Prior to going turbo info please

[rgirard413]

What should i do or check with my car prior to going stage 1 or 2. I have 104k miles on my talon, is that too much to bother going turbo with it?

 

[kagegod]

Well as I've seen on here before (but did not do myself) you should have a compression check done on the engine. IMO I'd also make sure the radiator functions properly, that your spark plugs & wires are in good shape, and purchase new headgasket & gasket for the cat.

 

[Turbo 420a]

First off, and especially with 100k+ miles, get a compression test done and make sure all of your cylinders have good compression. If compression is low in only one cylinder than typically that is caused by a bad exhaust valve. Two adjacent cylinders will tell you the notoriously weak 420a head gasket is failing. All of these things can be fixed for a decent price; however, if all of your cylinders are compressing fairly low than you will need to rebuild before you even think about going turbo.

With that kind of mileage it's a safe bet that your stock injectors won't last long while being pushed to flow the excess fuel a turbo demands. I boosted my eclipse with 80k miles and my injectors lasted only a few months. I highly recommend, and regret that I did not, purchase larger injectors AND a fuel management device (SAFC or S-FMU) before you buy a turbo kit. The S-AFC has worked for other DSM'ers but I have been told by several other members on this forum that it retards timing, not a good thing. The S-FMU (http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/accessories/fuel.html) is a manually adjustable version of the standard FMU that comes with the Star kit; this is what I am going to purchase.

These are two considerations (out of seemingly hundreds) that I find most important to check before boosting. With that many miles on your car, it all comes down to how confident you are about the condition of your vehicle, and your budget.

 

[kagegod]

you scare me Turbo...you really do. Guess I need to save for new injectors since my car's old engine had 110k miles on it and I'm not sure if they swapped injectors or what not (they might have considering they swapped throttle bodies on me)

 

[Mr Mike]

The s-afc will advance your timing not retard it.