Blowing lots of smoke almost Daily!!

Fuel is doing better :)
Bad news. im attempting to sell my MSP i love the car to death, but im going to get an 09 speed3 :) little more money, but more justified to put alot of time and effort since that engine was built better for the turbo. well see what happens!
 
To be honest, that is the much better financial decision. You could blow a few thousand dollars before all is said and done and you will still be left with a 10 year old car that has very little value despite the low miles.

The tune on this car is its biggest downfall. I drive mine very aggressively, and have gotten a worst of 19, but usually end up somewhere in the 24-25 range. I've gotten a full 30 on the highway before, and my dad managed 31 in city driving because he is old. It all depends on how you drive it.

It certainly sounds like the turbo is burning oil, and unfortunately it and its replacements are very expensive. The car must have been fairly abused to ruin one that fast though. As much as I hate to lose fellow MSP owners, you should probably move on to the Speed3.
 
Highly unlikely your turbo is bad, More likely is rings due to the PO running the car with no air filter, or valve seals. The poor gas mileage you are getting leads me to believe its the rings.
 
I'd bet it's his turbo....its sounds exactly like what mine was doing at first,listen to it "whining" when it spools sometimes sounds kinda kool but it disaster coming your way
 
With the turbo, there is no whining etc, and its only blowing smoke once in a while, ive been in the habit of leaving it in neutral down all hills. the Mpg has slightly gone up with the new orings.
If its not the turbo, then id be interested if anyone knows: how much would it cost on average to rebuild the engine, make it a bit stronger, I wonder if it is the valve guides gone bad? but most of these things would cause it to always blow smoke right? I love the car but im easily putting a quart in every week and its not cheap hah
 
On the speed3 topic. I actually went to a dealership earlier this week. they took mine for a ride and i took the speed for a ride. Same mileage, Silver, 2008, real good shape, they wanted 16,998 for it. they offered me 5000 for my car.. i got em to go to 5800, but i still couldnt get myself to do it..
I expect to lose something by trading it in, but i cant afford to hand it over for 5800 bucks. i could try to craigs list it for a bit more than that. I really did like that speed3 and It along with a speed6 or FD would be my only options for another car aside from my MSP.
Also i couldnt bring myself to pay for the speed3 for 4-5 years. by time its actually mine, itd be like 8 years old then im back where i started, and the whole no warranty sucks hah
 
By more likely the rings due to Po... etc
which rings do we mean, just the seals inside the turbo? are those the ones that can be swapped by the rebuild kits, or is this turbo shot if thats the case?
 
ah that makes sense, thanks. yea i regret buying it from people who abused the car. I love the car but i think im going to upgrade to a speed3. 08 with 50,000 sound good? theyre much better engines in them right? the MZR is more durable and worth the extra money to upgrade to a newer car. maybe just add the extended warranty to 100k?
 
+1 on the ms3 although they don't use the mzr or at least I'm pretty sure they don't. But I plan to get one soon
 
Yeah the DISI 2.3 in the Speed3, Speed6 and CX-7 is called the MZR. Honestly I wouldn't buy a stock speed3, the Garrett Turbo in the MSP is FAR better than the plastic bearing turbo in the newer cars. You are just going to run into more problems with the MS3 especially when you mod it.
 
The Speed3 is by far the best performance deal on the market these days. I've gone through this numerous times with my friends and my brother. We test drove a lot of cars.

It's much more reliable than the MSP from my experience because it was designed to be turbocharged. Granted some concessions were made to keep it that way, lowering boost in lower gears, and not making nearly the power the engine is capable of from just a tune. But if you keep it relatively stock, it should last a very long time. The oldest I know of in my circle of friends is an '08 with about 70k on it and the only real issue is his A/C clutch failed. He's not the kind of guy to take care of a car either, so I think a more loved car would do even better.

My brother bought an '11 last summer and loves it. I've driven it quite a bit and I even came very close to buying one myself on multiple occasions. I drove one back to back with an EvoX and I thought the MS3 was infinitely more fun to drive, while being much more comfortable as well. The only downside is that it feels tall compared to the MSP, because it is. Parked next to my MSP it looks twice the size, but there is nothing on the market currently that is as small.

The only thing I think will offer the same level of fun as the MSP is the BRZ/FRS, which you won't be able to get your hands on for a while, and will be frustratingly slow with only two NA liters. Turbo kits will be out soon, but then you lose your warranty and defeat the point of a new car. You also lose the very functional rear doors and full sized seats.

This is why my MSP is staying with me.
 
Im keeping my MSP because its simply fun and semi rare. theres close to none anywhere near me :/ sometimes i wish there were ha. I love the size of the msp and how it shifts too, so upgrading to a newer model probably just wouldnt be as much fun! hah

FRS-BRZ
I saw a Fr-s at a car meet last saturday, and you can build your own Br-z now. Brz has been released as far as i know, i didnt think the fr-s was until mid summer but there was one there. it was definitely it too! amazing looking but i agree, they have much more potential!

So in the MSP there is a better turbo on a weaker engine and ms3 has stronger engine with worse turbo... i dont understand why they do that hah. If i were to have bought the speed3 i would keep it 90% stock, it already had intake and back half exhaust. and i would do a few exterior mods but i couldnt afford much more..

I just pray that in the long run my decision to keep my car is worth it. many mechanics i know have all said the car is fine, the turbo is likely the problem. but best bet is to keep running it, add the oil when it needs it and enjoy. There's no point to fixing/building the engine, the engines running fine, and when the turbo goes, replace it. Cause right now its not 100% the turbo that is the problem.
 
Cool, I haven't seen either of the Toyobaru twins in person yet. They seem nice and small from pics and are supposed to be uber light. Could be really fun. I have to go drive one when they become more available.

Unfortunately turbos are expensive. You can go the chinacharger route with probably a little loss in response and a definite loss in reliability, but if it lasts 50k miles it's probably worth the experiment. Something just feels wrong about it to me, and if mine does go, I'll probably go disco or just buy a new CHRA. In the long run, the new CHRA is probably the most economical route.
 
So last night, wanted to go for a drive.. big mistake. pulled out of my driveway, got a partial blow off. got confused so i go to accelerate.. all boost is gone :( boost gauge still reads normal backpressure, just no boost, it stops at zero, car is so slow!!!! Slotege now! I was told it could just be a leak from a coupling or soemthing along that line, or the turbo may be shot. any ideas? this new turbo idea might be sooner than i think.
The car still drives, its just not fast, at all. Im also not sure if i should keep driving or immediately park it till its fixed.
No boost, no speed, i cant tell if i hear the turbo whine or not. Didnt lose any coolant, no smoke, no oil. hopefully just a leak??
 
like i know the turbo is going since its burning oil. But yea ill be so happy if thats all it is. i have extra. plus having it parked tomorrow ill put the rest of the CAI in since i took it out for the winter. Ill be so excited. so one of your couplers just popped off? when accelerating or just over time?
 
The coupler was a cheap ebay T-bolt and it rusted and broke at the spot weld. It didn't even look like the coupler was disconnected at first. Check all of your connections. Also, you should get a replacement turbo ASAP.

like i know the turbo is going since its burning oil. But yea ill be so happy if thats all it is. i have extra. plus having it parked tomorrow ill put the rest of the CAI in since i took it out for the winter. Ill be so excited. so one of your couplers just popped off? when accelerating or just over time?
 
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