julians Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 No not on my caterham, but on my fiat coupe 20v turbo. A bit off topic but you guys seems to know about cars, so any ideas. Everything was normal, oil pressure fine temp fine etc. Went to pull out of a junction, put my foot down, at about 4k rpm theres a big whoosh sound, like air escaping from a gaping hole, no power and oil pressure has gone to zero. So I stop the car (V quickly), theres some smoke coming from the exhaust and some from under the bonnet, dip the oil and the dipstick is dry. Add half a litre which gets me back on to the dipstick, turn car over, very rough idle but no oil pressure , turn car off V quickly. Car is now at Fiat dealers awaiting diagnosis, anyone got any ideas. Julian BTW , I checked oil level two days ago and it was at the max mark. Looks like its caterham everyday for the near future. Edited by - julians on 6 Sep 2001 20:32:07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 Julian, I have a 20vt as well. Sounds like a turbo hose dropped off. This will cause the smoke and erratic running. How long did you let it run before deciding these was no pressure??? running .5l under is not a big issue. I once added 2 litres to get it up to normal level (This was when I first got the car and did not imagine a modern everday car could drink oil like this) A litre every 750 miles is not uncommon! Heres a good web site for this type of car.....http://www.fiatcoupe.f2s.com/ Under warranty??? Fat Arn YUM YUM K2RUMid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted September 7, 2001 Author Share Posted September 7, 2001 It ran for probably about 5 secs without any oil pressure. I also presumed the turbo had failed in some way, but I cant imagine how this would lead to no oil pressure at all. Mine is not normally too bad on oil consumption probably about 1/4 litre every 1000 miles. Anyway its got 2 months left to run on the fiat extended warranty so we'll see what comes of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley Posted September 11, 2001 Share Posted September 11, 2001 Julian, I don't know the specifics of the turbo's Fiat use, but on the one I had the turbine span on a fluid bearing, that bearing being oil. If the bearing seals have failed it could be dumping your engine oil straight into the exhaust. I had a bearing seal that weeped slightly and would drip a few drops of oil into the downpipe overnight. When started first thing it the morning it was fine, but a minute or so later when the downpipe got hot enough to burn it off, the ensuing fog cloud could be thick enough to loose sight of the cars behind! Muttley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I reply to every thread Posted September 11, 2001 Share Posted September 11, 2001 I'd be interested in the outcome. I've a friend that has a 20v Turbo who had a similar problem. Serviced & oil changed two weeks before engine went bang as a result (apparently) of no oil. Under warranty again but he's thinking of buying it when it's due to go back (Company Car) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted September 11, 2001 Share Posted September 11, 2001 Does he know how much it costs to have the cambelt changed? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted September 11, 2001 Author Share Posted September 11, 2001 Cambelt change = £700 at 76000miles. Fiat havent had a chance to look at it yet, should know something soon though. Hopefully its just a knackered turbo (like muttley says), and hopefully the lack of oil for a few seconds wont have done any damage. What do I care, its under warranty, and we all know that warranty companies pay out without the slightest hint of argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted September 14, 2001 Author Share Posted September 14, 2001 Ok, time for an update. Fiat dealer rang me today to say it needed a new engine. They dont know why it needs a new engine, they just know it needs one because when they started it up there was no oil pressure and it sounded terrible. The warranty company wont pay for a new engine until the fiat dealer can tell them exactly what went wrong, but the dealer doesent know what went wrong, other than the engine is broken. I thought all the stories of useless/unknowlegable dealers was exaggerated until I spoke to this lot. They litterally have not got a clue about engines. I took it to a Fiat dealer because I thought the only people who would be authorised to do warranty work under a fiat extended warranty would be a Fiat dealer themselves, this is not the case , it turns out I could have taken it to any garage I wanted. So its now on the way to my local independant garage, who are going to try and do a better diagnosis than 'the engine is broken' My main worry now is that the dealer has caused more damage by running it for 'just a few minutes' with no oil pressure (they said it smoked a lot and sounded terrible - that'll be my main bearings disintegrating then!). Give me strength, they are effing useless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted September 14, 2001 Share Posted September 14, 2001 Julian, Who ws the dealer? Sounds like I need to avoid them! Fat Arn See the R500 eater (happy now Richard??) with a Commagirl astride.....hereid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted September 14, 2001 Author Share Posted September 14, 2001 Priory Fiat in Manchester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted September 14, 2001 Share Posted September 14, 2001 The oil seal could have gone in the Turbo (assuming it has a feed from the oil pump) and its just pooring oil into the induction system past the failed seal. But I would have thought a bit of oil pressure would have shown. This used to be a common thing when Turbos were new technology. But it could also be numerous other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted September 14, 2001 Share Posted September 14, 2001 Thx Julian. Hopefully I won't have to sebd it to Manchester to find a Fiat dealer who can service mine at less than 5 weeks notice!! (Sidlow Gatwick) Fat Arn See the R500 eater (happy now Richard??) with a Commagirl astride.....hereid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted September 22, 2001 Share Posted September 22, 2001 Julians, Any news on what this was ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted September 22, 2001 Author Share Posted September 22, 2001 Yes, a con rod had snapped and punched a whole in the block, I am currently waiting for the warranty company to send an engineer round to decide if they will pay for it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted September 22, 2001 Share Posted September 22, 2001 Julian, if the con-rod has snapped it wouldn´t have been able to idle at all, would it ? Sounds like the Fiat-Garage has caused the hole in the block by letting it idle "a little" and see what happens. Tsts, unbelievable ! Regards, Marius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted September 22, 2001 Author Share Posted September 22, 2001 No, it will still idle now even witha broken rod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted September 24, 2001 Share Posted September 24, 2001 Julians, Sorry to hear that. I drove an Escort CVH a few years ago with a broken rod (same reason as below) and it didn't run that bad at all, considering. Its strange that the first garage hadn't been able to identify a hole in the block as being a problem ! I was discussing broken rods with a mate, who is a service manager the other day, because he had a Peugeot in, with a broken rod. He said that it had been quite common in the last two years on all sorts of cars due to all the rain we have been having. They were all caused by the same problem - water ingress when traversing through floods. The cars would usually stop and get towed out and be taken to the dealer to be dried out. After drying, the car would then start and run ok. Then at some time in the ensuing months a rod would fail. Water doesn't compress as we all know and a slightly bent or stressed rod may then fail at a later date. Interestingly, if this can be proven, the insurance usually settles the garage bill. Apparently in his view, con-rod failures from any other cause are now nearly unheard of in standard cars. It looks like you have been very unlucky Julians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julians Posted September 24, 2001 Author Share Posted September 24, 2001 Update #2: Engineer has had a look, it doesent look like a lack of oil caused it, looks more like a gudgeon pin failed causing the rest of teh damage. So looks good for a warranty job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now