help!

[gazno45]

hi there well i purchased number 45 at last i own a original maestro turbo!
i drove it back from coventry and to be honest it was quite and drove fine.
well drove it today as well, if im honest i havent been impressed with the power of the car, i did have a t16 maestro turbo with t28 /front mount intercooler so i keep thinking maybe its because of that ,
but i feel than when coming on boost its very unnoticable i expected a big kick when the turbo came in and instead you get a lot of noise in my view.
and the revs do go up but not as fast as i would expect. i wondered weather the intercooler pipes are leaking?
unfortunatly i have never drove one of these cars before so i cannot comment on how fast it should be, but in its time it has run a 14.7 and in my view at this time it wouldnt achieve that.
one of my main concerns is when you turn the vehicle off it continues to run so am i right in saying it may require tuning? , it has a manual choke yet runs when warm at 1500 rpm is there anyone on here who currently tunes these cars?i am willing to pay to get it right. i am after a high spec mid to low 14s would be great but my knowledge on these cars isnt great.

the current spec is standard turbo straight through exhaust, front mount intercoler, unsure what boost it was in a magazine and the guy had a switchable 15 to 20 psi of boost??
can the engine take that?
thanks sorry about all the questions!!

[E_T_V]

Congratulations on the purchase. I'll do my plug for the maestro turbo register now (visit www.maestroturbo.org.uk for more info), and a contact form to hopefully let me have the new contact details for the new owner of the car.

Standard power for a maestro turbo is about 150 horses, so it isn't suprising it doesn't feel as quick as a T16 with 210 horsies or so.

However something definatly doesn't sound right as the turbo does come on strongly at higher revs, in a very old skool kind of way. Find out what boost you are running is the first plan and then check the tuning as it should idle at around 800rpm when cold for a standard engine. Also VERY carefully check all of the pipes for splits and leaks. The carb balance pipe is prone to cracking and it really upsets things.

Where are you based? Perhaps someone local could lend a hand

The engine can take 15psi usually without much grief so long as the fueliong is right but without lots of mods I can't see it being very reliable at 20psi

[gazno45]

hi there i will definatly go to your site and log in with my details :)
i have finally got it boosting how it should it was the pipe which runs from th intercooler to the plenum it was basicaly nearly off the jubille was very loose!
it now pulls well and isnt far from the coupe id say!
it does require tuning badly as it runs on after you turn it off i tried adjusting it on he philips on the right of the carb clockwise increased the idle but anti clockwise wouldnt decrease the idle less than 1500 rpm warm,does this do co and h./c or just idle?is there a seperate idle screw? i havent got any air leaks from what i can see and compressions are 150 plus across all four bores so i was happy with that it has a lightened and balanced bottom end which has only done 30k so im happy with that too!
im going to fit a boost gauge but one thing i will say it has one fitted yet doesnt work it is connected to a outlet on the plenum i puled the pipe off the plenum on idle and it doesnt suck or blow?? any ideas i thought it would blow?
it is thick pipe too i was expecting thin vacumn pipe to the boost gauge this is thicker , i also noticed all in the bost gauge it is very old but this cant be normal?? thanks for your help, im based in birmingham and any help from anyone who could lend hand would be much appreciated i dont mind paying! :)
i may try aldon automitive in dudly have been told these are good? thanks again :)

[G Force]

it does require tuning badly as it runs on after you turn it off i tried adjusting it on he philips on the right of the carb clockwise increased the idle but anti clockwise wouldnt decrease the idle less than 1500 rpm warm,does this do co and h./c or just idle?is there a seperate idle screw?

Hi and welcome to the forums, sorry for the very late reply,. Just incase you have not found any solution to your high idle speed there are a few reasons why you may not be able to slow down the idle speed.

1. not enough free play in the throttle cable.

2. fast idle speed set too high, To check this; with the engine at normal termperature pull off the coolant sensor plug, with the adjusting screw next to the stepper motor set the idle speed to 1150rpm +- 50rpm and refit the coolant sensor plug.

3. The breather hose that connects to the check valve in the centre top of the inlet manifold should have a small plastic restrictor jet in it. This jet often can be lost or gets stuck sideways in the rubber breather hose. When the CO is set when this jet is missing the idle speed wont' slow down.

4. The throttle butterfly sometimes needs recentralising in the carb body. You need to remove the carb to do this.

5. Faulty coolant sensor or open circuit in coolant sensor wiring.

6. Badly worn butterfly shaft, but you should have evidence of fuel leaking from spindle seals.

The idle screw just does the idle speed, there is a seperate mixture adjusting screw to adjust CO.


im going to fit a boost gauge but one thing i will say it has one fitted yet doesnt work it is connected to a outlet on the plenum i puled the pipe off the plenum on idle and it doesnt suck or blow?? any ideas i thought it would blow?
it is thick pipe too i was expecting thin vacumn pipe to the boost gauge this is thicker

You need to check that the pipe to the boost gauge is ok as you will lose boost pressure and fuel pressure if this pipe is open to atmosphere. The pipe has to be reasonably substantial to withstand the boost pressure without bellowing.

At idle you will not get any sucking or blowing from the pipe on the plenumn chamber because there is no boost at idle, and the plenumn is atmosphere side of the carb so there will be no difference in pressure across the pipe stub. So thats quite normal.

Gary:)

[gazno45]

thanks a lot just spotted this still havent sorted out idle, i shall follow what you have said and let you know the results thanks again!:)