carb-cleaner finds major vac. leak!!! (Hybrid turbo nightmare Ch. III)
 

Last Saturday I got to experience what a hybrid turbo running 13 psi is all about... Fast.

Sadly though, my glimpse of glory was short-lived, as the next day as I was attempting to find a better source of vac. for my BOV, my TII crapped out on me. I was on a test-drive to see if the new source worked, when after several trips to redline, my car died when 'winding down'.

I pulled over and re-started it, but much to my dismay the idle was now TERRIBLE.

I jerked my way home and parked it. Where I then proceeded to check all the vac. lines, intercooler pipes and hoses and upon finding nothing, removed the UIM to give a more thorough inspection. Nothing.

I bought all new intercooler clamps, re-did a bunch of my vac. lines and still, the car would pull around '9' vac. press. at a crappy 1500RPM idle.

In my last thread I was offered a bunch of insightful suggestions by you people, after I was ready to tear my motor down and re-re-rebuild it just because I could think of nothing else to trouble-shoot.

One of the suggestions was to spray 'carb cleaner' on different vac. lines/sources to see if I could get the idle to change. If it did, then I had located a vac. leak.

Well, I just pulled the car out of the garage after resetting my timing (to no effect) and started spraying carb-cleaner all over the place... WELL, upon spraying it on the drivers side of my stock TMIC, I was suprised when the idle JUMPED up and smoothed out!!!! I then remembered that before 'test driving' my car, I had noticed that the 'elbow' (or whatever the inlet duct on the bottom of the IC is called) was slightly bent out of shape... THIS HAD TO BE THE CAUSE OF MY LEAK!!!

I sprayed it again with carb-cleaner, and the idle again jumped up and smoothed out!

I pulled off my TMIC and inspected it, sure enough the underside inlet nipple was slightly bent up, so I tried my best to straighten it out (not very easy), but then I coated part of it and the IC hose that plugs onto it with a liberal amount of RTV (I don't care if it never comes off) and partially tightened it down. Right now I'm waiting for the RTV to cure more, then I'm going to fully tighten it down, start the car and see if the leak is gone.

Was this a good idea for fixing it? Or does anyone have a better suggestion?

The alluminum is so soft, that the more I try and bend it back in shape, the worse it gets.

OWW!!!

I'll post the results in a few minutes.

BTW, after I bought all new clamps for the IC hoses, I tightened them REALLY tight, but if the lower IC inlet was already bent up, tightening it down TOO much could've been more of a problem than a solution!

yup that was me that said to spray the carb cleaner for leaks

well, I think everything's ok... I tightened the IC clamp down and started it. The idle was still bad, but not AS bad. I drove it around hard and then after letting it idle for a bit, the idle got BETTER!!! I think that the RTV softened up a little after heating up and 'filled' in any gaps from the hose to the IC inlet (or outlet) duct.

It pulls around 12 'vac' at a 875 RPM idle.

I cant wait for chapter 4. Hopefully it will be the happy ending where the T2 drives perfect forever.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...7&page=2&pp=15

i love it when people take credit for other people's suggestions.... :p:

it's ok though, i don't mind as long as i know i am helping someone. ;)




keep at it until you get it where you feel happy with it erik, may be some minor leaks in the system still that you haven't found yet. at least it idles, 13in/hg aint bad for idle vacuum on a cold engine really.

i would still suggest replacing the TID with a custom one, they are simple to make and the turbo will spool quicker and it should not crack causing these headaches anytime soon as the stock TIDs tend to do.


how do i know about TID issues? it is the pipe that takes most of the engine torque and fails the soonest. you can be driving fine one minute and idling like crap the next. don't ask me how many times i have had to repair intake ducts on not only my car but other people's.

lol, thanks for the reply Karack. You've been a huge help... Pretty much, you're the man, lol!

I'm going to be looking into getting a FMIC and TID sometime very soon.

I just bought a vert... (yikes)

i saw the thread, looks like you got this poblem fixed just in time, lol.

not even the same thread......

lol...

So my TMIC is garbage. My RTV mod failed after a few hours of driving and began leaking vac/boost. SO, the idle got terrible and I parked it. The COOL thing is, I know what the problem is and it's a relatively cheap and super easy fix (find a used TMIC).

I'll probably find a TMIC today and use it temporarily until I get a FMIC next, next weekend.

So if the RTV failed clean the leaking area really well and epoxy it. JB Weld will take some time to cure, but it will be there nearly forever. Or better yet take the intercooler off and have it welded.

Here's a trick that might help you "fix" your bent pipe...

Get a pipe that can fit inside the IC inlet.
I would use a rubber mallet first just to be on the safe side.
Secure the pipe (in a vice) to keep it from rolling.
Bang the IC inlet with the pipe on the inside as a mandrel.

If you're lucky, you can get it relatively round.

Good luck!


-Ted