Nissan GTI-R Pulsar turbo issues/questions

Hi all, I have just bought a 1992 Nissan GTI-R Pulsar:grinyes: Its been modified to run just under 1bar boost and has front mounted intercooler and an auto fuel controller box fitted. Has performance plugs, induction kit, clutch, leads etc.

The car is supposed to have 270-300BHP.

When I put my foot down nothing happens until 3500rpm. When I change from 1st to 2nd after thrashing it I still get the turbo lag changing into 2nd and the car after a second starts to again accelerate like mad... should not be like this no?

QUESTION - I know the car is not running right, but why is the car boosting so late? I feel the boost starting at 2500rpm but the lunge forward does not start to 3500-3800rpm.:banghead:

Any help guys would be great as this is my first pulsar. I am thinking maybe its the turbo? Its done 83000miles = 150,000kms ish. There is also some oil around the turbo, I don't know why, the rocker cover gasket is leaking and will be changed soon so that could be the oil. Also when booting sometimes there is grey smoke coming from the exhaust.. but I have only seen this happen twice before.

One last question... does the engine have to come out to take the turbo off? I know these cars are a pig to work on :evillol:

Well depending on the size of the turbo that may or may not be normal behavior. It's not uncommon for larger, upgraded turbos not to produce full boost until you are well into the upper rpm range. The turbo in your car maybe a bit large for it's displacement in which case the way it is responding is unfortunately normal.

However the smoke and the oil on the turbo might indicate a blown seal in the turbo in which case it would provide very poor performance and shoot grey/blue-ish smoke from the exhaust pipe. Or the smoke may not be from oil but rather the car running rich, indicating an improper air/fuel ratio that would have to be sorted out.

Thanks for your post.

As far as I know the turbo is the standard T28... I don't know how the boost has been altered to run higher (any suggestions guys?) but I think my problems are a multitude of issues ranging from bad turbo through to poor tuning.

Does anyone who if the turbo can be removed from a 1992 NIssan GTI-R Pulsar without the engine coming out?

Thanks everyone.

Pulling the turbo with the engine in: Not having done it I can't tell you for sure, but having looked at some engine bay pictures and some shots of engines on the ground, I would say yes. It might be a pain in the ass but it should definately be possible. Usually if you can get to it you can remove it and getting the the turbo doesn't look like it is too much of an issue on the Pulsar.

As for everything else, I would just start checking the basic functions of the motor, starting with the simple stuff and working up. Spark plug gap, timing, boost leaks, ecu codes, sensor shorts...etc etc. It's usually the long way around a problem but it will usually net the best results in the end. You might find one main problem or a few smaller ones but even if it's a blown turbo at least you'll be confident that the rest of the motor is in good working order.

Yeah, the turbo can be removed without the engine coming out. Best done by removing the exhaust manifold from the head at the same time.

The GTiR motor is very laggy with a front mount intercooler fitted, just the length of the pipes and the time it takes the comrpessed air to reach the engine.

Common to have an oil seal go in the turbo but if your getting small puffs of smoke from the exhaust when the throttle closes, I guess you have the BOV venting to atmosphere??