turbo and spare wheel

[jimmy_james]

Hi cleaver people
I have a few questions which i cant get ansered from the search facility about my newly bought 1991 2.4 LTE surf

1. The hose from my air filter to the bit that goes over the engine was split and the previous owner put tape around the hose. When i replaced the hose i notice thick gunkey oil in the hose. Could this have come through the split or from the turbo?
Is there any maintenance to do on the turbo - eg oil etc.

2.The body has been lifted and fitted with 33" x 12.5 15R BFG's. There is wearing on the inside back right tyre - im guessing as its a fixed axel there can be no wheel alignment at the back? so could it be the previous owner changed the wheel from the front because it was worn?or could the wheels be out of line at the back?I found a firm who will do the alignment - is there anything i should be saying to them?

3. The front of the vehicle has had the lower body kit removed (the bit under the chrome bumper) Someone said to me this is illegal. Is it?Also the wider wheels are exactly the width of the wheel arches - is this illegal? as the know it all tried to tell me!

4. The spare wheel is a standard size - i think 29" and thinner than the bfg's. If i have a flat tyre will this do till i get the puncture repaired. I know the car will tilt slightly (by 2"). One guy said you need a matching wheel size to pass MOT, another guy said there is no prob using the current spare as a spare. - please advise as i dont want to buy a new tyre and rim for it - or damage the car driving short distances on a smaller wheel

5. Im in sutton coldfield, and as yet cant find a garage near who specialise in 4X4 and know what they are looking at. Can any one recomend one? Is there a member near by who wouldnt mind me coming to meet them to show them my car to see all is ok.

Many thanks guys!

[poppy986]

Hi m8ty
The front vallance was proberly removed to accomodate the larger
tyres as 33 inch tryes will rub.And no it is not ileagle.
The tryes should not protrude from the body work so if they
are flush ( or slightly proud like mine ) that is ok also.
The different size spare if you have to use it should be
on the front and in 2 wheel drive only otherwise you will get
wind up on the drive chain and will cause damage.
So if you get a rear flat you have to swop them around a bit
so the smaller tyre is on the front as said in 2 wheel drive.

Thats about the strengh of my knowledge so I will
have to lay down in a darken room for a while.
Enjoy your truck and hope you wiil get the answers you
require

Cheers Chris

[jimmy_james]

Chris
thanks so much!
You guys on this forum are legends!
But does anyone know about my issues with the turbo and the tracking?
ta

[surfenstein]

Chris
thanks so much!
You guys on this forum are legends!
But does anyone know about my issues with the turbo and the tracking?
ta

if you have got oil in the trunking,its propably from the breather pipe that goes into it from the rocker cover,i wouldnt worry about it to much unless there is loads of oil in the trunking,thats propably due to high blow by.

[TonyN]

Hi cleaver people
I have a few questions which i cant get ansered from the search facility about my newly bought 1991 2.4 LTE surf

1. The hose from my air filter to the bit that goes over the engine was split and the previous owner put tape around the hose. When i replaced the hose i notice thick gunkey oil in the hose. Could this have come through the split or from the turbo?
Is there any maintenance to do on the turbo - eg oil etc.

2.The body has been lifted and fitted with 33" x 12.5 15R BFG's. There is wearing on the inside back right tyre - im guessing as its a fixed axel there can be no wheel alignment at the back? so could it be the previous owner changed the wheel from the front because it was worn?or could the wheels be out of line at the back?I found a firm who will do the alignment - is there anything i should be saying to them?

3. The front of the vehicle has had the lower body kit removed (the bit under the chrome bumper) Someone said to me this is illegal. Is it?Also the wider wheels are exactly the width of the wheel arches - is this illegal? as the know it all tried to tell me!

4. The spare wheel is a standard size - i think 29" and thinner than the bfg's. If i have a flat tyre will this do till i get the puncture repaired. I know the car will tilt slightly (by 2"). One guy said you need a matching wheel size to pass MOT, another guy said there is no prob using the current spare as a spare. - please advise as i dont want to buy a new tyre and rim for it - or damage the car driving short distances on a smaller wheel



Many thanks guys!

2/ you shouldn't get odd wear on the rear unless somethnig is drasticly wrong, my guess is the same, its a front tyre, IFS Surf need the tracking checked every few years, they can wander out as bushes/ball joints wear.

3/Nope, more B/S, this from a online MOT tester mag....

"2. Your bumper has been seriously damaged in an accident so you have taken it off and the bumper irons stick out dangerously. Would this cause an MOT failure?
No, because a dangerous protrusion only results in a failure if it arises because the bodywork has either been damaged or is corroded."

4/ contrary to popular belief, the spare isn't examined in a MOT, so it doesn't matter. But i doubt anyone will notice its a different size.

[jimmy_james]

Hey thats great...seems like im gonna save cash on buying a new spare wheel then!
So is there no maintenance on the turbo then? i see that under it, there is some oil leaking out - not a huge amount but im keeping an eye on it.
Thanks for the really good advice!

[jimmy_james]

sorry
what does it mean if there is alot of oil in the pipe?
there was probably 3 tea spoons full in there - quite gunky
The head was replaced by the previous owner around 1000 miles ago

[TonyN]

sorry
what does it mean if there is alot of oil in the pipe?
there was probably 3 tea spoons full in there - quite gunky
The head was replaced by the previous owner around 1000 miles ago

Theres no telling if he cleaned the pipes out when changing the head, thats a reasonable amount for a few years of build up.

The only thing to do is clean it and keep an eye on it. If you got enough oil coming out the breather to start worrying about, it'll be smoking all the time as well.

Oil from the turbo won't get in to that bit of pipe, only crankcase pressure. If the turbo is leaking it'll be in the pipe from the turbo to intake elbow, or into the exhaust pipe making white smoke.

External oil leaks are probably from the gasket on the pipes under the turbo body.

[Guest]

2/ you shouldn't get odd wear on the rear unless somethnig is drasticly wrong, my guess is the same, its a front tyre, IFS Surf need the tracking checked every few years, they can wander out as bushes/ball joints wear.

3/Nope, more B/S, this from a online MOT tester mag....

"2. Your bumper has been seriously damaged in an accident so you have taken it off and the bumper irons stick out dangerously. Would this cause an MOT failure?
No, because a dangerous protrusion only results in a failure if it arises because the bodywork has either been damaged or is corroded."

4/ contrary to popular belief, the spare isn't examined in a MOT, so it doesn't matter. But i doubt anyone will notice its a different size.

Actually, if there is a spare on the vehicle it is checked for MOT but the size is not, only tread depth and visible damage. However it is not a legal requirement to have a spare so if you are worried, then don't put it on the vehicle for the MOT.

With regard to the rear tyre wearing on the inside, could possibly happen on the rear if suspension bushes are worn, however you would notice this when driving, for a tyre to wear on the back in that manner, the Surf would have to drive like a complete pig - it would wander around on the back as if the rear axle wasn't held in securely. Most likely has been rotated from the front.

[Guest]

Hi m8ty
The front vallance was proberly removed to accomodate the larger
tyres as 33 inch tryes will rub.And no it is not ileagle.
The tryes should not protrude from the body work so if they
are flush ( or slightly proud like mine ) that is ok also.
The different size spare if you have to use it should be
on the front and in 2 wheel drive only otherwise you will get
wind up on the drive chain and will cause damage.
So if you get a rear flat you have to swop them around a bit
so the smaller tyre is on the front as said in 2 wheel drive.

Thats about the strengh of my knowledge so I will
have to lay down in a darken room for a while.
Enjoy your truck and hope you wiil get the answers you
require

Cheers Chris

Actually the smaller tyre should be on the back and the diff will take up any drive train irregularity as long as it is not an LSD (which will pretty much be OK) or the diff is locked in which case unlock it (very few surfs will have a locking rear diff anyway.

You should never drive with odd size tyres on the front as the steering will be really badly affected. That being said, I have done it but only in a car and then when the space saver was the same diameter.

Cheers

[jimmy_james]

Is there a method to check th rear bushes?
the back wheels seem to have a diff lock - see pic- if this is right, how do i know if it is locked or not. the front wheel doesnt have this.
Which is better for the smaller spare - use it on the rear or the front??????
opinions anyone?

[Tallyman]

I don't see that as a diff lock, just the end of the halfshaft. If you do need to use a different sized spare, it's probably better on the rear as it won't upset the steering as much but keep the speed down to about 40 mph (less if wet).

[jimmy_james]

I don't see that as a diff lock, just the end of the halfshaft. If you do need to use a different sized spare, it's probably better on the rear as it won't upset the steering as much but keep the speed down to about 40 mph (less if wet).

But as someone pointed out, wont this knacker the drive chain on any of car?

(thanks for this advice by the way...without this place i would have spent loads of cash by now!)

[TonyN]

But as someone pointed out, wont this knacker the drive chain on any of car?

(thanks for this advice by the way...without this place i would have spent loads of cash by now!)

Nah, different size tyre won't hurt the car unless you have a LSD or Auto locker. I doubt you have a locker, you pic is just the rear drum as stated.

Your thinking of running it 4wd, this will put undue stress on the drive train, normally the front CV's will die before anything else.



To check the rear bushes, you just have to look at all the 4 link rods on the back axle, give them a yank and see if they wiggle about. I've not seen one yet that are that bad.

[jimmy_james]

ok
but how do i know if i have an auto locker or lsd?
what test/inspection can i do.
Once i have done them its fine to put the standard size spare on the rear then?
cheers