Turbo has died.....What to do?

[shumphr1]

A tinkling sound on boost turned into more of a clattering accompanied with puffs of smoke when I took my foot off the accelaerator so I am pretty much 100% sure the turbo has finally gone. My Elan has done 102K and I fitted a Killimanjaro chip about 10K ago which probably helped see it off.

What are my best options? Can the unit be repaired or is it a case of a new one or an upgrade? I've no desire to flog the engine any harder in the future but am unsire what the options are available to me and how much they might cost.

I've got ok mechanic skills but would prefer to have it done somewhere if its not going to cost too much (he says hopefully!)

Any help / experience appreciated,

Best Regards,

Stu

(Berkhamsted, Herts)

[Paul.P]

Stu, i believe new turbo's are nolonger available, so it would be a case of having yours rebuilt at a turbo specialist, or sourcing a second hand one. Sy has used a very good specialist that can definitly rebuild it, but think it cost about 6-800 quid, so if money's your priority, it might well be worth posting to see if anybody's got a spare one ?

[Doc Fizzix]

Sounds like it is time for the "Thunderbird" upgrade

[DavidElena]

I'm probably three months too late replying to this thread and you've probably got your Turbo sorted now but I can recommend Turbo Technics (Turbotechnics.com) 01604 705050.

My Turbo siezed 18 months ago due to a build up of coke deposits (I don't think the previous owners heat soaked it properly after hard runs). Turbo Technics did their best to recover what they could (wasn't much) and built a replacement unit. They sounded as though they knew exactly what they were doing, were quick, arranged the couriers and the replacement unit basically looked brand new. Total cost £390 + VAT (£458).

I didn't strip and replace myself but got a local mechanic who specialises in the jobs other garages can't be bothered with to do it. It sounded like a pig of a job because of the usual access problems but with numerous replacement gaskets and studs from SJS he got it on and it has run fine for over a year (apart from the fact that I can't seem to warm the car up enough to get it off the 0.5 bar cold safety boost limit but that will be the subject of a new thread).

[GeoffSmith]

apart from the fact that I can't seem to warm the car up enough to get it off the 0.5 bar cold safety boost limit but that will be the subject of a new thread.

Check the thermostat David - read through this lot!

Geoff

[Sy V]

I honestly don't know how I missed this thread - sorry.

http://www.turbodynamics.co.uk/

Ask for Mano Zevgolis (no, it's not a made-up name!)

[gtm100]

I clicked on this lead and Internet Explorer told me that this website was trying to access my clipboard. It might be innocent but I don't allow websites to post cookies or do anything else to my computer so I killed the lead and will not return to that site.

[Sy V]

That's your prerogative.

here's his e-mail address:

mano@turbodynamics.co.uk

[DavidElena]

apart from the fact that I can't seem to warm the car up enough to get it off the 0.5 bar cold safety boost limit but that will be the subject of a new thread.

Check the thermostat David - read through this lot!

Geoff

Well done Geoff, Thermostat found stuck open, now replaced and temperature now rises to about a quarter and I've got my boost back (well actually lots of overboost since putting the Peco exhaust on - 0.9 bar with the Everest chip still in the packet).

[GeoffSmith]

[gtm100]

David,
Don't take your dashboard guage too seriously, there is a separate transducer for the engine management system. When I bought my car, the guage read 0.5 bar when I switched on the ignition. The transducer is on the RHS inner wing with two wires going to it. The resistance was 8.5 ohms initially, going up to 24 ohms when I blew into the pipe as hard as I could. I cleaned up the contacts and the guage reading returned to normal.
George

[gtm100]

Thought you might like to see the reply I got from an email to Mano's colleague about their website trying to access my clipboard.

"Dear George,

Thank you for your e-mail. Unfortunately Mano is not here at the moment having had to return to Zimbabwe for family reasons, hopefully returning some time in the future but in the short term may be working remotely with the use of an IP phone he took out there to be part of our telephone system. I don't know what happened with this access of your clipboard, our site does not use cookies but with Internet Explorer 7 the site's security (which does not allow copy and pasting) does disable your clipboard while the site is being viewed. Sorry if this caused alarm. While Mano is away, Matt Waterman is standing in for him. If we can be of any assistance please feel free to contact us. With very best regards,

Peter Marsh
Managing Director

On behalf of Mano

Turbo Dynamics Limited"

The problem seems to have been caused by their website preventing copy and pasting within IE7 (to prevent theft of their copyright material?) which my firewall took to be a threat.
George

[Gary]

Very strange site, never seen one protected like that before