A story I oft repeat albeit it takes some time to tell it. A friend's son came of driving age and bought a Fiat Uno turbo. Perhaps a bit rapid for a beginner and sure enough it wasn't long before he stuffed it into a tree/lamppost or other similar immoveable object, I forget which, as is the wont of teenage boys. So they bought another and I got a call saying this one won't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Not just a bit slow but terminally slow like 50% down on power and struggles to do more than about
70 mph. "Must be the turbo knackered" says my mate - what do I think?I say I think you start by checking the basics - comp test, cam timing, ignition timing and work from there.
"Nah" he opines, "it's far too serious a loss of power for anything basic to be the cause" and for a while I hear no more. Turns out they went along to a Fiat dealer and asked how much a new turbo was, got told, fell over in shock, decided there had to be a better way and started swapping everything from the good engine in the wrecked car over to the new one.
A couple of weeks go by and they've swapped all the ignition bits. Coil, plugs, leads etc with no improvement. He asks what I think. I say I think you start by checking the basics - comp test, cam timing, ignition timing and work from there. He ignores my advice.
A couple more weeks go by and they've swapped all the fueling items over. Inlet manifold, injectors, fuel pump, various sensors, ecu. No improvement. He asks what I think. I say I think you start by checking the basics - comp test, cam timing, ignition timing and work from there. He ignores my advice.
A couple more weeks go by and I get a very irate phonecall from a mate with badly skinned knuckles who's just spent the entire weekend trying to get the turbo, exhaust manifold and associated pipework off the old engine and onto the new one. "You need to be a bleedin' double jointed octopus to get any of the bastard thing undone" he rants. Anyway they finally managed it but with no improvement and by now stratospheric levels of fatigue and frustration. He asks what I think. I say I think you start by checking the basics - comp test, cam timing, ignition timing and work from there.
A couple more weeks go by and I get a very contrite phonecall from a mate who having wasted every weekend for the last two months with his son swapping every possible component over to the new engine with no change in performance finally gets round to checking the basics. The cam timing is several teeth out. Either it slipped or some numpty got it wrong when they last changed the cam belt. With that fixed it goes just as well as the old engine. Nothing was ever wrong with the turbo or any other part of it. They could have fixed it on the first day with a modicum of common sense and some heed to my good advice.
That advice is as it's always been. Never assume, presume or prejudge what is causing a fault. Be methodical, logical, careful, measure everything and start by checking the BLOODY BASICS.