turbo advice

[J4MES]

drove an mx5 turbo today... didn't turn me on loads, and i need to know if it's fixable... it's got a small low pressure HKS turbo, and no intercooler, with a digital injector/fuel thingy (little black box) on the steering column...

it runs poorly, hunting around at idle, doen't run smooth at constant revs, and didn't really pull a whole lot better than my old NA 5...

so, would an intercooler fix the power problem? and would the timing or fuel/air affect the running (the salesman said it wasn't running smoothly because it's an aftermarket mod, which needs more tuning - he also said because it's a small turbo the power kicks in earlier and is less pronounced)

any ideas?

[Russ]

poor idling can be lots of things, not enough air, dirty plugs, etc.

as for power, the intercooler just makes you air colder allowing you to cram more in at the same time so u'd see the gain in performance, but turning the boost up, with a Boost controller will get you power, fast.

[Zak33]

souns more serious than basic stuff mate.....only thing CHEAP in my mind is a gasket....inlet manifold or turbo gasket?

Otherwise......a lpt (low oressure turbo0 SHOULD make you laugh all day long and if it doesnt...its broken

[Moby-Dick]

an intercooler allows you to sustain higher boost levels throughout the rev range afaik.

I'd suggest you have the AFC tuned properly - they are hard to set up correctly without skill and a rolling road

[[GSV]Trig]

Intercooler cools the air going into the engine basically making it denser, the denser the air the more fuel u can whack in meaning bigger bang more power...

Wait till Lowe gets here he's better with wordin

[Lowe]

Been away for the weekend without net access so I'm a little behind here guys - sorry

Anyway, an intercooler is there to reduce the charge (compressed air) temperature. Lower charge temps are good for 2 reasons:

1) Denser air as Trig says
2) Far less likely to pre detonate the mixture of fuel/air

Even on a LPT I'm suprised they didn't include an intercooler, since turbos kick out some serious heat even when doing next to nothing!

The dodgy running is probably down to the fact that the ECU hasn't been tweaked properly so it's not fuelling correctly. Bad idling can be due to a lot of stuff really.

It probably needs a good rolling road session to iron out the problems, but to be honest I wouldn't pay money for it until it's running properly!

[J4MES]

sorry, i know what one does, just wondered how much difference having one makes, especially here in the UK where air temp isn't always that high...

i've been quoted £800+ fitting for adding an intercooler, so i don't think i'll bother...

[[GSV]Trig]

Doesnt matter if the air temps not high tbh, your turbo gets damned hot and that'll warm up anything that gets near it....

£800 is rather a rip off for an IC tbh, I'd say check around...

[Moby-Dick]

£800 is a Lot for an IC.

I wonder if you coudl git the WMIC from a 200 in there - you'd have a great supply of them from 200sx owners who fit FMIC ( mine is from a Saab )

If you think you can bodge it , you are welcome to my old WMIC.

Get yourself some samco hoses and bob's your uncle

[J4MES]

i'm up for that! a/s/l?

[Moby-Dick]

I'm in Milton Keynes

[J4MES]

/gah

Yorkshire here...

[Moby-Dick]

wait till you go down to visit David - I'm not far from there - failing that post on the SXOC board for one ?

[Jiff Lemon]

I do the occasional MK to manchester M1/M62 run......

[J4MES]

I'm off abroad tuesday, and the whole car thing isn't coming off atm, as the reg papers havn't arrived, so unless they get here tomorrow (fingers crossed all) then there's no roadster turbo for me (the import co. can't sell it iwthout them)