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There are
a few common problems with the Renault 5 GT Turbo
Blown Head Gaskets, Knackered Turbos and Knackered
Clutches all of which are pretty expensive to replace
and/or fix. Under each sub heading I will mention
how to maintain a 5 and keep these problems to a
minimum.
Head Gaskets blow for
a reason for which there are two reasons either
the Boost has been turned up to much or the car
has overheated. If you are going to turn the boost
up either using a bleed valve or adjustable boost
control on a standard head gasket you can really
only turn it up a little bit. The boost can be turned
up by winding in the nut on the wastegate actuator
arm remembering the more you wind it in the more
boost you will get out of the turbocharger, but
this puts more strain on the headgasket, thus causing
it to blow. If you want to turn the boost right
up then you are going to need an uprated head gasket
to cope with the added strain put on it. Also turning
up the boost will make the turbo work harder thus
shortening it's life span unless it's a hybrid turbo
manufactured for running higher boost.
Turbo
Boost
If you do turn the
boost up above 15psi then really the fuelling
needs to be adjusted to pump in the correct
ratio of fuel into the engine by maybe using
bigger carb jets or a Group A carb. If you do
not increase the fueling to match the higher
boost then you will get "PINKING"
or "DETONATION" as it is called. This
WILL damage pistons which are expensive to replace
as the engine has to come out and the engine
be rebuilt. |
|
Bar
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PSI |
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A
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0.55
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8.25 |
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B
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0.65
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9.75 |
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C
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0.7
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10.5 |
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D
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0.8
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12.0 |
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E
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0.9
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13.5 |
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Another cause
of a head gasket to blow is the car overheating
and considering that 5's run hot as it is there
really is no margin for error. So if you're driving
a 5 always keep a watchful eye on the cars temperature
gauge. Driving along a five should read just below
to halfway on the temperature gauge under normal
driving conditions and maybe rise a little on the
motorway and when putting your foot down where the
turbo is being used alot. While sitting in traffic
the Cooling Fan should cut in just before the 2
3rd's line on the gauge. If you notice that the
fan doesn't cut in when the temperature gauge gets
to the 2 3rd's line switch the car off and let the
car cool down. "NEVER LET THE CAR OVERHEAT"
"NEVER LET THE CAR'S TEMPERATURE GAUGE GET
INTO THE DANGER ZONE AND WAIT FOR THE RED LIGHT
TO COME ON AS BY THEN THE DAMAGE IS PROBABLY ALREADY
DONE" You may have a dodgy thermostat or Fan
switch which isn't working properly which may be
the reason the fan isn't cutting in.
FOR THESE REASONS THE CAR'S COOLING SYSTEM ALWAY'S
NEEDS TO BE IN GOOD WORKING ORDER.
Maintaining
the Cooling System
Keeping the cooling system
on a 5 turbo in good working order is a must. An
£8 fan switch not working could cause your
headgasket to blow and/or warp your cylinder head
and end up costing you £400.
Temperature Gauge Guide
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Maximum
driving along at a steady speed
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Maximum
Radiator fan cut in point
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This
may rise slightly when driving the car hard,
ie using the turbo alot. Idealy the cooler they
run the better so if yours run slightly lower
than this then its a bonus. |
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I
would not let a GT Turbo run much over this
point as it is likely to cause damage by warping
the cylinder head. |
On a regular
basis
The cooling system
on the 5 gets air in it from time to time and this
can cause the car to overheat so to overcome this
and get the air out you do the following.
Click for a bigger
image
YOU REALLY
NEED 2 PEOPLE TO DO THIS
1. Unscrew the Coolant
Tank cap and unclip the strap holding it to the
side of the inner wing and lift it up as high
as you can get it with all the pipes attached.
2. On the top hose there is a plastic screw in
the top of it. Get someone to stand by this and
undo this.
3. Now with you standing holding the Coolant tank
over the top of the wing and another person holding
the srcrew from the top hose put your mouth over
the top of the coolant tank making it air tight
blow holding in the pressure and not letting go.
Keep the pressure on until you see out of the
screw hole pure coolant flowing out with no air
in it. While the coolant is flowing out air free
get the person to screw in the plastic screw back
in all the time you are holding in the pressure.
Once the screw is back in you can remove your
mouth from the coolant tank.
4. Now you need to follow the same procedure for
the screw on the top of the the pipe coming from
the top of the water pump and remove any air from
this side of the cooling system.
Once you have done the same for the water pump
pipe screw you can put the coolant tank back in
place and screw on the cap. Hopefully your Cooling
system should be free from any air locks.
Also on a regular basis
leave the car running and wait for the Cooling
Fan to cut in while watching the temperature gauge
and make sure that it cuts in where it normally
does. If it starts to go above the 2 3rd's line
then switch the car off and investigate what the
cause is before driving the car. Likely causes
are air in the cooling system, blocked radiator
or cracked radiator, faulty water pump, faulty
thermostat, a hole in one of the water pipes,
faulty fan switch or incorect coolant mixture.
GOLDEN RULE
NEVER let the car overheat
or let it get into the danger zone where the little
red light on the temperature gauge comes on. If
your in traffic and the car goes above the normal
temperature where the fan cuts in pull over and
switch the engine off. Call someone out and have
the car towed home or to a garage and investigate
the problem before driving it again.
Knackered
Turbos (see parts page)
Because the Turbocharger
on a Renault 5 Turbo is a small T2 Garrett it
spins up quickly,
partly the reason 5 turbo's are so quick,
but this also means that they really are on the
go all the time that is why the life expectantcy
of the turbo is roughly about a year. But there
are a few things that you can do to prolong your
turbo's life.
1. Change the oil regularly (Maximum every 6000
miles/Recommended every 3000 miles). Because your
engine oil is what lubricates the bearings inside
your turbocharger and if the quality of your oil
is poor this is going to have an effect on these
bearings, thus causing them to seize up (New Turbo
Time NOT CHEAP £250 Recon + Fitting). So
the rule is change your oil as often as possible
and use a high quality Engine Oil Semi-Synthetic
minimum.
2. Also you can prolong the life of your turbocharger
by getting in the habit of every time you finish
your journey and want to switch off your engine,
let the engine idle for about 2 minutes then switch
off the engine. This allows the turbo to stop
spinning before the oil supply to the turbocharger
is cut off by you switching off the engine.
Another Factor that
will make your turbo's life shorter is by turning
up the boost (Meaning the turbo spins at a higher
RPM that normal thus wearing it out quicker).
A Dump valve may improve
the life expectantcy of your turbo though this
may only be true of hybrid turbo's running higher
boost im not sure. Any way the dump valve releases
the pressure left in the the inlet pipe when you
release the throttle, otherwise this pressure
causes the turbo to stall and when you apply the
throttle again it has to spin up from start again
causing turbo lag. Where as if you release the
pressure via a Dump Valve the Turbo keeps spinning
and picks up speed again when you apply the throttle
after gear change. It doesn't neccessarily make
the car quicker or make the cars BHP figure any
greater but maybe give the turbo a bit of extra
life.
>>> How to
fit a Dump Valve
Knackered
Clutches
Knackered Clutches are
a big problem for the 5, because they're a common
problem and they are certainly not cheap to replace.
The reason being because these cars accelerate
so quickly it puts alot of stress on the clutch.
So having an uprated clutch will be a better bet
than the standard renault clutch especially if
you are running higher boost. To have the job
done properly you are looking at around £450.
That is with the engine being removed. You can
do the job the same way as with other cars by
just removing the gearbox but because of the limited
space chances are that it will not be alligned
properly so it probably won't last very long.
So to make your clutch last there are some golden
rules :
1. Do not ride the clutch as this will cause it
to wear.
2. Try not to rest your foot on the clutch pedal
as this will either wear your clutch cable of
wear your clutch.
3. Sudden accelaration from a standing start all
the time will wear your clutch so if your game
is traffic light grand prix's then your probably
best off having an uprated clutch.
Last
GOLDEN RULE with 5 Turbo's
This is where having
a deep pocket comes into it. If something goes
wrong with a 5 Turbo try to fix it as soon as
possible because before you know it you'll have
another problem then you'll find it hard to get
back on top of them. Bottom line is treat them
like a baby as they are very temperamental cars
indeed !!!!
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