So I got an FD knowing that she was going to need some TLC. That's cool, I can work on it, it's mostly cosmetic. Kind of a bad paint job and a monster dent in the driver's side door skin. A week after I get it the boost gauge drops to zero as I reach the transition point.... this is not happening. So I pop the hood and try to make my way through the rats nest to see what's going on. My roomate's friend who has some beastly kind of FD arrives to take a look. I start the car up and walk around to the engine bay and there's one small little sliver of smoke rising through the hoses.... this is not happening. "Turbo's shot man."..... Damn it. So now I'm looking for a new TT assembly. How hard of a job is this going to be to replace it? I'm fairly handy with cars, but I've never delt with turbos before and I don't want to **** anything up. I searched and found a how-to, but the pictures for it are no longer hosted. What do you guys think? Take it to a shop?

 

welcome..and good..luck...ive heard good and bad...im going to have to do the same here in a bit...when i get my BNR's. but do a write up if u can....

 

How do you know it's blown turbos? Just from your friends comments?

It could be as simple as a blown coupler.

Check out the stickies for turbo troubleshooting tips before you assume it's the turbos.

 

I don't see how a blown coupler would have anything to do with oil getting burned up in the turbo?

 

What you have is some secondary boost issues. There are some good links in the FAQs on how to troubleshoot and fix this and lots of good threads as well. Search for secondary boost or search on your boost pattern 10-0-0. Actually there is a thread in the Advanced Tech section about this as well. It's probably a solenoid or vac hose that needs to be replaced.

A small sliver of smoke doesn't mean your turbos are shot. If they were you'd be seeing LOTS of smoke out the tailpipe, not out of the rats nest. You could however have a leaky fuel pulsation dampener (FPD) and that sliver of smoke could be fuel smoldering....

 

if it is shot then go to rx7store.net to start, look at the stickies first, they have a bunch of links to different sites that you will need to find factory replacement parts.

 

A blown coupler COULD let oil (a small amount is normally present in the air from the turbos, even when they are OK) drip on something hot and cause smoke.

 

If you end up having to replace them, here is a good reference:

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/non-sequential.html

 

^ Thanks for that. After reading the faqs on troubleshooting the turbos I've decided it's more than I want to get into. I broke down and took it to the stealership today and hopefully they won't **** it up more than it already is. Pray for her guys.

 

oh god no....

 

OH ****!! You really should have had a certified rotary mechanic look at it, the stealership is a big risk and an expensive one. They usually don't know **** about the FD. You can get new turbos for the car for a couple grand, then have them installed. That might have been a better option.

 

Anybody in SC, that can help this guy out with a Rotary Shop, after you find one have them tow it immediately there, DO NOT HAVE THE STEALERSHIP WORK ON THE CAR, PERIOD. Check some threads on what happens to people that take these cars to dealership. One I read the place caused the engine to blow. Can you say Lawsuit. I hope this doesn't happen to you. I have been scared and would never do it.

 

I don't get it? Take it apart. Unless the housing is cracked then most likely they are rebuildable.

 

I haven't told them to fix or replace anything, just to tell me what's wrong with it. Hopefully they can complete this without blowing my engine. But yes, I definitely need the number to a good rotary shop in SC. Hopefully in the upstate, but I can drive down to wherever too.

 

go to the regional forums. there should be a list there

 

The odds are very good that they will give you some exorbitant estimate ($4000 turbos + $100 new hardware + $200 gaskets + 8 hr x $80/hr = $5000) and it won't be the problem.

To see if they are blown turbos, I suggest you search and find the answers like this:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...t=blown+turbos
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...t=blown+turbos
So if you're getting oil smoke out the tailpipe under heavy acceleration, then you can safely say your turbos are shot. Usually, turbos not boosting are a control system issue - not necessarily easy to diagnose, but usually not expensive to fix.

There are other possibilities. One common one is leaking of the turbo coolant hoses (which they sometimes do before bursting altogether) that dribbles onto the hot turbos and smoke. Also a fire risk to be taken seriously. Coolant smoke looks white and smells sweet, oil smoke is bluish.

Dave

 

Damn, I feel bad for you. Seeing people take their rx-7 to a dealership is like watching someone standing on the edge of a bridge getting ready to jump...they no doubt have that feeling in the back of their mind that they probably shouldn't do this, and there are other people yelling for them not to do it, but they do it anyway, and it just ruins everyone's day.

I second that your turbos are probably not "blown" rather it's just a sequential control system. Either find the source of the problem or just do poorman's nonsequential until you make a decision.

 

Get the BNR stage 3's they are PWN in every respect compared to the 99spec twins and stock twins research them a bit =)
also http://www.gothamracing.com/catalog/...roducts_id=736
they are cheaper than most other turbos too