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[NomakeWan]

So over the Labor Day weekend I finally got my VJ11/14 installed thanks to some help from my friends in SoCal, and at first everything seemed to be great. No leaks, no weird noises, just the dying passenger-side wheel bearing that was bad before any of the turbo nonsense anyway. I drove the 400 miles back up north without a hitch, averaging about 27 MPG despite heavy use of the turbo through the mountains north of LA, and was all-around stoked with the performance of the vehicle. I had never been so happy with the Capri as I had been then.

Driving it around yesterday everything was fine too, and on the way to classes today everything appeared to be normal as well. However, after class while running errands I noticed a noise that sounded like squealing brakes. It could be my imagination, but I thought I noticed the brake pedal getting a little harder than normal (it's been pretty mushy for a while, didn't get around to bleeding the system to see if I could improve it). Possible red herring but throwing out everything I observed. Anyway, the noise only seems to come on during acceleration, and only around 3k RPM or higher, which is about when the turbo kicks in. However, the sound's pitch doesn't change with boost level, engine RPM or road speed.

I went ahead and took a video of the sound, only to have another sound make itself known once I stopped to show where I'd noticed oil on the engine. This sound is another whining sound that seems to be coming from the intake cam area, but doesn't seem to be affected by engine RPM. However, it does change pitch...though I cannot seem to find a reason for that pitch change. So basically, I'm stumped and rather terrified of my car now, which sucks because it was driving so freaking well mere days ago. The video is below. Help!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXUJ4cMCC50

EDIT: Went for another drive on a whim to test a few theories. Couldn't get the second sound to come back (which sucks--I wanted to test the theory that it was the PCV making that noise), but the first sound is completely unaffected by brake actuation (suggesting it isn't the brakes somehow actuating lightly under boost), and in fact the sound comes on earlier in the rev range by using the brakes to add load to the motor.

[WashiestSnake]

I cant seem to hear it from the video. To me it sounds like normal engine noise and then interior squeek. Coming from the valve cover and a grinding ish type noise sounds like maybe the dizzy?

[NomakeWan]

https://youtu.be/dB03JnVDcaQ

Here's another video. You really need headphones, I think, to hear it. The sound at the end of the last video was most likely just the PCV--I found plenty of videos on youtube of failing/failed PCVs making the exact same noise, and indeed the noise was coming from where the PCV is.

However, that didn't solve the grinding-sounding noise, so here's another video of it.

[WashiestSnake]

I was able to hear it with the second video. The only thing I could think maybe the camshaft is grinding on the dizzy when you hit boost, but that doesn't make much sense because you have such low mileage. Also im not a mechanic, I just do this for fun plus my car is a N/A not a XR-2.

[NomakeWan]

https://youtu.be/FpUrtfBIaWg

Here's another quick video. I did the mod to block off the intake and place the BPV directly on the intake plenum. I saw at least two other users do this, but when I did it the car really didn't want to stay running because the BPV was blowing some air all the time, though it did seem to correctly actuate when letting off the gas after boosting.

Is this normal or is the BPV shot from all the boost I'm running? Any 'safe' way to remove the BPV from the system for testing?

EDIT: Talking to some friends, it seems the BPV vents at idle normally, and so running it in this fashion will in fact cause shitty idle stalls constantly and that that's normal? Crudmuffins. Still have to figure out a way to bypass it to make sure it's not the cause of my issues, though. Is there a test for the BPV or something that can be done outside the car?

[NomakeWan]

Confirmed today that the turbo is on the way out--the sound got worse (started coming in at lower and lower power levels) until today I noticed that I could finally hear it while revving in neutral. Specifically if you rev it then let go you can hear the turbine wheel rattling against the housing as it spins down. Sigh. I'm gonna call the shop that did the rebuild tomorrow, see what their policy is on warranty work and all that. The thing failed within four days of installation, and the part that failed is the VJ14 side...so we'll see.

Worst case, I'll skip the 14/11 and buy a 11/Tbird I guess. Would probably be the same cost as doing another rebuild.

[WashiestSnake]

Wow that sucks.
How bad is a rebuild for the Turbo?
Also I thought they didnt make rebuild kits, has that changed?

[NomakeWan]

I paid $500 for the rebuild+hybridization+ported wastegate on the VJ14/11 that's on it now. If they won't warranty the work then they'd probably want at least $400 to redo the rebuild, at which point I'd just see of azgtx can still get me a VJ11/Tbird since I recall him asking about that for one when I bought the VJ11 compressor and housing off him. Doesn't make sense to pay for another rebuild.

I don't actually know what the shop found wrong with the original VJ14, nor what all was replaced during the rebuild. I do know that when I brought it in they mentioned that the hard lines are no longer available, but that's about it.

[NomakeWan]

Called the shop, they wouldn't commit to warranty work until they see the turbo for themselves, so I've gotta get the turbo off and get it back to 'em first. While I can live without the car for a little while longer if need be, does anyone know if it's possible to swap an N/A exhaust manifold and intake tube onto an XR2 and make it run that way for a while without fabbing exhaust parts and/or swapping ECUs? I know it'd be way down on power but having a car that can at least drive would be better than one that can't.

[WashiestSnake]

I think it might work with a N/A ecu. My main concern would be getting the  N/A intake pipe to fit the XR-2 intake. The XR-2 intake has a wider diameter thortle body, than the N/A. Another issue of concern would be the ECU I really think it would run horible on a N/A application

[chrispoe]

There's no need to touch the ecu, it'll run an engine N/A just fine

You'll need the N/A exhaust manifold and down pipe and modify the intake tube to fit. Other then that nothing else  should be needed. With the lower compression, you'll have about 6-8% less power then a N/A engine.

[NomakeWan]

Sounds like a project! All right, thanks for the answers.