Turbocharger

Look, you've been warned. If you keep on turning up here posting photos of snowy landscapes and uninhabited rural landscapes to taunt those of us who live in the south then I'm going to have to have words with the moderators...

If you subsequently change one caliper, it's probably worth dropping the other wheel off and making sure the two are symmetric (eg identical castings, not just same working performance).

I had to get an "engineer" to report on my 300Tdi install for my insurance. They weren't sure what an "engineer" was but said it couldn't be me or the policyholder (same). Apparently my degree and chartered engineer status wasn't enough, so I got my dad to do it (no degree but he's chartered too). They were happy with that.

One of the happy benefits of being away from home all week is that I get plenty of time to think about the symptoms I've seen and consider possible diagnoses. Today's was pretty simple - no boost and high EGTs so I lifted the bonnet and found this tucked at the bottom of the intercooler. Easy fix but back to square one now with calibrating the diaphragm settings after I ran round frantically trying to get boost back. I've no idea what size the turbo is - it's off a 53-plate Mitsubishi L200.

Ruuman - is your exhaust tapped before the turbo or afterwards? I have a Thermoman gauge from Australia - does what it says on the tin, although the 52mm McNally one above looks very bling

If they can cast the rods, why don't the cast the original thing out of that material?

Had another brief play today - I adjusted the vanes to fully shut - nice 'smooth' noise still, 0.4 bar max at any point, big EGTs under any throttle still. I think I need to take it all apart again Maybe I'll have a go at changing the spring back to the one that Lara sent me. If I can't get it back to at least OEM power levels then the original turbo will have to go back on at the end of the month.

Jase - is the Sumo bar you have for a Defender or a Disco? If it's a Disco I could be interesting in swapping cash with you - drop me a PM if you want to move it on.

lol @ Lara Today I broke it. I said before that the turbo sound is a 'dirty' sound, there's extra frequencies that mean it's not a pure sound and this has been troubling me for some time. Well, as I joined the motorway the boost suddenly shot off the scale and I backed off the throttle, hit the hazard lights and onto the hard shoulder. One of the nuts in the diaphragm linkage had gone AWOL, so the turbo stayed 'closed' as the boost rose - this makes sense. I rooted around, found a spare nut and reassembled it (in suit and shirt). The windy motorway hard shoulder, fingertip-contact only and red-hot turbo meant I didn't have the most thorough setup calibration, so I'm not really sure what point it's set too - I suspect I was a little conservative and I set the vanes further open at the diaphragm's zero setting than I previously had (ie bigger turbo setting). Now it'll only make 0.5bar of boost at any throttle setting, which fits with the above, but the sound is much "purer", a pure whine/whistle/scream exactly as I've heard gas turbines sound in the past and how I expected this turbo to sound. The "dirty" rushing sound has gone. However, the EGT seems to be higher than I've seen previously (eg 400deg C when cruising at 40mph and rising to "above 500" when I try to hold 50mph) and it's certainly not as powerful at 0.5 bar boost. Maybe the EGT's the same and I'm just being paranoid but it'd make sense if the engine's running more back pressure in the manifold. Anyway, I'm away on business for a couple of days so my dear girlfriend has to drive round it in the evenings for now; I'll have another play with it when I get chance.

I've never wired mine up - never really considered them necessary for a DI diesel, although based on the above, maybe I should reconsider.

Sticking with this thread, it tickles me that one of the more interesting and popular topics (other than my own VGT thread, of course) on this 4x4 forum recently (where we regularly burn ramblers, rip up the countryside without a thought for anyone else in it, and worship the god of crude oil of course) is an eco-friendly sawdust boiler to provide carbon-neutral heat... Thanks for posting up!

Bloody hell. Fair play for kicking off a thread with a pic like that and quietly asking about a new car! Best of luck with your recovery - you'll replace the car, and it all could have been much worse as I'm sure you're aware. Bought a lottery ticket today?

Somehow I find myself defending this product, and I'm not sure why. I'd say someone could think this was a good way to spend £30 here - sure, it's only a potentiometer but the value is in the instructions telling what to do with it. Who's the fool, the vendor or vendee?

Nope - mine are angled, no wheelbox cutting required. I'll try to take a decent photo because all the ones I have manage to frustratingly hide what I'm trying to show.

Fair play - "MSA" answers my question fully, even though I'm not sure I agree with it.

Moving the trailing end of the hockey sticks together gets around the overconstraint of the factory setup, but I think the chassis rails and engine start to get in the way - not necessarily an issue if you can shape the arms to fit into the required loci, but we've seen recently why straight forged arms might be a sensible factory solution.

I don't mean to criticize what has obviously taken a lot of time, but - my rear stays go from the chassis rails at the bottom of the back door, outwards to the top corners of the B-hoop - this makes sense to me to transfer any loads from the windscreen hoop to the rear chassis and keep it all strong. Why haven't you built it as such? Other than that, cracking build thread - know anything about VG turbos?

.. including to the tailpipe end of the exhaust system on a Pug 205. Yes, it might work (where work=improve performance) but there's an awful lot more that could be achieved.

Thanks chaps. Here's the results of some reflection after I've lengthened the adjuster on the linkage (one LH, one RH thread, just visible below the jubilee clip above) so the vanes are about midway closed when the diaphragm's in the zero position, and I'm back to a 'laggy' VGT - to be honest, it's about as good as a wastegated turbo. When I shorten the linkage to set the vanes to 'closed' (small turbo) at the zero position, it doesn't build pressure or become fully open at a low enough pressure, and the turbine starts to surge. I need to see what's happening by pressurising the system with the airline again to validate the spring extension figures I calculated, and then I can work out how to control it. I'm learning how the system responds, but I still don't know how I want it to respond - to move through its full travel as soon as it reaches 1bar, to lift off the stop and move progressively through the travel as soon as pressure builds, or somewhere in between. I've a nasty suspicion the answer is different depending on massflow (revs) which justifies the computer control on the original vehicle - a 2003 Mitsubishi L200, since someone asked.

*groan* Yes, very good

To be fair, such gadgets generally do work - the engine produces more power. The emissions and fuel consumption go to cock but by running it rich you can get a little more power out.

Where people have popped up with "here's my welding, how can I improve?" then advice is freely and constructively given. I like to think that if someone appears on here showing how they've saved weight by only using three wheelnuts, they'll be suitably lambasted, and I think that's a good balance to keep.

I've run a 205 spare on a LR rim with 235/85 tyres on 8-spokes as my normal set - the biggest problem was the difference in offset causing the steering to pull when I braked. The size difference was fine for a couple of hundred miles until I could find another tyre - make sure the centre diff's unlocked and be aware that it's illegal, that's all.

Thanks Dave - I went through the calibration process you suggest with the original spring: but I've not done it for the other two - they're on the list but the garage is rather full of another broken car at the moment so it'll have to wait. Your suggested setup (lifting off at 1.0 bar and fully open by 1.5 bar) is what the original spring achieves (it's a wastegate spring from a Td5) but it was surging as it lifted off the stop. I've tried a spring today which lifts off at 0.2 bar and is fully open by 1.1 bar, the put in a spring in which my maths says should lift off at 0.8 bar and be fully open by 1.2 bar - both allow loony boost (1.6, 1.8, 2.0 bar) and I daren't put my foot down to add fuel because it's already making plenty of boost at very low revs. There's something wrong with my maths and I need to go through the calibration process above to understand more about it before I play too much and damage the engine. I'm so nearly there - I'm getting plenty of boost across the speed range, but not all with the same settings under the bonnet. I haven't yet got a setting which can build boost at low revs without massively overboosting at higher revs.

Hmm. During last night's forum outage I managed to post the above, but the picture of all my springs has gone AWOL and the topic's still on the second page. Hopefully this post will bump it back to the front. The omitted spring pic: As it says above, anyone know how much boost a 300Tdi will take before exploding?