Watch-out for your DSM Pessimism Options

[awd4kicks]

Over the past year or two, I've been getting a feeling of pessimism from the DSM crew as well as myself about DSM's.

It's not shocking considering all of the problems that we have collectively worked through. However, we are probably one of the few enthusiast groups that say more bad things about our cars than good. (I am a huge culprit for that)

Over the past couple weeks I ran into a few problems with the Talon. At first they seemed semi-minor and just required some time and diagnosis. After a while of that I was able to find some simple repairs like a 3/16" gap between the TB and the UICP elbow (That I ran 118mph at the track with!) and an easy battery ground tightening. At the same time I had been chasing boost leaks down for a while, and pressurized the system enough that I got tired of it. No where could I find anything that was causing the fuel cut symptoms that I had been experiencing.

Well I let it sit for a few days and then went back to it. I decided a test drive was in order. Upon start-up I found oil smoke from the exhaust and smoke from around the 4000 mile turbo. I figured that I needed to run it some to burn off any excess oil and whatever. So I did, and after a few minutes I start in the boost… Wham fuel cut again. And then again, and again. So I take it back to the garage and start putting two and two together. (Oil from exhaust, smoke from turbo, and stalling upon acceleration in this instance) I pull the intake pipe and find oil pooled up in the pipe and on the compressor side of the turbo. DAMN! My turbo seals and maybe the whole turbo is shot! That’s a minimum of $700 to $850 fix!

I let it set for another week while I tried to get a hold of Forced Performance. While I'm waiting I read their FAQ and find that turbo seals don't go out unless the bearings have gone out and mine seemed fine. They say a blocked oil return line or excessive crank case pressure can back oil into the turbo and past the seals. (Like when you boost leak test and have the valve cover vents blocked off as in my case!!!)

So I go look at the car last night. Sure enough the bearings are fine. I wipe off the extra oil and take it for a spin. I soon realize that I'm under an eighth of a tank of fuel... Hmmm that would cause fuel cut symptoms if I got on it right then wouldn't it!?! So I fill up with good gas and take the car out all night and it runs like a raped ape! What a fool.

I felt really stupid for jumping to catastrophic conclusions. After I thought about it for a while I realized that we all seem to assume the worst because we have seen so many problems. This makes me wonder how many issues may not have been as serous as we thought.

So the moral is to give it some time, and think clearly through your diagnosis without being tainted with the number of past DSM problems.

These cars have a few glass jaws, but they sure do move when they are working! Keep up the good fight fellas.