Oh, arse. The Saab seems to have become a two-smoke...
It's smoking VERY heavily on idle, over-run and pull away - I reckon the oil seals have just died in the turbo.
Anybody got good/bad experiences with any of the turbo recon suppliers? Inexpensive is good, quick and quality is very good...
Ta!
Adrian (Adrian ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
Should add that it's a Mitsu turbo, not a Garrett. 1990 900 FPT.
Turbos are sensitive to the least bit of back pressure in the drain tube. Turbo "oil seal" is just a split ring in a groove or a plain carbon bush and not a lip seal. It's more a dissuader than a seal.
Have you done a comp test to check rings?
It's easy to get a "plug" of mayo at this time of year. Are all the engine breather hoses clean and clear? Is any gauze/mesh in breather system clean? Is the turbo drain tube in good condition and unobstructed?
Taking them off and cleaning out is a PITA but pretty much free (unless you damage the hoses/clamps getting them off/on). Turbo is not cheap so, only condemn the turbo when there is nothing else left.
Take the turbo inlet off. Take hold of the compressor nut and then try to move shaft up/down, side to side and in/out. Quite large amounts of up/down/side to side movement is OK so long as the compressor doesn't touch housing. Detectable in/out movement is bad news. Spin nut between thumb and forefinger, it should rotate freely and not contact housing.
Turbo Technics do exchange.
Peter Hill (Peter Hill ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
Interesting, ta.
Not done _any_ dismantling yet. It was just getting dark as I arrived home. But that might have been the fact that the sun was being blocked effectively.
It was running _fine_ yesterday, a _snidge_ smoky this am - "Hmmm - heavy water vapour" - and after 150 miles of motorway today is utter pea-souper fog at idle. I don't _think_ it's breathers etc.
Take the filler cap off & feel. Blocked breathers make more smoke tha you'd believe.
weigh it in boy
Duncan Wood ("Duncan Wood" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
So, it appears, do head gaskets. Strange how several litres of water can disappear out of the header tank between checking it immediately on getting home last night and it being cold this morning.
Yep, white vapour "smoke" is going to be water (or petrol) and if it's oil it'd be blueish and you'd be able to smell it.
thought it'd be a gasket, mine did the same thing at 21 years and 135000 miles, seems to be about the time they go...
could
You won't like this. 165K miles head gasket still OK even after having to put over 20L of water in to get 15 miles when a heater hose blew and 3 other hose failures with large water loses in last 3 years. Had a one notch from red overheat event due to clogged rad mid summer 2000 on M4, couldn't exceed 55mph without a temp rise even with heater on full blast and windows down, all the way from Bristol to London.
Oh the irony of going from an unreliable French heap (I like em, I can call them that!) to a solid, reliable Swedish tank....
Certainley sounds like head gasket's gone. One of my 900T16s did. Exactly as you describe. On the8V I had, the turbo failed. The turbo failure stinks of very hot burnt oil...
Mike P
Mike P ("Mike P" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
I may have already heard something along those lines, just once or twice, in the last few months...
In six months, I've replaced...
- Injection temp sensor
- Two coolant hoses (one burst)
- Header tank (fine cracks spraying water under pressure)
- Water pump (was fine, but was on receiving end of water from header tank, making it look like it was leaking)
- Rear suspension rebush, springs, dampers
- Front dampers
- Two tyres, other two on To Do list
- Welding to one driveshaft tunnel (FOURTEEN hours of work for a damn good pro)
- Instrument cluster replaced (odometer dead)
- Speedo cable replaced (broke a week after instruments replaced, cable under too much stress because previously bodged stress relief/clamp failed)
- Hazard switch (indicators wouldn't work for a minute or five after hazards on)
- Central locking box
- Vac tubing all over the engine bay
OK, some of that's consumables, some of it's past poor maintenance catch- up, and some of it's improvements. In the boot, I've got a full set of brake pads, front disks and a caliper re-seal kit. In the office, I've got a roll of material to do the headlining. Oh, and the passenger door seal's leaking.
Then there's the things you can't really fault the car for...
- One headlight broken
- Windscreen cracked
- One wheel replaced (slight buckle)
- Reversed into whilst parked (rear wing shoved in, £1k insurance bill plus hire car)
Oh, and a full service, of course.
What The Fuck Is Next...?
You want a nice reliable Alfa, you do.
Gearbox obviously :-p
Mike P
Mike P ("Mike P" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
The second word is "Off"...
SteveH ( snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk (SteveH)) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
A friend of SWMBOs bought a '90s Spider.
She ended up sleeping with the mechanic in an attempt to get the bills down.
Scappie. It should have been done first. The car is 18ish years old and will not be worth replacing a bulb on.
Christ on a bike. That's rough.
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