SE Owners - check out your intake pipe!

pinkie · Postby **pinkie** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:48 pm

I am still confused!

Has it been an issue with any Aussie SE's yet and why is the expansion a problem?

More air can't be bad can it?

AJ · Postby AJ » Tue Jun 20, 2006 10:14 pm

well yeah pinkie, if that pipe pops, there'll be a world of trouble for that engine & it's turbo

Casey · Postby **Casey** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 11:25 pm

AJ wrote:well yeah pinkie, if that pipe pops, there'll be a world of trouble for that engine & it's turbo

I had to replace the rubber hoses (similar material to radiator hose) on my modified MX6 turbo with mandrel bent steel pipes. The problem was the rubber hoses were expanding at full boost and were costing a psi or two.

Stupid here originally didn't get bead welded on the edges of the pipes and they got blown off under boost - always the hardest one to get to and when I was the furtherest from home. The car wouldn't run below 4000rpm and each time resulted in a stall an a flat tow home.

Made a brilliant noise when it happened though :roll:

PT · Postby PT » Tue Jun 20, 2006 11:44 pm

I too had that happen with mine... Did make a good sound, but the first time it did I freaked not knowing what it was.

Fortunately for me it was the clamp on the throttle body boot had let go at about 11psi.

Loved that car!

Alf · Postby **Alf** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:01 am

AJ: You're probably right about it having been weakened by previous overboosting, kinda like a balloon that you've blown up & let down a few times. If it pops off, I can't imagine it causing any damage to either engine (which would see no boost) or turbo (which would see no backpressure). Worst case would be crap getting sucked in 'cos it's not going through the AF. You'd notice something wrong pretty quick, I reckon.

Casey: Can't imagine expanding hoses \"costing a psi or two\". I think they *might* increase lag in both spool-up and spool-down, though. Hardest ones to get to? Must be Murphy at work there! Would prefer to do without that noise, thank you very much.

Cheers,
Alf

pinkie · Postby **pinkie** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:02 am

So owners of standard, unmodified SE's should therefore not be concerned - it's a case of watch and wait for time to deteriorate the plastic to the point where it gets brittle! ?

Casey · Postby **Casey** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:23 pm

PT wrote:I too had that happen with mine... Did make a good sound, but the first time it did I freaked not knowing what it was.

Fortunately for me it was the clamp on the throttle body boot had let go at about 11psi.

Loved that car!

Nice - yours must have been about the same year as mine was (late '89)although mine was the 4WS model. I still reckon that was the best car made by Mazda quality and equipment wise before the Japanese economic bubble burst and cost-cutting was introduced.

Mine was running 220hp ATW on 14psi with a high flow turbo, ECU reprogram (which also raised the over-boost fuel cut), mandrel 2.5" exhaust and increased fuel rail pressure.

Alf · Postby **Alf** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 5:58 pm

Well, had mine on the dyno today (Dyno Dynamics, 102kW vs stock SP @ 112 just before it, both measured in 5th gear).

That inlet pipe definitely ballooned out a bit, though nowhere near as much as the one in the picture that started all this.

Cheers,
Alf