Turbo bolts advice

[mulletboy2]

Hiya guys,

Took Nookie for her MOT on monday, and she failed on a "blowing exhaust near the turbo", which turned out to be nothing more than a missing bolt as Dave and I discovered on monday night, aswell as a nail in the tyre.

I took her down to the local tyres/exhaust place on tuesday to get the tyre checked out, changed if necessary, and get the exhaust sorted. As the exhaust issue was actually the turbo bolt, they got the mechanic from across the road to come and have a look, and he managed to get Nookie in on the wednesday. It actually turned out that a 2nd bolt was loose too.

Problem is, whilst tightening that bolt, he broke the head off.. so now I have the shaft stuck partially in, and no method to remove it. The exhaust is still blowing slightly, but the guy passed her for the MOT on thursday.

So... now I have to take much of the engine bay apart (or speak to a certain forum mechanic VERY nicely ), in order to drill this bolt out and replace it. What concerns me is that Nookie has apparently spat turbo bolts out before, so I want to do something to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Is helicoiling an option? Is it likely to help? Is it possibly the thread(s) on the turbo that are at fault, the bolts, or maybe something else?

I keep having these very naughty urges to go out and spend silly amounts of money on a turbo upgrade in the no doubt vain hope that this will sort the problem, but certainly give me more power

What do you guys reckon? How major of a job will getting everything out of the engine bay so that this is possible be? Is anyone in need of some beer tokens? Oh.. and most importantly, would spending £2k on this upgrade make my girlfriend leave me?

Cheers

Mark

[andi t5]

helicoiling wont be needed unless youve stripped a thread or its otherwise damaged ,you need to get the old bolt out inspect the threads and run a tap thro to clean them up refit new bolts and dont go mad tightning them up fit some spring washers under the heads if your worried about them loosening again or if your really bothered, wirelock them

[mulletboy2]

Thanks Andi. I have to admit that that just went way above my head

Unfortunately the old bolt is nowhere to be found... probably on a motorway/A-road somewhere between brum and.. well, anywhere really. The one ones that are still there, one will have to be drilled out (but that one was only partially loose anyway), and the other wasn't coming loose, so it would be pretty pointless looking at it, I guess?

Hrmm.. I just really don't want to go through the hassle of taking it all apart and fitting new bolts if the same will happen again somewhere down the line.

Cheers

Mark

[After_Shock]

Just have a day out with the other half, coveniently park the car at bromsgrove and when you return you will find the car were you left it but with a 19t fitted instead!

[mulletboy2]

lol... I wish she was that gullible! But I think that I'd get one of these instead...

[andi t5]

hi once you have refitted the bolts correctly and torqued em up cannot see any reason why you will have further probs they were probalary never fitted right in the first place which is why youve had all the hassle

[siamblue]

hi once you have refitted the bolts correctly and torqued em up cannot see any reason why you will have further probs they were probalary never fitted right in the first place which is why youve had all the hassle

As Andi said,They probably came out before hand and who ever fitted them back either knacked the thread on the bolt or didn't fit it back with loctite,

[mulletboy2]

As Andi said,They probably came out before hand and who ever fitted them back either knacked the thread on the bolt or didn't fit it back with loctite,

Well, hopefully Justin can comment on this, but I'm fairly sure that if he did it, he would have done it properly.. and if VT did it, they would have done it properly. That's the problem

[After_Shock]

I know when I had the 19T on mine the bolts constantly came loose for about a week before they eventually settled down, not sure if it was down to the extra heat or not but was annoying to say the least!

It was worth a try with the missus though wasnt it!

[siamblue]

I suppose a lose exhause or worn rubbers might cause it to vibrate and wriggle loose,Even a worn engine mount,Anyway its done now,Just loctite them back in when you have the labourious job of dismantling/drill and tapping a new hole,

Good luck.

[mulletboy2]

Thanks guys

[hamish]

Mark,

It's a common problem on T5's when they're driven hard ! We now have some special lock nuts (now) that can handle the heat !! (The extreme expansion and contraction of the turbo and downpipe seems to cause the standard nuts to work off !) As for that broken stud......shouldn't be a problem: downpipe off, add a bit of heat, quality stud extractor and......ding ! Stud out, new in, lock nut on ! Give me a call tommorrow.

Regards,
Hamish.

P.S. Another common problem is that the Gorrillas in Redditch often don't know their own strength !

[mulletboy2]

Mark,

It's a common problem on T5's when they're driven hard ! We now have some special lock nuts (now) that can handle the heat !! (The extreme expansion and contraction of the turbo and downpipe seems to cause the standard nuts to work off !) As for that broken stud......shouldn't be a problem: downpipe off, add a bit of heat, quality stud extractor and......ding ! Stud out, new in, lock nut on ! Give me a call tommorrow.

Regards,
Hamish.

P.S. Another common problem is that the Gorrillas in Redditch often don't know their own strength !

ROTFL! Thanks Hamish, sounds good, I'll give you a bell tomorrow .

[Justin]

Sorry mark only just seen this thread, can back hamish up though, 3 sets we had on mine as it kept working them off, chin up mate

[Wobbly Dave]

Thread - get it!! LOL


Sorry - I'll get my coat.

[mulletboy2]

Cheers Justin. No worries mate - I had the same problem with the Rover, lol

Dave - lol

[JUDGENINJA]

Don't know if this helps - My exhaust bolts kept falling off so as a remedy I torqued up two nuts onto each turbo bolt shaft....So far they haven't fallen off, but thenagain I haven'y been under the car for a while

[nikgallagher]

Took Nookie for her MOT on monday, and she failed on a "blowing exhaust near the turbo", which turned out to be nothing more than a missing bolt as Dave and I discovered on monday night, aswell as a nail in the tyre...

Have you got any pictures of this area? It sounds like it's fairly common so would be good to have a photo for others to check against.

[mulletboy2]

Sorry Nik, I'm afraid I don't at the moment. It's literally where the turbo is mounted though. There are 3 (I think?) bolts which hold the turbo on. 2 of which are visible from underneath the car. It should be pretty obvious if these bolts are coming off, as there's kind of a "put put" (best I can describe it) sound. I'm sure someone else can explain it better though.

[Wobbly Dave]

It is the union between the turbo and the downpipe (the first part of the exhaust). If you want to have a look - jack up the car (safely!!) and skoot under from the front. Directly above the drive shaft you should see the bottom of the turbo and the downpipe junction. The bolts wot Mark has lost are here.