xr_velocity

The next step for me is to get a dump pipe flange for the turbo exhaust, get a plate welded onto it to make it airtight and the run my test again...except this time keeping the intake in the throttle body as the stop will be at the exhaust side of the turbo this time. This will let me test the intake and exhuast sides of the turbo, including intake and exhaust manifolds.

I gathered some parts to get some boost leak testing happening today. I have a very loud whistle/whine sound on spool up which is not from faulty turbo bearings as I have replaced the turbo core recently. So all things point to a boost leak which I suspect is from around the turbo exhaust housing. But I wanted to make sure that the intake was not causing the problem. 1. I got out the air compressor, bought a Ryco 154 oil filter and drilled a hole in the top to which I screwed in an air compressor fitting along with an air tap and using some sikaflex stuck it in so it would be air tight. I hose clamped on a 3" silicone straight hose and then hose clamped that to the under battery intake. YOu don't have to use an oil filter, but it was the right size and all I could find. 2. I then unplugged the breather hose from the rocker cover, shoved a 3/8" socket extension up it and hose clamped it to get it air tight. 3. I bought a can of tuna, undid the inlet from the throttle body, put the tuna can in the silicone inlet and hose clamped it on...made sure to push the can right in there so the strong rim was being clamped down on...the rest of the tin will just crush.....an oil filter of the right size would have been better, approx 80mm...but I couldn't be bothered going back to Supers%^t Auto. In hindsight something more solid like an oil filter would have made a much better plug as I struggled to get a good seal with the tuna can...next time. 4. Turn on compressor, open up the tap on the home made inlet to your boost tester and let about 25-30 psi into the intake system. 5. Listen for a hissing noise...obviously this will be an air leak. Get some soapy water and a spray bottle and spray it on the entire intake....any leaks will start to bubble. You can see the bubbles in the pic below Unfortunately this did not fix my problem, but it did uncover a couple of leaks which should not be there. Since turbo cars have a sealed, pressurised intake system, it should be checked occasionally for leaks. I found one leak in a faulty weld in my intercooler end tank and another in the fitting which screws into the under battery intake which connects to the rocker cover breather. I fixed the breather hose with some teflon tape.

That is one of the easiest ones, you get in there with a ratchet and extension bar with a universal joint at the socket end. It's a breeze when you have those tools. You just slide it in under the turbo.

Hi all, I wanted to give Gearbox Logistics in Prestons NSW a plug after giving me some great service and excellent workmanship. I have had flywheel bolts come loose 2 times now due to mechanics not knowing what they are doing. So I start ringing around some local mechanics and transmission shops, I keep hearing, "It can't be the flywheel bolts, just bring it down and we'll pull it apart nad have a look". But could not give me any info on their knowledge of the car or their expertise in the area...just the usual bring it down. So I finally find Gearbox Logistics in Prestons NSW. Speak to the owner Bill and I tell him what I think it is and why and he rattles on for 20 minutes about if it is that how to possibly fix it, his experience etc. Anyway, he comes across as someone with in depth knowledge on the subject so I get the car towed down there. The flywheel needed machining as it was moving around because of lose flywheel bolts, pressure plate and clutch plate stuffed. Mal Wood steps in and I get recoed pressure plate and clutch plate and some great advice. Gearbox Logistics drill in larger 8mm dowels on the flywheel for locating the pressure plate (standard is 5mm) and drill out crank bolt holes on the flywheel as they had been damaged from the movement, they search for some bolts to fit the new sized hole, ended up with a combination of ARP bolts and Volkswagen Golf shanks to fit the new sized holes. Drills holes through the bolt heads and tie wires the bolts on the flywheel together so they can never come loose again. See the pics attached. They even washed the car for me. Their rates are very good and they itemise the invoice so you know exactly what you paid for and how much you paid for it. The car drives better now than it ever has. My flywheel must have been lose for at least a year, a knocking noise that I had in the car which I thought was suspension noise has now gone.... it was actually the noise of the flywheel moving around. I would recommend them to anyone who needs some clutch or manual gearbox work in NSW. I have walked away very happy with their work and level of service.

1 point, but 44 new mobile speed cameras with a sign 50 meters from it's location. You can guarantee yourselves that when the Libs win the state election in March they will keep them even though they have been critical of them. They are all addicted to the money, nothing new in that statement. Just look at Water and Electricity prices in NSW, they are government owned and yet they act like they have no control over the pricing! These cameras are the same, even if the road toll rises they will bring out some stats showing how good and effective they are. Just look at Victoria, their road toll is up and they are the most revenue hungry of all the states from cameras....yet the cameras are still justified. I have always said more Highway Patrol Police, they would pay their own wages in fining people for unsafe driving, get the tailgaters, right lane hogs etc. Once people are pounded into submission for road ethics rather than road cameras, watch the attitude of drivers change and the road toll come down. Attitude causes people to do some stupid sh!t. The government fruit loops in NSW have done some good by making some offences incur no demerit point loss though. That is a good change.

Only if it stays under your bonnet....the Super Roo was V8 powered.

PM sent

HI all, I am after a standard turbo exhaust housing for a BA XR6. Needs to be the stock sized wastegate port in it as I don't want a retune. Thanks.

Perhaps I should rephrase my question. What are some causes of turbo whine that people have come across in their experience that does not involve wheels hitting housings or bearing issues?

One last thing I will add is that the whine is far more noticeable on spool up and spool down and constant high load boost ie when cruising down the freeway in a high gear and boosting, it is very constant there.

Hi all, A little while ago I attended a track day where after about the 3rd session on a few laps on my oil light came on, I believe due to overheated oil. Anyway I backed off and let it cool down. Then a few days later I noticed a very loud turbo whine which was directly related to boost, the more load and boost the more whine there was. For example, when idling, cruising, off boost there was no whine. When coming on boost the whine would start, very much a high pitched whine, certainly not just a turbo whistle, I know what that sounds like. At first the whine only happened when the turbo was cold, when it was hot it would stop whining. It is now a constant whine whether hot or cold when on boost. So I changed the turbo cartridge as there was about 1-2mm of in and out shaft play (none up and down), neither intake or exhaust wheels had touched the housing. Whine is still there. But what I did notice is 3 cracks around the bolt holes in the rear housing when I pulled it apart, there may have been more around the housing, I'm not sure. Put it all back together with new cartridge and sure enough the whine is still there. Check for loose intake hoses etc, can't find anything. Power, turbo lag etc all seems the same when driving. I have removed the filter from the turbo line and tested that there is more tan enough oil flow through the oil line by sticking the turbo end of the line into a bottle. Filled the bottle in a few seconds. I do not seem to have a boost leak in the intake, blow off valve still making the same sounds as usual and is making plenty of noise like it is dumping a lot of pressure when I close the throttle. My question is, where is the whine coming from? My guess would be the rear housing causing the whine given it is definitely not bearing related.

Will be hitting Eastern Creek November 9th. I have noticed that the poly bushes in the front does make bumps a bit harsher,

I am getting a new Billet turbo cartridge with ceramic bearings for just under $1000. It pays to know someone who works at an auto store. Just a front wheel will cost you bugger all as long as you take the turbo off yourself. Try GCG in Condell Park, factor in new studs and gaskets as well, you will need them. Don't reuse your studs, they will come loose.

PCAnywhere is overweight and always has been. Radmin was a very good tool a few years back, not sure about now. RealVNC I have found to be a good tool and never really have dramas with the latest version. But, RDP native to Windows is the easiest and most hassle free method. You can also change the port number RDP uses through the registry to be a little more secure. But, if you are going to leave yourself open to the internet with a service like this....I would be securing your laptop. Make sure you have a firewall installed on that laptop, even better would be a 3G router with firewall instead of a 3G card if you can.

Forgot to mention, I have not noticed any more noise in the car due to the stiffer bushes, but I have not had the car up to highway speeds either. Tottling around town shows zero difference in NVH.

Driving to work this morning, the whole 3km trip anyway, the steering immediately felt lighter than previously no doubt due to the extra camber in the front. The front end definitely felt a hell of a lot more glued to the road. A 90 degree bend coming in to work I will normally hit at 55 and understeer mid corner was now gripping all the way through so much so that I could even steer further into the corner, the front end has so much more grip it is like chalk and cheese. I have no doubt it is attributable to the bushes and the alignment. The rear end still just follows the front wherever it wants to go. Obviously a 3km drive at residential speeds is not going to really tell the story of these changes, but so far it is a huge improvement. Can't wait for the next track day to really get some heat in those tires and give it a bash. Thanks to all who have given advice. I will update this thread once I have hit the track again.

Haha, I wish!. I need to get the turbo cartridge rebuilt and an oil cooler before I can get back to the track :( Last time the oil pressure dropped off and the oil light came on in the midday session on about the 4th lap at the end of the straight at the creek. Oil probably got too hot and thinned out dropping pressure. There is bugger all info on engine oil coolers on this site that I can find. Will have to wing it.

Bushes all fitted. Max camber on the front was 1.2, couldn't get anymore than that with stock control arm mounts. A small amount of toe in.

Thanks for your help. I am getting the bushes fitted today then the alignment. I have asked them to get as much camber into it as they can up to -2, with a little toe in, they also suggested a little more caster to pull the wheels into the way the car is turning. Rear I asked for -1 camber and 0.5mm toe per side. Might need different upper control arm mounts on the front to achieve the camber I want. Shall soon find out though.

This is what Whiteline have to say about alignment on a BA I6: Wheel alignment settings are of critical importance on any car and it seems Ford has all the settings pretty well sorted. Front castor is left factory-standard (at a fairly generous 7.5 degrees) as is camber (at about -1.0 degrees), but Whiteline elect to change from 0.5mm toe-in per side to neutral. This improves turn-in response. At the rear, camber remains at -1.0 degrees while toe-in is reduced from 1.5mm per side to 0.5mm per side. Again, this enables quicker direction change response. Jim says the Ford has quite good front-end geometry that exhibits minimal bump-steer. "For 20mm of compression, the front-end toes-in by an extra 0.5mm." At the rear, however, 30mm of compression gives another 1.5mm toe-in, which is partly responsible for a counter-steer effect that Jim says is common to late-model Ford Falcons. I was looking to try to get -2 to -2.5 camber in the front, standard caster and 0mm Toe in. The rear to have 1.0mm camber, 0.5mm toe in the quote above. All I have done is increase the camber on the front using whitelines settings, but I have no idea how more camber on the front affects toe in etc. So this is really an uneducated guess. Would this be an acceptable set up with also removing the rear sway bar?

I am certainly going to do some more reading on this as I really only have a limited understanding. So moving to the stiffer front sway bar has also brought more understeer at the same alignment settings, so why not go back to the stock bar with the stiffer springs and shocks that are on the car now? Is this also an option? I know the car feels a lot flatter now though through corners with the fatter front bar. Less body roll is supposed to be better yes? I am far more inclined to remove the rear bar now and see how that affects the front. Though I will do that after an alignment at Pedders to gauge how each change feels. Do it all at once and I won't understand what has done what. A stiffer rear bar is going to move more weight to the front when shifting weight in a corner? Hence taking weight off the rear? So in theory going to the stock front bar would have similar effect?

The spring rates are not too high, seat of the pants is a little firmer than stock. Tyre wear on the rear looked very even, tyre wear on the front was all on the outer edge, chunks falling off! I will try the sway bar with a more aggressive alignment then.

How much neg camber can you get out of the stock parts? You have mentioned more neg camber in the rear...is this adjustable stock or need a kit to do so? Not sure on spring rates, will try find out today.

Thanks all. I am definitely not hitting the corners too fast, I was actually going in slow and still understeering. I didn't check the hot pressure, first time on a track day so that is something I have learnt! I will get myself a pressure gauge before the next one. Front wheels are only 8 inches, they were probably so overinfalted with the heat I had a small contact patch on the road. I will give the rear bar a shot, will cost me bugger all cost price $95 is a great price for a real alignment, if Pedders don't know what they are talking about (the alignment is included with the steering boot change), I will get it down to you for sure Senna. Heasmans charged me $180 last time! I was at EC on a Friday, not Mon or Wed. It was a private practise day with the ARDC. Not bad I thought, $95 for the day with membership.

How much do you guys do a proper alignment for? I have heard mixed feelings about a bigger rear sway bar on these cars. What's the reason for going larger on the rear?