Hey guys, quick question. I had my motor rebuilt in December and its now February. I notice after i drive my turbo is glowing red. And it glows after only boosting to 5psi(I can boost to 12psi when needed hehe) 2 times in like a 30 minute drive. Anyone have any idea wtf the problem is?

Thanks

 

I was under the impression that this is normal.

 

Its not normal when you barely get on it in a 15 minute drive. I sustained 5psi for maybe 5 seconds in that drive.

 

I'm running into a similar situation. Can't see the turbo but the heat shields are turning brown and I know it is getting real hot. My motor is also a rebuild and did not use new housings.

Here's what I think is happening. Somebody pipe in if you think otherwise.

Since I also have a new rebuild, the motor is slowly building itself up in compression. This means I am currently running below normal compression and suspect that the motor is unable to completely burn the fuel. Basically the ECU is injecting the right amount for a good engine -- not one building compression. So in essence I am running rich and really can't do much about it except break in the engine and that will take time and miles. That extra fuel is getting burnt late in the cycle and in the turbo.

I am also running 93 octane--thought this would be helpful since I don't have the hood scoop on yet. Anyway, I'm going to reduce the octane to make the fuel burn quicker and hopefully more of it in the engine. First I'll try 89 octane and if all is well go to 87--and yep that means lay off the boost--although I am already due to break in.

Scott

 

check your timing.

 

Been there done that.

 

Not too positive on this but it is usually unburnt fuel which will heat up the exhaust.

Most likely there is too much fuel being spewed out the engine.

A compression thing like above could cause it.
A leaky injector could also do it(did you get them cleaned or just reuse them when rebuilding?)
Timing another tyhing but you said no to that.

Or maybe it's a mix of all that.

Oh yeah! I didn't see your mods but a clogged exhaust will heat up. A bad cat can wreak havoc.

 

Not normal for that amount of driving... Not normal at all.

I can do 15 PSI pulls, up and down the street, and my turbo wont glow AT ALL..

ITs unburned gas getting out into the exhaust... Any flames when driving?

 

of course its glowing red you just cant see it during the daytime... night time is a whole diff story. its normal, he didnt say how red however...

 

he made it sound like it's humming pretty red so i don't think that's too normal. I'm with the opinion that it's extra fuel.

 

Injectors have all been cleaned. And at night i can see the turbo housing glow red. Not so red that it looks like its gonna explode but still pretty red.
On the Flames question, no not too many flames. I mean get them when i am goin on it above 4K RPM but but not when i am just cruisin and boostin to 5psi.

I think i read somewhere it could be because i am running lean or something? Could that be a problem?

Could it be because an oil line going to the turbo is clogged or something?

Oh and thanks for all the help so far guys! You all rock!

 

Sounds like a fuel problem. You're running rich, and you need to lean out the fuel mixture.

 

so would i retard the timing? Right now i have the timing set so i idle at 1500rpm. I think we set it that high because it was a new motor that was streetported and we just wanted it to run without having it die all the time.

 

I'm not really sure how to solve the problem, but do a search. Maybe this will help, I hope

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...=adjust+timing

 

NO, its not... I did a 2 block boost pull, parked in my driveway, and looked... No glow.. 10 PM at night.

NEXT!

 

what are your mods maybe that has something to do with it!?

i know for a fact that it IS normal... drive for 30 mins, like the fellow that started this thread stated and THEN and ONLY then jump out of your car and look at it... it will be red, the exhaust housing anyways...

 

Well, it never glowed red before i had my motor rebuild. So wtf? I used to be able to drive a helluva long time with tons of boost and pull over, pop the hood and the turbo wouldn't be glowing at all. My mods are in my sig.

 

what does ur A/F guage read when driving?

 

Do you have a CAT cause this may be hodling upp the heat flow out of the exhaust system and keeping it in the pipe

 

no cats. If you noticed in my sig, i have turbo back Racing Beat Exhaust.

 

check to make sure you have no restrictions in the exhaust as this can cause backpressure and heat up the turbo. Running rich as stated can cause this problem, what happens is the excess fuel when it hits the exhaust turbine will heat up and essential combust in the turbo, although this is great for spool up, it is very detrimental to the health and longevity of the turbo. How old is the turbo? Check to see if it has and shaft play in it, also if you have ever watched your turbo spool while in neutral, ie watch the compressor wheel spool, do it again and see if it is spooling slower, if you haven't seen it try and find someone that has, if it is spinning much slower than normal than you may need a rebuild. I have the same problem but mine needs a rebuild, and I have been running rich for a while now. Good luck and don't worry a rebuild is only 100 bucks I think so it's not too expensive.

- Steiner

 

had the same problem with the turbo after a 5min easy drive of never boosting over 8psi turbo would be red hot checked my timing and the bolt on the crank angle sensor was loose and was way advanced put it back to normal and some times get a very slight glow ater hard boost

 

Hey thanks TII, i'll check that out, also checkin one more thing out, i just posted something, has to do with spark plugs

 

Aren't exhaust gas temps increased when running lean? Perhaps when you're just cruising the motor is tuned on the lean side (as it would be) and so it starts to glow red. As you boost hard, a good tune would have you running slightly rich so it's not such a problem. EGTs come down, and the glowing doesn't happen.

I've recently noticed I'm having the exact same problem. I also got a good thorough tune recently. So that's what i've been thinking. I'm not too concerned with it, really.

I've also thought about checking my timing, because having it advanced too much, can also increase EGTs.

 

Well, the turbo glows red no matter if im boosting or not. so yeah im kinda up in the air tryin to think what the hell it is.