need to thank me. It's just what proper friends do

completely agree with you on all that.
the only thing that's kept me occupied, sane and with minimal ppl risk for so long was kasandra. I always keep a to-do list on my ipod for remembering & planning everything then go through that list.
my mind always running especially in bed and have trouble trying to sleep till bout 4am.

yes friends & family have always said before I couldn't learn to be mechanic, it'd be too dangerous, why spend so much time & effort on a micra when I could get a nice car like beemer (#chuckles# eyy andy ), do this do that. yet here I am an educated self taught technician, me & car safe in one piece, have my ideal reliable satisfactory turbo micra that brings me joy.
fact is no-one can know what another person can/can't do (we're not fortune tellers, yet), sometimes not even myself. they're not in my shoes. ppl can only at best pass on major lessons from their own life experience and hope that person makes the right judgement to suit their situation.

aye I was hooked onto that "3D virtual world" dream too stubbornly cos it was a safe option, being too loyal to work friends and trusting the wrong ppl till I eventually realised the beast was slowly trying to eat me alive. I was hurt hard last yr and has scarred me deep.
the anxiety says well, if the past 3 jobs just led to false dissappointment, and past women just behave like that, it predicts that everything else out there must be the same crap (animal eat animal in the wild world) so what's the point of exposing myself to further harm? thus hesitation (self preservation).
#do I get a david attinborough commentary lol#

I have to stop curling into a fetus ball letting depression anxiety kicking my teeth in, and realise that the world ain't all that bad, even after such bad luck/decisions, there are some goodness out there, it's just a matter of increasing my probability of finding the right ppl at the right time & place.

 

[pollyp]

sills painted & laquered. not amazing for a rushed job but alot better than the orange eye sore

oops

finally presentable for the show, just needs good polish

 

[h701micra]

completely agree with you on all that.
the only thing that's kept me occupied, sane and with minimal ppl risk for so long was kasandra. I always keep a to-do list on my ipod for remembering & planning everything then go through that list.
my mind always running especially in bed and have trouble trying to sleep till bout 4am.

yes friends & family have always said before I couldn't learn to be mechanic, it'd be too dangerous, why spend so much time & effort on a micra when I could get a nice car like beemer (#chuckles# eyy andy ), do this do that. yet here I am an educated self taught technician, me & car safe in one piece, have my ideal reliable satisfactory turbo micra that brings me joy.
fact is no-one can know what another person can/can't do (we're not fortune tellers, yet), sometimes not even myself. they're not in my shoes. ppl can only at best pass on major lessons from their own life experience and hope that person makes the right judgement to suit their situation.

aye I was hooked onto that "3D virtual world" dream too stubbornly cos it was a safe option, being too loyal to work friends and trusting the wrong ppl till I eventually realised the beast was slowly trying to eat me alive. I was hurt hard last yr and has scarred me deep.
the anxiety says well, if the past 3 jobs just led to false dissappointment, and past women just behave like that, it predicts that everything else out there must be the same crap (animal eat animal in the wild world) so what's the point of exposing myself to further harm? thus hesitation (self preservation).
#do I get a david attinborough commentary lol#

I have to stop curling into a fetus ball letting depression anxiety kicking my teeth in, and realise that the world ain't all that bad, even after such bad luck/decisions, there are some goodness out there, it's just a matter of increasing my probability of finding the right ppl at the right time & place.

Normally I have good old H701... and I haven't which left me with nothing to exercise my mind on. I try working on others.. BMW, K11... but my mind sees that as work abd shuts off from it at 5pm and refuses to think about it outside those hours, until all is quiet with nothing else to do and it jumps back to it because it's not satisfied its completed enough objectives to consider the day productive. I have to.. have to.. do something with any remote sense of accomplishment before I can rest. It's tiresome but it's what I've created with my own ignorance to the issue. Don't get me wrong I'm not doom and gloom about it, I know I'll come right; just a minor setback for now

You're exactly right with the self preservation. Why would you want to put yourself back in that position of loss/failure/self-worthlessness? You wouldn't but it becomes hard then to see the positives of another opportunity.

No two humans are the same. We may say so as matter of expression in getting a point across. Like saying I'm the same as you with a love for cars and their workings but academic enough to achieve more if we choose. I didn't want to. I wanted what I'm doing now. And I'm sure you're if similar mindset.
Again agreed with this mental health side. You can never be the same there. There are only common factors that can be related too. Once it gets deeper and more complex those factors become sparser and no persons one story can help another.

You'll get there. Take your time pressures off yourself but continue to be you. Remember there are opportunities when you're ready. That feeling of reward is 1 step to getting back up

 

[pollyp]

Normally I have good old H701... and I haven't which left me with nothing to exercise my mind on. I try working on others.. BMW, K11... but my mind sees that as work abd shuts off from it at 5pm and refuses to think about it outside those hours, until all is quiet with nothing else to do and it jumps back to it because it's not satisfied its completed enough objectives to consider the day productive. I have to.. have to.. do something with any remote sense of accomplishment before I can rest. It's tiresome but it's what I've created with my own ignorance to the issue. Don't get me wrong I'm not doom and gloom about it, I know I'll come right; just a minor setback for now

You're exactly right with the self preservation. Why would you want to put yourself back in that position of loss/failure/self-worthlessness? You wouldn't but it becomes hard then to see the positives of another opportunity.

No two humans are the same. We may say so as matter of expression in getting a point across. Like saying I'm the same as you with a love for cars and their workings but academic enough to achieve more if we choose. I didn't want to. I wanted what I'm doing now. And I'm sure you're if similar mindset.
Again agreed with this mental health side. You can never be the same there. There are only common factors that can be related too. Once it gets deeper and more complex those factors become sparser and no persons one story can help another.

You'll get there. Take your time pressures off yourself but continue to be you. Remember there are opportunities when you're ready. That feeling of reward is 1 step to getting back up

spot on m8, xactly

 

[pollyp]

spotted matt beardmore on FB was going to Japday at castle combe on 14th May with track time, Ooh I've been to Combe and quite fancy a go back on track with a working kasandra.
booked general admin ticket (no idea if there's any club stand but meh) and they had track time slots, yup booked for 10am offered matt riding shotgun.
so if anyone's going to japday, hopefully see you there.

...Ohh fek just remembered I was supposed to be at m8s on evening 7pm for birthday and watching eurovision, takes 5hrs trip back home :/ so will have to leave show from 2pm.
good thing I'm not locked into club stand then.

 

[h701micra]

Nothing wrong with being late considering where you are

 

[pollyp]

the rear left door trim had a missing clip

so printed a replacement

satnav mount snapped when me sister was using it so I printed another one

but when I bend it, the acetone vapour had softened the plastic abit and seems to be a weak structure here

so a day before going to japfest i redesign the satnav mount into a simpler stronger mechanism

suction cup mounted on one end while the screw at the other end pulls it to create suction

assemble mechanism

bond the satnav mount bracket onto it

and installed
made a little screw handle for tool-less tightening, not shown

 

[pollyp]

Japfest - Silverstone 24/04/2016

departed from 10am for the long drive down. since Max & lyra ain't there till 5, I can take me time.
stopped halfway at the Woodall services for the toilet, spotted a young group of MX5 members, bladder takes priority.
walking back, the group was just leaving. then I spotted they left me this nice card on my windscreen, aww that's sweet

2pm I arrived at the golf course camping site, check-in, enter this vast field of random cars & campers.
now this is my idea of social hell nightmare. going into a field full of scoobs, civics, skylines, etc loadsa strangers I dunno, no one I know to meetup and no idea where to park/camp, aghh why did I think this was a good idea?
just pick a random less-busy spot away from the crowd. too afraid or cba to say hullo so just focussed on popping my tent up and checking the car over.
thankfully some guys from nearby popped over to say hi and have a peak

was hungry so popped out to find some food.
later met up with Max, Lyra, Dave & Eve in his March G# (with complimentary mid-spoiler ey max )
we went for some italian food, Lyra riding shotgun since JAE last yr. blimey that N/A March is well nippy keeping up behind even with 2 passengers in it and Max cornering roundabouts like a maniac

after food we went to the pub with some side to side blast and the March keeps up well upto 40mph.

at the pub Max lemme have a go of his March, like how frank once dangled his car keys at me
indicator/wiper are reversed which was confusing.
luxury electric mirrors.
the rear fog light switch was blindingly bright.
think it had a loud Peter Lloyd exhaust?
clutch was light & cable felt alightly coarse (needs oiling) but only stiffens near the bottom (new clutch?). it bites like my old paddle clutch.
brakes abit soft spongy, not a bitey as mine but works fine.
throttle was quite responsive and the low end torque is nippy (maybe the import map is is restrained?). the mid-high torque end will obviously be lacking compared to forced induction.
short shift pulsar gear selector bushes are very worn loose & floppy so definately needs servicing.
the PAS quick-steering is really impressive imo. while mine has a long lazy 4.2 turn, this quick-rack (perhaps a superS rack?) is so go-kart-like, I could really do with such steering rack on track.

slept in the cold tent that night.
woke at a freezing wet 5am, packed tent at 6, went for mcdonalds breakfast from 6:30 and loads of japfest cars soon popped by, joined by Andrew summerhills red cab and Maxs March G#.

made our way towards the silverstones huge queue. the MX5 behind me leaving a brief gap probably cos my engine smokes oil very very badly during prolonged idling, woops
arrived & parked anywhere at the MSC stand yay

very good turn out. I got to see sirchris's beast, ben challengers nice white turbo, abi's sporty k12 and so much more.

followed chris over to race control to sort out his track run and helmet.
saw & heard some nice drift machine action.
back at the stand met more admirers
this lovely lady obviously knew me and said "Hi Paul" with hugs but I had no idea who she was with those big sunglasses, I feared was it carrie or louise and eek would be awquid? so cautiously said hi & hugged back but eventually found out she was Isobel in the dark blue K11 (phew) and quite a nice person (found her cardigan amusing saying at the back "Isobellend" lol)

3pm chris began to prep his car for track. stored his stuff in my car.
3:30 we were all sitting by the bridge field to observe the track when chris then rang me for a 13mm spanner cos his throttle cable stuck open so I ran to grab tools and ran to him over the bridge. he was nervous cos twas his first track driving at silverstone in a car with unleashed power, which was understandable as a first timer. guided him to take it easy, work up progressively, and he'll be alright. he didn't want to break down embarrasingly in such a crowd and let the MSC down (like when my boost pipe popped off at modified live) so he'll just blast down the straights and go gentle through the corners. Beth sat passenger to support him.



he went out near 4pm as we cheered. good gentle start and slowly got more confident but then backed off braking very early cos afterwards he said his pulsar brakes had faded.
in the end it was a successful first shakedown for chris, beth & Icarus. they made it back in one-piece with no faults other than cooked brakes and we're all so proud of the boy

told me to move the car over level ground to check oil so I popped in and drove over to the level gravel.
clutch felt same weight as mine but the flywheel felt very heavy inertia.
the idle control was abit faulty cos I blip the throttle and the revs drop far too low and stalling afew times. cooldown and check oil.

good photo oppurtunity

the lads luving it

drove kasandra over to use her spirit level to verify the gravels flat, plus another photo bomb

twas so cold & windy all day, my wind-swept hair was ruined
kasandra didn't seem bothered from her happy crooked expression

we all popped to a burger king for food & chat and headed home. another fab day out.

 

[Huggy444]

Looks like I missed a good show! Was tempted to come but was up at 4am Saturday for work and only got in at 9pm so was dead

I need to give you the keys to my car at some point, I'm sure you'll find all the faults I have got used to and forgotten about / stuff I can't feel

Are you doing Japshow again this year?

 

[pollyp]

realised on my record that I haven't changed me coolant for 4yrs so got 3l greenstuff from dealers and changed it.
simply draining the system & tank and filling up takes 3.5L

curiously checked the plugs and cold compression got 8.8 - 9.2 - 8.3 - 9.1bars but it cranks alot slower with cold thick oil which affects rpm & compression.



warmed it up with a blast and recheck the plugs & hot compression got 10.2 - 10.3 - 10.9 - 10.9bars
better.
plugs with white oily oxide



to all the mechanics here, this burning smoky oil issue seems to be getting noticably worse nowadays. here's the symptoms:

during cold start & hot start cranking she fires up perfectly fine and doesn't smoke at all (so oil ain't seeping down past the stem seals overnight).
approx 30-60s after cold cranking, the cat steams water vapour from the cold exhaust pipes.
after 60sec of 20-25psi idling vacuum, the exhaust then begins to smoke blue oil for as long as the inlet manifolds under vacuum.
when driving away and begin to apply 0-10psi boost, can see behind that she burns the remaining oil away and then runs clear during warm high speed cruising and boosting.
whenever I coast over 5sec (-25psi prolonged engine vacuum) then resume 0-10psi boosting, she smokes oil briefly then clears.
whenever I go from cruising to prolonged idling (-20psi engine vacuum) over 60sec she'd begin to smoke oil.

the inlet stem seals have been replaced 2-3 times now with no effect.
piston top have always been slightly oily damp (20% coverage) from all around the edges.
she drinks 1L oil per 200-250miles.

do you think the valve stem guides are worn elipse / loose letting some oil seep down at a certain rate during any high inlet vac?
she doesn't smoke during high load or boost so rings might be alright?
maybe the oil ring drain holes are insufficient?
how can I tell if the honing was too coarse and retaining too much oil?

 

[pollyp]

Looks like I missed a good show! Was tempted to come but was up at 4am Saturday for work and only got in at 9pm so was dead

I need to give you the keys to my car at some point, I'm sure you'll find all the faults I have got used to and forgotten about / stuff I can't feel

Are you doing Japshow again this year?

driving another car always feels odd and we spot differences that the owner would otherwise have adapted around.
tis similar to asking someone else for their fresh-eye outsiders observation about something.

yup booked japshow santapod. gymkhana? I could do with a hydraulic handbrake. ooh if only sirchris joined us eyy cos he has hydraulic handbrake?

 

[Huggy444]

I'm definitely doing the gymkhana again! A hydro handbrake would be very nice, but I'll just run cheap budget tyres on the rear so it'll lock up fine with the standard h/brake

I'll be camping the weekend too, can get your thoughts on a few things!

 

[pollyp]

I'm definitely doing the gymkhana again! A hydro handbrake would be very nice, but I'll just run cheap budget tyres on the rear so it'll lock up fine with the standard h/brake

I'll be camping the weekend too, can get your thoughts on a few things!

sure.
yup I'll try t1r at rear and 595rsr at front.

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Is all you intake piping and manifold oil free. Just wondering whether it's internal of the engine or being burnt after entering via the intake side.

 

[pollyp]

Is all you intake piping and manifold oil free. Just wondering whether it's internal of the engine or being burnt after entering via the intake side.

Ever since I fitted my catch cans the inlet manifold no longer has any oil pool residue. Last time I checked the inlet valve ports they seemed clean with no signs of big leakage.

 

[h701micra]

Paul
I recommend checking the cat out
After having oil blown through it, it's likely stained now and doing not a lot anyway. It'll also harbour oil and block your exhaust like my Celica
Never struggled to start always ran well, but it had a ring issue similar to yourself. Only issue I found with it was said Cat

Just an idea

 

[pollyp]

Paul
I recommend checking the cat out
After having oil blown through it, it's likely stained now and doing not a lot anyway. It'll also harbour oil and block your exhaust like my Celica
Never struggled to start always ran well, but it had a ring issue similar to yourself. Only issue I found with it was said Cat

Just an idea

Aye it's most probably ruined. Gonna swap back to decat next. Taa m8

 

[h701micra]

What do you use for your compression tests?
Mine has an adapter on it to get into the plug holes and I'm forever worried about it being stuck there

 

[pollyp]

What do you use for your compression tests?
Mine has an adapter on it to get into the plug holes and I'm forever worried about it being stuck there

just a bog standard halfords tester, no adapter.

 

[h701micra]

Thread on mine is incorrect, so requires said irritating adapter
The old rubber bung type is what I rely on because of it

 

[pollyp]

removed the cat. inlet looks ok & white

exit is just sooty

went for a blast. the decat certainly gives abit more mid-punch.

noticed that she smokes only after the inlet is under 26psi vacuum over 20sec (coasting 20sec or idling 20sec).

parked at home and whilst idling 10sec I now noticed the exhaust really really smokes blue oil very badly,
argh FFS this engines fooked. no wonder following cars behind me kept a distance



does someone have a cg13de engine? preferably in north east, low milage and automatic?

now that I've stopped frothing my mouth, I plan to swap back to standard manifold to check if it was the turbo burning oil.
if it still smokes without turbo, I'll replace the head (as I suspect it could be worn valve stem guides letting oil get sucked past under high vacuum).
if it still smokes with new head and no turbo, then those forged piston rings & bore finish are truely ruined and I'll have to revert back to standard block preferably before japday in 2 weeks :/

not good

 

[Huggy444]

Must be so frustrating for you Paul, you've been having issues with it for ages and althought it doesn't seem to be affecting power its just a nuisance

I've been having fuelling issues for ages but Im lazy so thats why I've not sorted it yet, you just need some good luck for once!
I know of a 1.3 car sitting near me which is being broken for parts, but I've no idea what kind of condition the engine is in.

 

[pollyp]

Must be so frustrating for you Paul, you've been having issues with it for ages and althought it doesn't seem to be affecting power its just a nuisance

I've been having fuelling issues for ages but Im lazy so thats why I've not sorted it yet, you just need some good luck for once!
I know of a 1.3 car sitting near me which is being broken for parts, but I've no idea what kind of condition the engine is in.

I was fuming abit, thinking this fkin engines had it but calmed abit now.
it works just fine under load but obviously can't drive around town with ton of smoke so have to try fix it without a major engine swap.
been searching ebay for engines & breaking cars but it's at least £150 and £100 of fuel way down in london, no thanks.

prob no hope of finding any on FB so guess I'll have to call a local scrappy and see how much they are.

 

[h701micra]

I will keep you calm

 

[h701micra]

Remove head and inspect it first off
You're then prepared for replacement if needs be

You can also fault find and pinpoint the issue and make informed decisions on the next step

 

[pollyp]

Remove head and inspect it first off
You're then prepared for replacement if needs be

You can also fault find and pinpoint the issue and make informed decisions on the next step

yea tis wise to inspect first before forking my now very limited cash. ideally I'd like to find just a spare head but I think that'll be rare.
I'm just abit panic that I got 2weeks and she having issues now and wanna buy & get spare standard engine ready like yesterday and get on with it.

 

[h701micra]

yea tis wise to inspect first before forking my now very limited cash. ideally I'd like to find just a spare head but I think that'll be rare.
I'm just abit panic that I got 2weeks and she having issues now and wanna buy & get spare standard engine ready like yesterday and get on with it.

Here's how I see my work nowadays
Slow as smooth
Smooth is fast

 

[infinity]

Would a homemade cylinder leakdown tester not help you answer a lot of your questions without taking apart the engine?

 

[h701micra]

Would a homemade cylinder leakdown tester not help you answer a lot of your questions without taking apart the engine?

It's been mentioned but he doesn't have the tools

 

[pollyp]

Aye I don't have the luxury of a compressor plus all the fittings.

 

[pollyp]

ok so I quickly removed the turbo system. boost pipe only have a slight residue of oily blowby from the catchcans. the exhaust elbow just appears sooty, no wet oil patches and no oil leaks outside the turbo.

swapped over to standard exhaust, injectors, MAF.
was gonna test tomorrow but went out tonight instead cos cba to wait.

cold start, she smokes/steams abit from the previous oil burn and the old manifold cat & injectors been in storage for 2 yrs. so let go for a blast to clear all the old crap out.
after a brief blast, I let her idle for awhile observing her exhaust and even after idling for 5mins (where the turbo setup would normally be smoking alot by now), it no longer smokes oil, she just steams slightly in the cold air as the pipes cool down

really need to verify this in daylight tomorrow but if she no longer smokes without the turbo, that'll mean the engine is fine but the turbo has prob blown the staggered turbine seal, which means time for new turbo (which could get expensive)

 

[pollyp]

tday took out the PCV to check

hmm this could be part of the issue, slightly tacky buildup of oil makes it slightly sticky to re-open and could lead to higher crankcase pressure when lifting off throttle, affecting the turbo oil drain?
flushed with carb cleaner and now the valve rocks around freely

went for a drive

well well, I cold cranked her and zero smoke, just the lightest water vapour from the primary cat.
drove out the gates and still zero smoke, just the slightest cold steam.
after a good blast, I coasted down the long hill over 20sec where she would always collect & burn oil afterwards, reapply throttle and nope zero smoke again
sat at traffic and then left her idling at home for afew mins and absolutely zero smoke
removed sparks and although it appears abit rich and the piston top is still partially damp, compression is a good 10.1 - 10.8bar all across and no smoke at all.

so I guess the engine's fine and the turbo needs replacing.

turbo technics site for a renault 5 GT stage 1 is £435!! for an exchange turbo (think it includes a £75 return exchange fee).
well fook it. goodbye savings it was nice knowing you (at least it's better to throw money at shiny car bits to make me happy than on fueling my depression anxiety to death with booze n drugs eh). ever since I brought this turbo kit with these flaws in cracked turbine housing and damaged compressor blades etc, it's inevitably gotta be done considering that I drive it daily and thrash it on track. she'll be good as new by japday.

 

[pollyp]

lets dismantle and inspect the turbo

first sign of trouble, wet patch on the turbo elbow

look at the turbo and ooh err well there's the obvious problem, no surprise why it was smoking so much

some had flung up the turbine entry port

the flange & gasket holding up well

dinged compressor with slight oil vapour residue

turbine housing with the crack across the WG port

knocked the turbine housing off and whoa the entire turbine backing is dripping wet. that staggered seal ring had failed pretty badly. journal bearing feels approx the same 0.5mm of play as when it last smoked badly back in 2011.

I won't bother checking how the seal failed cos gotta return this back to turbotech for them to inspect what failed but I guess this failure was pretty inevitable.

 

[h701micra]

well fook it. goodbye savings it was nice knowing you (at least it's better to throw money at shiny car bits to make me happy than on fueling my depression anxiety to death with booze n drugs eh).

This bit made me chuckle

Goes to show the importance of the PCV valve

 

[pollyp]

This bit made me chuckle

Goes to show the importance of the PCV valve

spending a fortune when I should be saving up but heyho it needed doing.

For an important valve to be locked into an engine cover, I feel I should hollow out the pcv inside the cover and fit an in-line 1way valve that's not as affected by gunk and easier to access.

 

[frank]

the pcv valve is designed to give a steady flow at any throttle openings eh paul, so that at high vacuum (idle) it restricts the flow, then as you open the throttle it allows more flow
so that means that the crankcase is getting a steady flow of air circulation at all times (apart from under boost conditions)

 

[Low Rider]

awmigawd, not this again

 

[pollyp]

the pcv valve is designed to give a steady flow at any throttle openings eh paul, so that at high vacuum (idle) it restricts the flow, then as you open the throttle it allows more flow
so that means that the crankcase is getting a steady flow of air circulation at all times (apart from under boost conditions)

indeed its a controlled vacuum leak. was just wondering if a sticking PCV could induce excess crankcase pressure to affect the turbo drain, but then it could also vent out the open PCV breather into the inlet anyway. worrying too much, think I just needed to occasionally give the PCV a little flush.

 

[pollyp]

awmigawd, not this again

lmao

 

[pollyp]

I was gonna goto a local hydraulics place to get the braided oil lines/drain remade with better inner dia and routing but h701 suggested AN fittings, that'll give me more choice & adjustment. then can withstand hot oil yeah?
time to google bout em

 

[Low Rider]

AN10 will do fine for the return Paul.

 

[pollyp]

gonna go measure all the pipes/threads then search for the right fittings & hoses. this is gonna be one blingy looking turbo in the end hehe

 

[pollyp]

guys I just measured all the ports and here's what I found:

the oil outlet from the head is 8mm dia

goes into an adapter that's 5mm

but here the hose drops down to just 3.5mm (64% the size of the turbo oil inlet port) acting as a sort of restrictor

the hose outlet is 4mm

then through this 5.5mm bore adapter, which matches the turbo feed oil

the turbo end of the adapter has simply been lathed flat and rather than sealing via the cone seal, it's sealing against the turbo cores body :/

turbo oil feed is 5.5mm checked with a drill bit

but the oil feed hose is only 3.5mm? could it be under feeding the turbo, leading to premature bearing/seal wear and overheating?

now the drain port is 13.5mm

this adapter is 12.75mm

but now it's at the drain hose where it gets chocked. the drain hose entry is 9.5mm

while the drain hose outlet is a tiny 9mm! (just 66% the size of the turbo drain)
I wonder if this is the main culprit of the oil leak

the fitting welded to the sump is 10.9mm

here's a detailed diagram of the oil flows journey

Question is do I:
- fit a 3.5mm hose as a restrictor to match the previous line to maintain engine head oil pressure?
- fit a bigger 5.5mm oil feed to the turbo for optimum lubrication & cooling and let the turbos journal bearing determine the upper engine decks oil pressure? could this starve the cams & tensioner of pressure?

- fit a larger 13.5mm drain hose to match the turbo drain plus having to remove & weld a 13.5mm fitting to the sump (which'll also fix the previous cracked TIG welds).
- or fit a 11mm drain hose so I don't have to modify the PITA sump fitting.

 

[frank]

all pretty irrelevant if the oil supply is being fed through a 2mm restrictor surely paul ?

 

[pollyp]

all pretty irrelevant if the oil supply is being fed through a 2mm restrictor surely paul ?

View attachment 48383

just concerned that after the 2mm restrictor port, if the turbo bearings have a bigger clearance than the cam bearings & tensioner, then the pressure could go the easiest path towards the turbo and starve the cams of oil? tis why I was wondering if a restrictor or thin feed hose is required between the upper deck oil system and the turbo.

 

[pollyp]

finding the actual thread sizes & standards is abit of a puzzle here.

the heads oil gallery plug hole I figured is a 1/8 bspt

but for the turbos oil inlet, the threads inner dia is 11.4mm and outer thread 12.57mm with a 1.25mm pitch. I assume the seal cone is 60deg

for the drain it's 20.7mm inner dia and 21.85mm outer dia with a 1.5mm pitch
have to find a similar fitting with same bore dia to weld onto the sump.

to convert to AN fittings I feel I'm gonna have to visit afew hydraulics places to physically measure/verify the exact thread specs and try source some AN fittings with matching bore sizes.
whats the pros/cons between AN/JIC fittings and the crimped type fittings I currently have?

 

[Agent_Sm1th]

Can you not get in touch with the manufacturer and find out what flow rate the turbo requires. You can then set the flow from the engine to match the specs.

 

[pollyp]

Can you not get in touch with the manufacturer and find out what flow rate the turbo requires. You can then set the flow from the engine to match the specs.

aye that's what I should do

 

[pollyp]

just reading afew turbo install guides and guides from garret etc and alot of them say for journal bearings there's no need for restrictors cos the internal passages & bearing clearances provides sufficient flow and restriction to maintain oil pressure throughout the system. only if all the specs are correct and it still smokes, would they begin to consider progressively applying smaller restrictors as a last resort.

so I suppose the plan is to use matching -4 AN hose for the oil feed and -10 AN hose for the drain and try to find the correct threaded fittings.