ok fellas, my buddy's 87 turbo II, after an incident with boosting too high, is lacking lots of power. from what he describes to me, the car just seems to be lagging in power all around, from moving from a standstill to highway speeds, even when not boosting. he checked and replaced all the hoses and its still occuring. what do you guys think may be the problem. turbo? engine was rebuilt like about 6 months ago. couldn't be the engine, can it? anything will help.

 

How many miles on it? Did he break it in properly?

 

Does it idle funny?
Do a quick an dirty compression test?
It sounds like the motor is blown.
Why did it overboost in the first place???


-Ted

 

sounds like he is missing a few apex seals

 

I concur..... I think if you take the turbo off, you are going to find nicks and chunks take out of the turbine wheel as the apex seals decided to head for a party in the muffler packing

 

 

Hmm sounds like what they said but maybe check for a boost leak some where.

 

i just came back from checking the car out....has bout 123,xxx or was 1t 132,xxx miles...anyway around there. i only have an NA so i gotta ask this question. how high is the oil gauge supposed to be on the turboII. his was at almost 100 and stayed there for quite a while from startup, no driving. exhaust has a really strong gas smell. when driving, the car just didn't have power to move the car from stop signs and when the car is actually in motion, like i said before, just no power when he steps on the gas. feels worse then my old automatic civic. well maybe not that bad, but pretty close. i really hope its something that is not very expensive to fix.

 

checked the turbo and it was just totally messed up. i don't know much about turbos but that turbo in the car did not look like a running turbo. the turbine inside was all messed. i guess he says if he can fix it without losing an arm and a leg then he will but if not, he will just part the car out...its full of HKS stuff...bov, straight exhaust, 3 inch downpipe...stuff like that..too bad i don't have any money otherwise i'd buy it off of him and fix it up. so far, don't know if the turbo is the only thing wrong. there doesn't seem to be any sound coming from the engine so i am really hoping nothing is wrong with the engine. i would hate to see him part it out. what's a reasonable turbo replacement for an 87 Turbo II? something under 1500 or something.

 

Do you know if the car had a Fuel Cut Defender on it before he put the exhaust on it? Without the FCD, the car will cut fuel to the rear rotor at boost over 8.5 psi. If the turbo is the only problem, you should be able to find a good used S4 turbo on the forum for $100-350, perhaps more. Look in the classifieds on here, or check ebay. Do a compression test like RETed said to do. Were there any metal fragments in the turbine?

 

i think there were metal fragments in the turbine. i think he does have a feul cut defender installed. thanks, i'll what we can do with it.

 

Would the absence of a FCD cause fragments in the turbine?

 

no, the absense of an FCD prevents fragments in the turbine.

Steve

 

i guess i should update the situation for everyone. my buddy took it in to get it checked at a local shop, mazda specialist. one of my cousin works at the place. messed up apex seal. i guess boosting too high does that to you. anyway, he's getting it rebuilded there for $2500, which includes them taking the engine out, rebuilding, new hose for everything, and installation, plus a three year warranty. sounds like a good deal to me. the head mechanic, shop owner i think is an OG japanese guy. seems pretty cool.