| ID: 1202 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: backfire (again) Question: Hi Wiz I wrote to you last week about backfiring on acceleration. I recently discovered that the reason is its boosting off the clock!!!. It took me so long to work this out cos im running in a new head gasket so im not putting my foot to the floor. This only started happening when I got it back from getting the head done. I checked the boost pipes from the actuator and 1 of them was split where it attaches onto the actuator, I cut it off and put it back on but it still does it. I tryed to lengthen the actuator rod thinking the garage messed with it but I couldnt budge it. Any ideas that you think i missed ? thankyou BATMAN Answer: Are the actuator pipes on the correct way round? |
| ID: 1203 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: petrol air freshener Question: I have a petrol smell driffting into my car when the car is pulling up hills or half acclerating. I have looked under the bonnet and there is no visible sign of where the leaks is. I bought a carb rebuild kit and replaced all the seals on the carb. But this has made no differance. please help soapy. Answer: Have you checked/changed the diaphram behind the triangle shaped piece of the carb which has a pipe running from it to fresh air? If this has gone then fuel will come out of here. |
| ID: 1204 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: head gasket Question: wizard, i had a compresion test and the gasket had gone,i had the head skimmed last time and comp gasket but did not re torque the bolts,could this be the cause,the head is now off and i've bought some high tensile bolt/gasket set[half price at bb]what torque setting should the bolts be at running 20psi because the haynes says they should be 60Nm? I there anything i can check[bottom end condition] whilst the head is off or any other tips about doing a proper job?THANKS Answer: Make sure there is no piston slap due to worn rings and there is no pitting etc in the pistons or head. Head can be retorqued up to 55lbs/ft or its equivalent in Nm after an initial run up of 20 minutes and a cool down period of at least 4 hours but preferably overnight. It could be the lack of torque that has caused it to go again. |
| ID: 1205 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: not much grip Question: My R5 is running at 163 bhp at the wheels @ 15.5 PSI. I have a stage 1 hybrid. I run on 15"" stealths, lowered, stiffened suspension.............. I would like to know how the boys running big boost can get the power down. When i accelerate hard throught the gears, i get wheel spin all the way through to mid third gear. I have a brand new set of Eagle F1's all round. By the way, the wheel spin is on DRY road. I want to increase the boost to around 19 PSI but it seems pointless if i cant run top notch at 15.5. I want to run higher boost but need your advice on getting max grip, all that power ""if only""......Pls help.... Answer: You need to learn clutch and throttle control to get fast getaway's without too much spin. Also softer tyres and stiff shocks help. |
| ID: 1206 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: Burnt oil smell......sorted Question: Hi Wiz, Found the problem. The oil breather hose to the inlet manifold had a split just where the 'j'clip holds the pipe to the manifold. Whoops.....a bit of over tightening I think. Tiny drips of oil seeped onto the inlet manifold & down onto the exhaust manifold & burnt off. Changed the hose, test drive & no nasty burnt oil smell. Didn't want to take the head off. It's not been off for 3 1/2 years. The car now idles better & also pulls better when not using boost at low revs. Am I right in thinking the engine sucked in excessive air through the split when idling & driving with no boost load? Would this weaken the air/fuel mixture? The restrictor in the breather pipe to the manifold was not doing it's job because of the split. Would you recommend a mixture & rolling road check because I think it was set last time with the split hose? I'm running a hybrid with between 12 & 18psi & all the usual stuff. Sorry to go on. Cheers Wiz. (I'd buy you a pint if I knew who you were) Answer: You are best off getting the settings checked as it would have affected the mixture strength. Post the money for a beer to Turbo Wizard via membership secretary if you like! :-) |
| ID: 1207 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: head gasket Question: wizard, *I've just had my cylinder head back,and i had quite heavy scoring around half of the 2 middle chamber,the engineer had to take ouite a lot of material off and there i still a very light score but the scores are on the inner side of the combustion rings so do you think it will be ok? *Also could you tell me,the head i got has been skimmed before and skimmed again now, the comppresion ratio is going up,will this be ok on my gt turbo? *Also i checked my pistons and they look ok but the 2nd cylinder has got very slight play in it and the rest are solid,what is this because i asked the enginner if this was the cause of the head going and he reckoned that is wasn't, because he said that when cylinders are worn the tend to all be worn not just one,is this true? Answer: As long as the scoring doesn't extend into the gasket area then it should be fine. The compression ratio will affect the car ie it will need better fuel etc if it gets too high. Get the head chamber sizes calculated to work out the compression ratio before you refit it. One ring could have gone but it is more likely to be an outer cylinder if it has! It is up to you whether you take that piston out to check it but i would recommend it for safety's sake. Just make sure you renew all the cylinder liner seals as they are probably dodgy if the head has been removed and liners dislodged. They cost about a tenner from renault if you can't get them elsewhere. |
| ID: 1208 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: overboosting Question: how can stop overboosting and temporary engine cutout at high revs Answer: Overboosting can be controlled by actuator spring pressure or with an overboost switch adjusted to just above your normal boost level. Temporary engine cut out should not occur unless you have a fault in the ignition module/system or fuelling maybe. |
| ID: 1209 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: Hot Runner Question: Wiz, I have recently fitted a copper rad low temp stat. low temp rad stat all gt tuning gear yet the fan still seems to be coming on a lot. I now 5's are a hot runner but surely this is wrong, even if drove reasonable.Any advice would be appreciated as its probably the most asked question of all........ Answer: I expect you have a poorly working water pump or some blockages in the cylinder block which are causing excess heat. Try flushing the system out a couple of times. Also, make sure you have the plastic bits on the front of the car to guide the cold air onto the radiator. It could be down to bad timing or low quality fuel causing unheard detonation. As another (last?) resort you could try fitting a thermostatically controlled seperate oil cooler to take the oil temperature away from the water. |
| ID: 1210 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: More power Question: Wiz, I wondered if you could tell me the next practical thing i could do to get some more bhp. Ive got double inter,re jeted carb,dump valves,2.5"""" bore scorpian with same cross&down pipe,gt tuning air filter,lightned fly.Would i gain much from a gp a carb or engine re built port,polish+lightned.The turbo is a universal turbos sp(special build) but the spec is unknown as they dont know either.Your help is much needed thanks. Answer: You don't say what boost you are running as this is the most important and most ordinary way to gain power. Uprating the boost will give you more power as long as the fuelling is correct (Group A carb and bigger fuel pump may be needed at big boost levels) and there is enough capacity in the intercooler. (some people say double capacity just heats up the air going through the back core but not really proven either way!) Head gasflowing and manifold matching can release extra power as can a camshaft change. Although this will also affect drivability!. |
| ID: 1211 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: Oil Pressure Question: Hi Wiz ,Ive recently fitted a braided oil feed pipe.After doing this my oil pressure thing on the dash as started acting odd.B 4 i fitted it the guage pointed at 3 and if i reved the car it went up to 4.But now it goes up and down as it pleases and ive also noticed that when im driving the guage points at 4 but if i put my foot down so that the turbo comes in the gauge goes right down asif the turbos using all the oil.....???? P.S the oil level is at max,ive just changed the oil and i cleaned the spade conectors on the guage sensor when i fitted the new oil feed pipe,Thanx Wiz Answer: It could be that the old oil feed pipe was more restrictive and therefore the oil pressure was more stable. You could also have a problem with the non return valve in the pipe not holding a residual pressure. On the other hand, this could all be down to cleaning the connectors which has actually made the connection worse! |
| ID: 1212 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: Valve clerance Question: wizard , I've just got the head back on the car now,could you tell if I have the right method of adjusting tappets.Is it if valves 1 and 2 are rocking i adjust 7 and 8.And 3,4--5,6 5,6--3,4 7,8 rocking,adjust 1,2 Is this the right method? Would you know what the valve clearance is on the inlet and exaust on the gt?As I have skimmed the head a few times does this affect the valve clearance? Also I've heard gt turbos are buggers to bleed when it comes to the cooling system because of the mass of pipes any tips on best way to do it?thanks Answer: The best wat to set the tappets on the 5GT is to use the rule of nine. ie valve 1 fully open, adjust valve 8, valve 2 open adjust valve 7 etc etc. check twice just to be sure. Clearances are 8 thou for the inlets and 10 thou for the exhausts. Sorry i don't know it in mm as i am very old and am not decimalised! Head skimming does not affect tappets as they are set every time you take the head off. To bleed the cooling system the engine must be cold, fill the header tank to max, unclip it and hold it up as high as it will go. ie higher than rest of system and gravity bleed it. You will probably need a friend to open the bleed screws for you and close them when you have an air free flow of coolant from the bleed points. or you can use the pressure bleed way, which is to fill to the max line and get a friend to open the bleed screws while you blow into the header tank as hard as you can to pressurise the system. When there is a steady flow of bubble free air coming out then close the bleed screws. Top up if needed and road test. |
| ID: 1213 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: porformance Question: hi wiz, i just got backfrom a rolling rd tune, the car did 165bhp, at full throtle,yet when i drove back the car wouldnt pull away,but the turbo spun up as normal! also the engine would cut out at low revs when coming to junctions, the tuner found it hard to set the idle as it would keep runing up and down, along with the co2 mixture, even after cleaning jets ,diaphrams etc,in the carb , the carb is completly standard, and was running 19psi to produce 165bhp, ive turned the bleed valve in to 15 psi this has helped, but its still not 100% right, i had the timing checked that was fine, he could not find any boost leaks when the car was on the rollers either! all leads, spark plugs were fine also, the fuel supply is fine also, but just seems to weak at idle, no matter how much the fuel mixture screw was adjusted, the car has a air induction kit and breather kit ,could these affect the performance ,or does the fault lie with some thing else like ecu unit or dump valve or something? its really anoying me and no one seems to know whats causing it?, Answer: It could be an air bleed from the dump valve, ignition module plumbing or even the breather system causing the poor idling or on the other hand it may be down to a distorted mixture screw. Take it out, examine it and renew if required. You will have to get the mixture reset for mot but you can get it nearly right by ear when the car runs sweetest. 19psi seems a bit high for 165 bhp so i would consider a look at the intercooler as well. |
| ID: 1214 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: Gets hot under load! Question: When I put my foot down the temperature guage seems to go right up, I can't really drive it on a motorway because at a constant 70-80mph the turbo is in and the temperature rises, and it takes a while for it to come back down, why is this? Answer: I would say either the radiator is partially blocked or you have a problem with poor quality fuel. Try flushing and refilling the cooling system, not forgetting to bleed it properly. If this doesn't work, fill up the tank with real 4 star if you can find it or with super unleaded/optimax and maybe even an octain booster to see if this cures the problem. |
| ID: 1215 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: Oil Pressure Question: Hi Wiz, I noticed that the oil pressure guage is reading Maximum. It used to sit on three or four when driving and drop to about two when idle. It now sits at a constant 6 or 5 when driving but doesnt drop lower when at idle. I just changed the oil in the hope it might just be a blockage. Should it do this. Could it be a blockage or something like that.. Many thanks Steve Keating Answer: It could be a faulty gauge or sender or are you now using thicker oil? |
| ID: 1216 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: gear changing Question: iam having massive prob wiv changing gear,when me car runs cold its ok but when it gets hot it idles at very low revs and sumtimes stalls and i cant get it into 1st or 2nd but most of all reverse.how do i no 4 sure if its the gear box or clutch without takin them off to check them??? Answer: This is quite a common problem that seems to have many uncommon fixes! First i would check the condition of the engine/gearbox mounts. Next try changing the oil in the gearbox making sure you have a quality gear oil in there. If this doesn't work, try adjusting the gear linkage. If there is still no joy you can add a spacer to the clutch cable to shorten it in case it has stretched or fit a new cable with the later type pedal quadrant from Renault. If you are still having problems then i would think it was internal gearbox as if it was the clutch it would most likely slip on boost as well. Loads of things to try there i hope one of them works before the new gearbox!!!!! |
| ID: 1217 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: Knock/Pinking Sensor Question: Wiz mate, I've just bought a knock sensor and have been told to plug it in near no.2 and then to somewhere on the bulkhead.....I can see where I plug it in near no.2 but I dont have a clue where on the bulkhead it goes. Also where it goes in theres already something there that runs to the carb......do I disconnect that? And what is it? Cheers, Ben Answer: You will need to plug it into the spare slot in the ignition module. If the car is a phase 1 it will reach as it is but if its a phase 2 then you will need an extension piece that plugs onto the sensor wire and then goes through the bulkhead before plugging into the ignition module. |
| ID: 1218 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: wheels for the five Question: I have 15 inch venoms on my five which when turning on full lock touch the body and rub the tyre on the inside. It does not do it much but i thought these cars could run on 15's. The car is has been lowered but not by lots and it has spacers on the front. Does this mean the off set is wrong, if so how do you tell what the off set of the wheel is so i can sell them to someone with the right car, also what is the correct off set for the renault. The tyre size is 195/50/15. Thanks very much Answer: I think you have answered your own problem with the last sentance. You will have to fit 195/45/15's to prevent rubbing. The offset may be wrong as well. It should be 35mm and will be written somewhere on the inside of the wheel usually. |
| ID: 1219 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: More power 2 Question: Wiz , Sorry about the lack of info to the previous question .Iam running about 20-22 psi on full boost i also have a gt tuning actuator etc etc .Any idea of the sort of power it should be kicking out as i havent had time to get it rolling roaded.Seems to run fine though, except for when you start from cold ,ticks over well for 5mins then seems to stall for a while.Any ideas thanks Answer: Any more than the boost you are running and you could be looking at blow ups due to fuel quality. I would suggest a group A carb and maybe uprated fuel pump with a full set up for the jets. A full service of ignition componants with new plugs, leads, rotor arm and dizzy cap if these are not fairly new wouldn't hurt and the rolling road setup would probably show any faults. |
| ID: 1220 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: featured cars Question: wiz, i you any idea of when the car feature will conclude as iam dying to get my car there thanx add Answer: The car section has not been updated lately as the new website has a different format meaning you will be able to update your own car page. I have no deffinate time scale for the new site to be launched but i know Mark the webmaster is working flat out on it. |
| ID: 1221 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: reliable power Question: Hi wizz could you please tell me what is about the highest BHP or psi you can run on a gtt whilst keeping the car as reliable and driveable as possible when is it time to flow/strap the intercooler or move uo to an alloy intercooler, is it better to switch to a hybrid turbo than simply just to wind up the boost on a standard unit,when do you have to re-jet the carb,I know the are loads of different options available what combination of things would work well together whilst staying sensible.as it`s all a minefield to me with different types of hybrids single/twin core intercoolers I dont want to get too technical with charge cooling etc just nice reliable power many thanks Nick............ Answer: In my opinion you can run up to about 16psi on a standard turbo with a strapped and flowed intercooler, decent exhaust and a decent air filter(either standard type replacement or cone filter) This will give around 150-160 bhp on a good car but may well need jets changing to prevent leaning of the mixture. I know a few cars running 20psi on a mid range hybrid with an alloy intercooler with the above bits that produce about 170-180 bhp and have never broken down or blown a head gasket!!! If you have a well serviced and looked after engine as a base you should be fine. |
| ID: 1222 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: The penny drops Question: Hi Wiz, Thanks for the answer. I have just put mobil 1 15/50 oil in it.. I was using 10/40 before.. You are truly the man in the know... Thanks Steve Keating Answer: My Pleasure! Do call again! |
| ID: 1223 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: SINGLE OR DOUBLE? Question: HI, IM LOOKING OUT FOR AN ALLOY INTERCOOLER BUT IVE BEEN TOLD I SHOULD BUY A SINGLE INSTED OF AN DOUBLE!? I HAVE A STG 1 HYBRID SET AT 14PSI BUT I CAN TURN IT UP !!! CAN YOU HELP? MANY THANKS KEN! Answer: I would say for your spec the single would be more than adequate and is sooooo much cheaper! |
| ID: 1224 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: HEAD GASKET Question: i want to put an uprated headgasket on my car. do you normally have to get the head skimmed and can you slide the new gasket in without moving the head completely out? Answer: The cylinder head has to come completely off as it will need to be cleaned off and checked for flatness. Even if the head gasket has not actually blown the head could be slightly warped. A very minor skim would be benificial to give a good flat surface without making a real difference to the compression ratio. I would recommend keeping the standard gasket if it is in good condition and not leaking. Save the uprated one for if it actually goes. |
| ID: 1225 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: the need for speed Question: wiz, my question is this, i want me five to be quicker than bloody fast, its had virtually all normal mods, adjustable boost(16psi) spider valve, grp a carb, clutch, koni suspension, strut brace, brakes, dump valve(blitz), vector cone piperx induction kit and scorpion exhaust, alloy intercooler and gttuning stage 1 hybrid its was 150bhp and 169 ftlbs torque@ 16psi, before the carb, i really want to get upto about 170/190 bhp, what do you suggest, personally i'd like a bigger turbo but that means uprated head gasket, which would lower the compression, and f*ck up the car. what about gasflowing and cam how much bhp from this!!!!! what can you suggest i do as i am at a loose end, oh and sorry for droning on. Answer: A standard head gasket can cope with up to about 20+ psi as long as the fuelling is correct. An uprated gasket will only lower the compression ratio by a miniscure amount and won't f*ck anything up. So if you don't want to take the head off don't! More boost equals more power but so does more flow! A bigger turbo which can cope with 20-25psi every day would be a good purchase as it will flow more air as well as produce more boost if required. Gasflowing and cams make a massive amount of difference to a normally aspirated engine but not so much to a turbo car as the air is forced in anyway. It will give you a bit more power and probably use less fuel unless you go for a big cam. Expect no more than 10-20 bhp from a head and cam. Last but by no means least the jets will have to be checked to keep this little lot together. |
| ID: 1226 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: actuator Question: is there much difference in fitting an uprated actuator on my turbo. there is only a standard one at the moment. the turbo is standard as well Answer: A standard turbo doesn't need an uprated actuator unless the old one is tired and going weak. It may hold higher boost levels steadier but is not really worth the money on a standard turbo. |
| ID: 1227 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: Front Splitters Question: Im after a good quality front splitter to fit to my standard front bumper, however most that I have seen are cheap looking plastic items; can you recommend anyone? Answer: There are a number of splitter types on the market. RGM do a quality plastic set, A&J Tuning do a full width one in GRP if i remember correctly and various others are around. Try searching the larger retailer websites in the styling or bodykit sections. |
| ID: 1228 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: sparks from the starter Question: i recently fitted a new engine to my car. i wired up all the components in the engine bay as normal and got all hoses rigged up, right, ready to fire. NO, the starter starts spitting out sparks when i connect the battery terminals. All the wires seem fine and i only have 1 thick wire on my starter with 1 thin one with a plastic connector on the end. Also, there is no sign of life in any electrical appliance in the car. F-all Could all this be due to a knackered starter? it is one i got with the engine and it looked fairly clean and noticed a sticker on it saying it had been rebuilt. I should have put my old one in!! Please help, sick of walking!!!!!!!! Answer: I think you will find that you have left off a main positive lead from the starter. You should have one from the battery to the starter and one from the alternator to the starter. |
| ID: 1229 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: smoke!! Question: Dear Wiz, hope you can help my phase 2 gtt has a problem its recently had an oil change and since then i get clouds of grey smoke not all the time and only when its been ticking over for a minute or so its always aloud to warm up and cool down. thanks for any help you can give. biggsy... Answer: Is the oil that you used thinner than the old stuff? It sounds like the oil is getting past somewhere that was previously sealed. Did you use an oil flush? This could have removed some carbon that was making a seal somewhere. |
| ID: 1230 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: 200bhp, how? Question: I think my turbo is great, the rush I get from it when I first bought it was great. Until an Uno Turbo went past me like I was parked. The guy driving claims he has got close to 200BHP. I want to surprise him and fly past him. How do I go about getting 200bhp. And how much do you reckon it will cost? I've got about £2000 to spend. Help this guy needs to be taught a lesson. Answer: I would suggest talking to one of the tuners about a deal on a load of parts but here is a list of suggestions: All prices are examples and not set in stone! T25 Hybrid turbo (£600) Stage 3 gasflowed head/manifolds and uprated head gasket set(£500) 2 1/4"" Exhaust system and cross pipe (£230) Induction kit (£70) Alloy intercooler (£275) Group A carb kit (£100) Uprated fuel pump (£150) Other parts like plugs, leads, carb rebuild kit, dump valve etc (£250) Around £2000 there but you may well get some discount for a bulk buy. This should put you well on the way to thrashing any Uno Turbo!!! |
| ID: 1231 | Date: Archive | Member: Archive | Wizard: Archive |
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Subject: Blowing exhaust Question: Hi Wiz, Back again for another installment!!! I am under the impression that if u block the exhaust pipe at the back of the car-it should stall.....'???? Well mine doesnt so i would assume that i have a leak in the exhaust near the manifold as i can always see gases leaking out. BUT what sort of effect will this have on the engines performance as it is now shuddering under boost and doesnt seem to fly as well as it used to........ Is this a good excuse to get a performance exhaust system etc???? Cheers. Answer: Perfect excuse to get a new performance exhaust (2 1/4"" or 2 1/2"" if you intend to go for big power!) but i would suggest a new genuine renault manifold gasket as well (about £13) as this may well be the problem. |