Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - 09:24 pm, by: Stirling Butcher(Stirl)
Very short version: Got modified soarer in semi working order I no longer need but not sure what it would sell for or if there would be much demand for a car like it and wondering what to do with it.
Long version: back in 2009 one of the turbos died on my poor soarer, I took it into see Neil at rushimports. He said that in 2-3 weeks he could have it converted to a single turbo and I would be running with about 50% more power then before at only a little more then getting the turbo reconditioned. I agreed.
It took about three months. New extractors, new inter-cooler, new injectors, new turbo. However it was running into the ecu boost limiter and idling badly. I got Neil to install a greddy prospec b boost controller. However while this gave me a reading on the turbo pressure it didn't ever control the boost. I left this as something the piggy back ecu could deal with once I had the idling fixed. He did install some jaycar thing to remove ecu boost limit but that also made no difference.
I left the car with Neil several times including 4 weeks straight however he never fixed the idling problem - not sure if he looked at it once. after one such period with him he admitted he hadn't touched the car. The idling thing is a little intermittent which doesn't help.
I'm not sure but I think how their might be a leak in the turbo piping somewhere when going hard.
anyways I got sick of driving a car that wasn't working quiet right and trying to get it fixed was just costing me money for no gain so I've bought myself another car.
So...I have a car converted to single turbo, nice stainless steal manifold, with new inter-cooler, 440 injectors greddy boost controller, turbo timer that don't work much. (I've also got the old manifold/injectors inter-cooler etc) The mods look nice, and the car hasn't been driven much since they were made.
So...whats to be done with it? Sell it to some unsuspecting boob one day when it happens to be running nicely? Anyone want a project? (there may not be much required to fix it if the problem could be identified) Anyone want a crap load of spare parts? maybe the most money I would get for it would be from selling it for scrap? (seems a shame)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - 10:50 pm, by: James Buchan(Jrbuch)
Sadly, I think parts too if you're after instant cash. If you sold it as is, someone would get a real bargain. I'm sure you would see gains with an piggy back ecu like an E-manage ultimate - and a decent session on the dyno.
Mark Pattel TryHard Queensland RT142 with a 1jz and R154 5 speed
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - 10:54 pm, by: Mark Pattel (Mark1414)
Seems like your 90% of the way there to having a decently quick Soarer. If you can see yourself spending a small bit more money on it you could get an aftermarket ECU and make some good power, if not the way you would make the most money would be parting it out but then you have the problem of having parts laying around everywhere and relying on people to come pick stuff up etc.
Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 09:09 am, by: Stirling Butcher(Stirl)
I was happy with Neil for several years also, however this problem which admittedly was somewhat intermittent he didn't seem to have any patience with investigating. A 15 minute drive would have revealed it. Instead he down played any problem and took no responsibly.
The car would stall sometimes while moving leaving me going into a corner with no power steering....not pleasant or something I could really live with.
Thanks everyone for your comments, , I would fix up the car if I knew what needed to be done to fix the stalling issue. I wonder if the value of parts would increase if I kept out long enough. I might be too lazy to sell it by parts. I wonder what the parts would be worth...if someone broke it got me and kept 50% would I be ahead?
Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 01:10 pm, by: Gary Poloskei(Mikrucio)
Agree pull the ISCV apart and clean with carby cleaner. and as Austen said the check valve. Also check TPS with multimeter. and check MAP sensor too. Id be happy to assist since im in ACT as well if you need it. just supply some beer.
Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 05:02 pm, by: Jerzy Stopczynski(Stomps)
Start by troubleshooting/swapping out the obvious parts.. ISCV, Map sensor...ecu...etc...
will take all of 5 minutes to check them...
dont scrap a car you have spent decent money on without knowing what the problem is.. that's retarded...
being a map sensored car, a leak in cooler pipping will do SFA to driveability.. apart from the loss of power.. it certainly wont make the car stall or give you idle issues..
have you checked if its throwing a code?
do some basic research and try fix it.. then decide whether you want to keep it or not...
Friday, January 21, 2011 - 12:20 am, by: Stirling Butcher(Stirl)
Thanks for the comments guys. Neil did replace the ISCV - but the only difference was felt by my wallet. We also swapped out the ecu...
There could be a leak somewhere...to be honest I don't know what I am doing when it comes to mechanics...I love to drive a nice car but don't enjoy working on them. It could be a vac leak.
Considering it never worked right to be honest I think Neil did rather well to collect more then he quoted me...unfortunately I didn't notice till I was driving away. A court would probably make him pay me.
I've spend about a year trying to fix it...anyone know what I could expect if I sell it?
Someone could possibly make some money by buying it off me and then re-selling the parts...
I've bought a bmw 540...a very nice car and its newer which is nice, its definitely better in *some* ways...but dang owning a soarer for 6-7 years makes its hard to get very excited about another car!
Friday, January 21, 2011 - 02:24 am, by: Tim Ross(Retox)
I've been through a rollercoaster with mine as well in the time I have had it...
My advice, you've come this far, stick with it. You've got the majority of the ingredients there for a good quick comfortable car.
It may not be what you want to hear, but a bit more money into an aftermarket piggy-back ECU and some tuning, and you will probably yield the results you were after.
Modifying cars is a minefield... more often than not you are going to come across unexpected hurdles and expenses... BUT, its all quickly forgotten when you've got your desired result and are enjoying the finished product
Friday, January 21, 2011 - 09:49 am, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
i would be trying to figure it out i have problems with mine aswell and does get very annoying but at the end of the day if you get another car who knows what will go wrong with it. I would say check fuel pressure aswell. Does it die electronically or just slowly lose rpm then run rough then die? I have to say ive never had a problem with neil either he is usually happy to help with anything you need whether it be info, specs or parts or whatever.
Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 12:19 am, by: Damian Ware(Frozenpod)
Jerzy Stopczynski wrote on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 05:02 pm:
being a map sensored car, a leak in cooler pipping will do SFA to driveability.. apart from the loss of power.. it certainly wont make the car stall or give you idle issues..
True and suck unfiltered air into the engine.
Start with the basics and take up the offer of help for the cost of beer.
Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 01:14 am, by: Jerzy Stopczynski(Stomps)
i agree.. take up the offer of help dude... selling the car without finding out what is wrong with it is silly IMO...
like i said before, a leak is not going to cause what is going on... unless its the pipe to the map sensor..
you obviously have an issue with Neil... maybe try someone else.. any tuner worth their metal will be able to find the problem either on a dyno on with a road test...
Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 02:04 pm, by: Stirling Butcher(Stirl)
Thanks Guys I will see if I can set up a time with Gary.
Actually the car seems to gave got considerably worse with the idling rough, possibly that will make it easier to identify the issue. Also last time I drove it at high revs I could hear the turbo is spooled up like normal, it was clear the air was not going where it was meant to.
Maybe if breaking it up can keep other soarers alive it makes sense. The paint isn't in great condition, 18 months ago it did seem to be in great condition mechanically...but not now.
Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 02:33 pm, by: Stirling Butcher(Stirl)
damn car, turned it on for the first time in a few days and it was perfect. I think that was the problem Neil had he would have a quick look and say it was fine and then I would drive it away and it would stall and the power steering would go and nearly kill me.
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