Turbo reliability?

Has overall reliability of your turbo'd car been siginificantly reduced since boost?

  • Yes - I have a BEGI/FM kit

    Votes: 4 21.1%
  • No - I have a BEGI/FM kit

    Votes: 3 15.8%
  • Yes - I have a Spool kit

    Votes: 2 10.5%
  • No - I have a Spool kit

    Votes: 5 26.3%
  • Yes - I have a custom kit

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No - I have a custom kit

    Votes: 5 26.3%

  • Total voters
    19

Kooldino

MOTM Winner Jan '09
Authorized Vendor
Contributor
:
MP3
Only reply if you have a turbo system installed...

Say "YES" if...
-you've had a major hardware malfunction
-you tinker with your car (due to the turbo system's effects) more than 1 hour a week on average
-you're not happy with little probelms like lumpy idle, etc

Also, feel free to discuss it all here...
 
Last edited:
Keep in mind that the installation is a big part of turbo reliability. It's also very difficult to judge installation quality online.

Our own P5 has been very reliable.

Keith
 
other then knocking due to a the stock system pulling fuel cuasing a need for the voltae clamp and a failing fuel pump. Not to mention you have a hell of alot more ability to tune the system then anyone else other then terry does.
 
It's a development car. Have we had to do development? Oh yes. Has it been unreliable? No.

We didn't release the kit until we had added the voltage clamp. We're not using anything to tune our car that is not included in our kits. Yes, we test it on the dyno, but the actual tuning is no different.

Keith
 
There is a difference becuase with your combined experience over there, there are situations and things you can completely aviod and pick up on much more easily then the first time turbo owner. Hell I have never heard knock but with the wya the car was setup up everyone under the sun said it was there, but I never heard it. That alone SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME.
 
Not to mention reliability doens't mean a complete failure just any time I have to go back into the garage to readjust diagnose or troubl;eshoot something else. Leaks are the big ones.
 
Keith@FP said:
Keep in mind that the installation is a big part of turbo reliability. It's also very difficult to judge installation quality online.

Our own P5 has been very reliable.

Keith

Agreed, but if the kit is designed better, it tends to be easier to install as well.
 
1st MP3 in NH said:
Not to mention reliability doens't mean a complete failure just any time I have to go back into the garage to readjust diagnose or troubl;eshoot something else. Leaks are the big ones.

You mean AIR/pressure leaks right?
 
Kooldino said:


Agreed, but if the kit is designed better, it tends to be easier to install as well.

No argument here. I'll use our Miata kits as an example here because of the very large pool. We can send a kit out and 85% of people will find it utterly reliable. The other 15% will have all sorts of problems with hoses blowing off, bad boost control, poor starting.... same kit. The difference is the installation. If something is installed backwards, or the wrong wires are tapped, or the call for 91 octane fuel is ignored, well, things go wrong.

Heck, I know someone who burned his stock Miata to the ground setting the ignition timing.

Keith
 
Kooldino said:


You mean AIR/pressure leaks right?

Some times, I had one at the beggining but got it worked out. The pain in the ass ones are the coolant leaks which I had to double up on clamps in some spots to aviod plus the hoses on my kit dyed and died quick so I kept getting coolant leaks. ALso I had a few leaks from the hardware pre installed on the turbo as I have noticed SMP is now having.

Not to mention there is still a coolant leak that I can not find but I can smell.

One of the Leaks was atualy ony occuring under hard driving so when you stopped and opened the hood you could see any leaks but everything was sprayed green, plus the fans kicked on and blew it everywhere, took 2 weeks to find.
 
D'OH!! I clicked the wrong answer!

No problems with my FP kit...The knock (that might still be present however not heard) is an MP3 thing, not a turbo kit deal.

And I know it was installed correctly:D
 
I had some issues to work out. As a beta tester, I was happy to do it, and now my ride is reliable enough to get me around the big ass state of Texas without issue.
 
1st MP3 in NH said:


Some times, I had one at the beggining but got it worked out. The pain in the ass ones are the coolant leaks which I had to double up on clamps in some spots to aviod plus the hoses on my kit dyed and died quick so I kept getting coolant leaks. ALso I had a few leaks from the hardware pre installed on the turbo as I have noticed SMP is now having.

Not to mention there is still a coolant leak that I can not find but I can smell.

One of the Leaks was atualy ony occuring under hard driving so when you stopped and opened the hood you could see any leaks but everything was sprayed green, plus the fans kicked on and blew it everywhere, took 2 weeks to find.

Should we upgrade our radiators from running high boost?
 
BluMp3Turbo said:
No if u have knock its becuz u have a turbo kit not becuz of the MP3!

Do you get knock?


Stutters: What did you vote for and what did you mean to vote for? I assume you put "YES-FM kit" and meant "No-FM kit"?

ENRY: can you edit his choice?
 
Kooldino said:


Should we upgrade our radiators from running high boost?

So far, the Protege hasn't shown the need for radiator upgrades. This is mostly because of power levels. Basically, power = heat.

A large IC in front of the rad will add to cooling problems, something that is often ignored. A high boost kit with a massive IC will likely need a fan upgrade or a radiator upgrade. If you're concerned about engine temps, I'd recommend installing an aftermarket temperature gauges. Most Mazda gauges will have a large "sweet spot" and once the temperature gauge starts to climb, you've got problems.

I suspect that most of Jeremy's problems were caused by two things: poor quality hoses supplied with the BEGI prototypes and the hacked-up upper radiator hose. Both of those have been addressed in the Flyin' Protege kits. However, it's a very good idea to have some heat insulation around the coolant lines on the turbo for the first 3" or so.

Keith
 
Keith@FP said:


So far, the Protege hasn't shown the need for radiator upgrades. This is mostly because of power levels. Basically, power = heat.

A large IC in front of the rad will add to cooling problems, something that is often ignored. A high boost kit with a massive IC will likely need a fan upgrade or a radiator upgrade. If you're concerned about engine temps, I'd recommend installing an aftermarket temperature gauges. Most Mazda gauges will have a large "sweet spot" and once the temperature gauge starts to climb, you've got problems.

I suspect that most of Jeremy's problems were caused by two things: poor quality hoses supplied with the BEGI prototypes and the hacked-up upper radiator hose. Both of those have been addressed in the Flyin' Protege kits. However, it's a very good idea to have some heat insulation around the coolant lines on the turbo for the first 3" or so.

Keith

Yeah, I constantly monitor my coolant temp with the PDA Dyno...:D
 
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