Re-Post - New Member looking for advice

[ddryland]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to the forum but have been a reader for some time now as a mate of mine has had an MU for 5 years or so and read quite a few of the threads. I have now bought my first MU which is a 1995 3.1L TD Auto (213000km), see pic below.

MU.jpg

Anyway there are a number of things that I would like some advice on as there are a few issues that need addressing straight away.

1. The current turbo is a RHF5 VD430016 / 03 293A / 8971480750 which is stuffed(major oil leak as the previous guy opened the turbo and removed the main gasket) and I will replace with new. I can find heaps online that say suitable for 3.1L TD and Isuzu MU but none that match all the codes. Can someone let me know which ones will suit my engine? A link to ebay etc is fine.

Turbo.jpg

2. As far as maintenance goes I want to make sure I do as much preventative stuff now, obviously oil change etc. Can anyone suggest a list of must do's as I don't really know the history of the vehicle and want to safeguard myself against getting stuck 100kms up the beach.

Any help or guidance would be much appreciated.

Cheers Dan

[dubdubdub]

start at the basics I think.. all the obvious.. oil, oil filter, thermostat, coolant, trans fluid and filter, transfer case, diff oils, diesel filter, should run forever after all that.. she'll love you for it!! maybe some sort of diesel treatment?? de carbon your engine with some water too once its all going and back together ( get someone to hold the revs at 2000-2500 and add water into your intake... not all at once or its good night motor.. just add slowly... i did this for about 3 4 min then turned the motor off and let it sit for about 5 min then done another 2-4 min again and now my bighorn runs so much better).. highly recommended anyone to do this.. my motor had 204.000km so prob really needed doing and by the amount of shit that came out the exhaust i'm glad I did...

[geeves]

On the water through the intake Ive not heard this method so will not be researching it or recomending. Do however remember that the combustion chamber once compressed is about one tablespoon in size. About 2/3 of this in one cylinder will be certain death for the engine.
Oil good diesel oil every 5000km filter every 10000
Air and fuel filter every 10000
The turbo should be able to be matched but I have to ask why was the gasket touched? Those numbers define where the outlets are what size etc. If the turbo has been rotated or if its no original to the vehicle the numbers will not match. Also a factory turbo might not fit if it has non original manifolds etc

[ddryland]

Thanks guys.

Will follow up on the list of items in the post from dubdubdub, good advice to make sure everything is ship shape and certainly aware of the timeframes/kms for oil, oil, air and fuel filters so thanks for the reminder geeves.

As for the turbo, it has standard manifold and doesn't look like its been rotated. I guess what I was looking to find out is would any of the following be suitable?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271583664704 ... 1423.l2649
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/351047032495 ... 1423.l2649
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281414380068 ... 1423.l2649

Really appreciate the help guys!

Cheers Dan

[ddryland]

Sorry forgot to mention the turbo gasket....

Not sure why but apparently the guy pulled the turbo apart and put it back together and what's stranger is that he forgot to replace the gasket in between. Maybe he though he could refurbish it or something but either way I purchased the car knowing that I would need to replace it so no surprises here.

[geeves]

rob is better to answer this but I think its only special silicone sealant between the sections. Also all the oil seals are internal so any leak in the turbo except where the oil pipes join the turbo would leak inside the turbo and end up either in the inlet or exhaust both causing lots of smoke. You can get oil seepage through the pipe between the turbo and inlet manifold due to either an internal leak or more likely oil in the intake from blowby. If there is oil in the pipe from the air filter to the turbo this is the most likely cause. Unless you have severe amounts going through dont worry about it If there is lots a catch can might help.

[ddryland]

Hi Geeves,

No oil through the exhaust and after a closer inspection late last night it looks like the oil pipe is very loose. I wold suggest that this might be the problem however there is a truckload of oil and may not be isolated to just this spot.

Have spoken to a few turbo places today all trying to sell the IHI branded ones but not interested in investing $1200 for the moment.

Any suggestions on whether these would be suitable?


http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271583664704 ... 1423.l2649
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/351047032495 ... 1423.l2649
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281414380068 ... 1423.l2649

Cheers Dan

[geeves]

All 3 of those apear to be for the intercooled version of the engine. This will mean you have to play with the pipe between the turbo and inlet manifold. Not a major I did this on my wizard as I intend to intercool it one day but 2 years later its still on the to do list and still quite near the bottom of that list. Mine is just a silicone pipe with right angle with one end about 200 long. Its not a perfect solution as the bend is more than 90 degrees so it closes up a little until its under boost. A pipe with a 20 degree bend in the center to replace the alloy part between the hose and the inlet would solve this and still look quite tidy. Boy racer shops sell this pipe

[geeves]

No comment on the quality of these turbos beyond the following.
They are chinese copies of the ihi turbo. Some are very good possibly even better than original some are not Some are even worse. No way to tell if its good or bad until it breaks
Some have used them no issue some have failed in a week.

[ddryland]

Fair point on the quality of the turbos. I will most likely put an intercooler on as well and the pipe is currently bent/curved anyway so I assume the one on it is for the intercooled version. There's a 12 month warranty on them so as a cheap interim solution I might go with one of these and upgrade to the IHI later on.

Cheers
Dan

[geeves]

Intercooled turbo has the outlet pointing slightly to the outside of the car where non intercooled is pointing slightly to the centre

[MrRevhead]

Re the water de carb, I've heard of it, but I've never done and nor will I.
But the guy off heard it of is far more knowledgeable that I am. He used to get a spray bottle and spray it into the air intake by the carb (obviously petrol vehicles) you want small droplets as it's the atomisation of the water than cleans, it's bascilly steam cleaning.
Although if it has any effect, it suggests you have some issues to cause that much soot

[samk115]

Small atomised droplets are fine, same principal as water injection where water is injected to lower combustion temperatures/cool hot points to prevent detonation, allowing you to garner more power via ignition timing or more boost etc. I have seen it run on a few higher end race cars but have never messed around with it myself.

I cant really see it having any cleaning benefits to be honest. Power gains yes, but the water is atomised into the fuel/air mix so (most) doesnt even turn into steam until it hits the combustion chamber, and its in such low quantitys that any steam wont have much of an effect.

I have been proven wrong before however!