I have a 1990 townace, 4wd super extra turbo, which was imported in February of this year. Recently, whilst travelling in Europe, the van developed a high pitched squealing that kicked in at about 2000 revs. I assumed that this was a belt problem, and after checking the easy to get to ones, including the cambelt, took advantage of a few day stop to whip off the drivers seat and have a look at the alternator belt, and the one underneath it (power steering??). These both seemed slightly slack, so I tweaked them, and ran it for a couple of hundred miles. This didnt seem to help, and in the intervening period before I backed them off slightly the manifold started blowing. At this point it dawned on me that the squeaking noise started almost exactly when the green turbo light came on (the orange warning light never lights) at the next opportunity I had another look and discovered that the foremost exhaust manifold stud had been replaced with a bolt, which had failed by ripping out the thread in the engine block. I did a running repair with a slightly larger bolt and some epoxy. As the repair gradually failed on the way home, the original whining noise diminished as the exhaust fart grew in volume, until it is now inaudible. Still no life from the orange turbo warning light, and whilst the van is certainly underpowered, it is not radically so.
I have taken it off the road while a get a larger stud made, which I intend to tap and threadlock into the block. Should I also strip down the turbo and look for faults or wear, or is it likely that the whole problem relates to the manifold? What are the torque wrench settings for the manifold studs? I changed the oil and all the filters were before I went on holiday, and although the vehicle burns oil, it doesnt seem an excessive amount for a turbocharged engine with a very hard to believe 70000k on the clock In fighting my way through to the manifold I found that oil appears to be making its way into the turbo down the inlet pipe, which instinct tells me is correct. If any body has any tips or advice relating to the above matter I would be most grateful.
On a seperate matter, What size should the tires be on this model? When I bought it I insisted the dealer put a new set on, but when I was rotating the tyres found that these seem to be smaller than the spare, hmmm.
Many thanks to anyone who chips in.
I have taken the car off the road

- (#5552) Russell George, 19 Sep 02

Tyres will most likely be 195/70 R14, but could be other sizes. All turbo vehicles make some kind of whining noise, remember the turbo vanes are doing around 10 times engine speed, so will make some noise as they force the air in through the inlet tract. The orange turbo light should never come on, this indicates overboost, often caused by a sticky wastegate, the green light indicates correct operation of the turbo, ie it is creating boost. There shouldn't be any oil burnt from the sump oil, if you were to have oil going from the sump, via the turbo into the inlet manifold then the engine would run on this oil, revving uncontrollably & you having no way to shut it off, until the oil runs out, by which time you have no sump oil, or engine. They are not great on power anyway, after all they only produce something in the region of 85-90 Hp and lug around 1.6 tons of car, so no racer, even worse if A/C on & still having viscous fan locked up. I would suggest that your vehicle was actually working fine, you just need to get the manifold leak sorted & hopefully it should be OK afterwards. Let us know what happens after you sort the manufold.HTH regards Rob.

- (#5553) green street, sunbury, 19 Sep 02

Greetings,
Just went through a manifold problem myself. Started making high pitched noise on acceleration. Mechanic told me it was manifold gasket and needed to be changed. I ordered one for $17.oo and brught it to a Japanese junkyard/auto service. The mechanic told me as he was tightening the power steering pump belt that it was impossible that the gasket blew as there are made of metal. he really scared me by telling me that it had to be the manifold itself and i might as well junk the van as i will never find a manifold in Russia. After checking the minifold he said it seemed as if someone had taken the manifold off and not tightened it back down right, thus causing problems and I did need to change the gasket. The next day I brought my townie to a garage by my house that ageed to change the gasket for $70.00. When I came back to pick up the van I was told that the gasket was not the problem as it's impossible for the gasket to blow out as it is made from metal. The mechanic told me he took the manifold and laid it on a table and it was warped (??? don't know how that happened ) so he put the new gasket in and filled it with some other metal where the warp was. So far so good.
Mervin

- (#5554) mervin, 20 Sep 02

Yes a leaking exhaust manifold can sound deceptively like a noisy turbo. The face is susceptible to warping due to the high temperatures they endure. If you are careful you can file/grind it down. You need a perfectly flat surface so as to identify the high spots.

I wasn't so lucky with mine, 5 hairline cracks. New one cost me about £200, Japan order.

- (#5555) Ian Dunse, 20 Sep 02

As others where kind enough to point out to me a short while ago, the orange light is a bad sign from the dark side, however it should come on when the ignition is first switched on along with the green one as a bulb test (I think), and then they go out as you start the vehicle. If it doesn't light at this point, it could be the turbo is over-charging BUT if the orange light isn't working it ain't warning you of it.

- (#5597) Dave B, 22 Sep 02

Just a little update on my short lived success. It has only been 5 days since I had the manifold gasket changed and I am already starting to hear the high pitched noise again. It is not near as loud as it was before and hopefully it will not be for a long time, but it looks like a new exhaust manifold is in future plans.
Mervin

- (#5598) mervin, 22 Sep 02