[Mk2] [Turbo] Why are turbos so s**t

[dawolf]

How on earth can some people get through so many engines? There must be some underlying problems because the 3SGTE is a tough unit.

[Goto10]

As with buying any 2nd hand car, you can easily pick up a lemon. Even the independent reports can fail to pick up problems, although they have the advantage of having some form of recourse for missed issues.

i brought a lemon too.................

www.boughtbrought.co.uk

if you buy a dog then your gonna be dishing out the cash that goes for any car, on the money youve spent on it you coulda brought a nice rev3!!

www.youre.co.uk
www.boughtbrought.co.uk

then your asking for trouble...

www.youre.co.uk

The problem with ebay is your bidding on a car you might not have seen and are then obligated to buy it if you win.
NOT how to buy a car.

www.youre.co.uk (Incidentally, you're not obligated to buy it - the worst that can happen is that you'll receive negative feedback if you choose to walk away - as of May that will no longer be possible because sellers won't be able to leave negative feedback from then on)

[Martin F]

How on earth can some people get through so many engines? There must be some underlying problems because the 3SGTE is a tough unit.

a big issue is you have no idea how previous owners have looked after their car, booting it everywhere/not letting the turbo cool down properly/never changing the oil...etc...etc...etc...

it can so easily be just bad luck for some of these stories or good...


it is however good to get different opinions but one thing for sure is that "if the mr2 turbo has been looked after properly" then it doesn't matter on how old it is or how much power it has, it can be as reliable as a brand new 1.0L ford/vauxhall/ or anything...


think that says it all...


the bad example's are bad for a reason

[dawolf]

Yeah I can understand that but I can't work out how a newly rebuilt engine can fail several times. There must be something else underlying causing it to blow.

[Ian Geary]

my car had failed when I got it on a shattered piston ringland, so low compression, pushing oil out of the PCV and into exhaust (got it cheap)

having searched, there's quite a lot of examples of ringland failure on both MR2 turbo and GT4 forums

no real cause seems to have been found, other than upping the boost, poor fuel or a casting problem in the inlet manifold.

So I wouldn't agree the 3S-GTE is bomb proof, but mines been chucking out 250-270bhp of power for 3 years with minimal cost to keep ticking over (oil and filter every 6 months being the biggest cost).

But I've not suffered any real problems like described here - although virtually every suspension component has been replaced in a quest to elimate rattles/thuds/squeaks/shudders/clunks etc.

clutch slave went (cheap but fiddley),clutch wore out (70,000 miles) but I suppose on balance i've been lucky.

If my rebuilt engine had gone bang within 6 months, I would have been taking a bus to the engine shop double quick with a solicitors letter for a refund! If you DIY, then you take your chances.

hth

Ian

[-:[KM]:-]

no real cause seems to have been found, other than upping the boost, poor fuel or a casting problem in the inlet manifold.

Agree with that Ian, and the other comments..

Boost is a major factor, as I well know. Or rather, boost and running lean too.

DIY on the other hand is in the hand of the originator. I'd put my work in front of most companies here. Not that they are incompetent, just that I am competent. I have learnt 98% (MR2 related) data that I know from Rogue, GTS Chris, TB, Neos, Skywalker, Ryan and all the host of miscellaneance vital inputs... all of it free too..

BOT..

Buyer beware when buying a car... any car!!