Help with turbocharging my SC400 1UZ-FE

[poorsupra]

subscribed to this thread, lots of info that anyone interested in boostin a uz will def need. keep up the good work. my uz should get to see a nice twinscroll holset soon.

 

[mickesanda]

Fire

Hello friends,
I've got some sad news, today while i started the engine in the garage at work a loud explosion came from the engine, my friend who was standing next to the car got some minor burns, i i got my extinguisher from the trunk and emptied it, but it didn't make any difference. I work for the fire prevention association (irony) and we had at least 20 extinguishers in the garage right next to my car. I emptied one more, in the mean time some volunteers came with extinguishers and in the end we managed to kill the fire.
Needless to say the smoke was thick and fire department, police and ambulance came, they insisted that we go to the hospital for check-ups, but it was nothing.
I couldn't see that well what was damaged, but most plastic details melted, there is a lot of powder from the extinguisher.
Anyways, the big problem is that my insurance didn't cover fire since it was just a garage policy.
I am thinking that i could buy a 6 cylinder turbo engine instead, but i do not know which one to choose. Or should i buy one more 1UZ-FE?

Any suggestions?
/Mike

 

[stevechumo]

Wow! Sorry to hear that Mike. It could have been a fuel leak. If you want to keep the engine, take it out and see what can be fixed. If the burned parts aren't severe, then replace them and run again. You can also check the aftermarket fuel parts such as the FMU, fuel hoses, fuel pressure regulator..etc, just to learn why it happened.

You can also buy another engine and throw it in with the supercharger setup.

 

[stevechumo]

You were still very lucky, because it caught fire while parking, and you're not driving.

 

[mickesanda]

You were still very lucky, because it caught fire while parking, and you're not driving.

Yeah Steve, I'm aware of that and I really am thankful for it. I have 2 small dogs with me in the car usually and I probably would've grabbed them and left the car to burn. Plus that my really small extinguisher didn't help at all.
Anyways, it's my birthday in a few days and the wife said I could buy all the things I need to fix the car.
I was thinking of buying one more engine and a wire loom and all the damaged details. I am emailing with a salvage yard in Florida, we'll see if they can find the parts. I would be grateful if you guys could provide me with a few contact details (email addresses) for salvage yards in US that might have SC400 parts.
I power washed the car and found the culprit, it was (as we guessed) a fuel line that jumped out and gasoline vaporized on the exhaust manifold or the cats.
Here are some pictures:

I spoke to a friend of mine who has an auto workshop and he agreed that I can have the car there for as long as it takes, i am planning on taking out the engine and do a thorough check, do a wire tuck, paint the engine bay, change motor mounts, change headers to the aftermarket ones that I have.
I must admit I got pretty sad, but it didn't looked that bad, it can be fixed.
/Mike

 

[SC400TT]

Mike,

So sorry to see your very bad luck. I give you credit for not throwing in the towel. Rebuild it and be sure to use the best hoses. fittings, and triple check those fuel lines on the next iteration, although I am sure you know all this.

Ryan

 

[mickesanda]

Parts list

Thx Ryan,
I found a dealer in UK who has a few Soarers, this is the list of parts that i ordered:
1 x charcoal canister
1 x VSV for EGR
1 x VSV for fuel pressure
1 x EGR vacuum modulator
1 x diagnostic connector DLC1 (if not included in wire loom)
1 x brake fluid reservoir
1 x driver door side protection moulding, drivers side, including clips
1 x LH Timing engine cover
1 x RH Timing engine cover
1 x LH Wire engine cover
1 x RH Wire engine cover
1 x engine under cover front small with air intake holes
1 x engine under cover back bigger
1 x LH fender liner (wheel well splash guard)
1 x RH fender liner (wheel well splash guard)
1 x LH fender splash shield
1 x RH fender splash shield
1 x fuse box with plastic cover
1 x hood insulator
1 x hood lock plastic cover (between radiator and front bumper)
2 x plastic details front
1 x relay box plastic cover
1 x throttle valve + 1 x throttle position sensor
1 x upper high tension cover
1 x engine wire harness

This is all i could see before i remove the engine.
It totaled the amount of 485 £ or 500 euros, which in my opinion is pretty humane.
We'll see if the parts are as promised.
/Mike

 

[stevechumo]

It looks like the fuel hose popped, probably due to the loose clamp. If you use braided hose cover for the fuel line, you'd need a stronger clamp than that standard clamp. The braided hose cover makes the clamp slips easily and not tightened enough. The FMU increases the fuel pressure up to 112 psi or more, depending on boost. The ratio 12:1 means it increases 12 psi of fuel pressure per 1 psi of boost. If you boost 6 psi, then it'll be 12 x 6= 72 plus 40 psi of stock pressure. The total is 112 psi of fuel pressure.

When I used the FMU, I used high pressure fuel injection hose with standard clamps like your clamps. However, I didn't use braided hose cover. The standard clamp could hold the soft rubber hose without slipping.

You may need to open up that FMU to check and see if the rubber diaphram in it is still normal. If it's melted, then you will need replacement.

For used parts, you can check out the used part vendors on www.clublexus.com under classified section for SC300/SC400. They may have what you need. Aliga is one the popular vendors there.

 

[mickesanda]

I am painfuly aware that it was my infatuation and my stupid need of changing all the hoses to shiny new ones that caused this. I also think that the stock rubber hose would've held better. Ehh.. we all learn from our mistakes
/Mike

P.S. I've got a question regarding my radiator. The stock one was really rotten and i replaced it a while ago with a new one for SC300. The dimensions were almost the same, however the radiator cap is located on the radiator itself unlike the SC400 one.
Does this mean that I can change the expansion bottle to any aftermarket bottle of my choosing since that part is not pressurized anymore? It would save a lot of space to replace the stock one with a cylindrical aftermarket bottle.

 

[stevechumo]

You're not the only one who makes big mistake. Cheer up, my friend. It's in the fun. I make even bigger mistake, too. To the point that I crashed my entire car and had to buy another shell. I had to build up an entire car from exterior to interior.

I saw a few guys use aftermarket expasion reservoirs with aftermarket radiators and they work fine. Some of them put the reservoir in front of the radiator. I don't see a reason why it won't work if all hoses are routed similar to the original setup.

 

[zerku100]

Hello. Micke i feel sorry for you, it hurts alot when you put alot of work to do something and it all get fucked. :/ Anyways don;t give up its nice to see someone is working on engine to make it better. i am owner of the sc400 aswell since 2 years, best car i even driven.(drove the new bmw, mercedes) but i feel the best in the sc400! But honestly 280 hp isnt enough for the weight of the car and its nessecary to upgrate the engine. Well i havent done alot to my car, almost nothing for the past 2 years. Gonna start withing 2 months, from fully painting by myself for the black pearl(got original dark matallic green), new timming belt, all skins inside, brake discs etc. Also seen few interesting things in luxurymods that ofc i will buy. Gonna cost me alot of caswh but its worth it. I created an account here to reply for you mens, dont give up makes the dream come true. IF you do it, i will do it aswell, coz i will sttart with the outside tunning for now on coz my car looks terrible and when i am finished with it i will make the enigne exhaust. I am from Poland, and you all know that we don;t earn much money in here. but gotr small company myself, and its enough for me to use most of the money for my car! yet i dont got wife nor kids either. i hope when i start with the enigine you gonna help me some with the info? greetings. sorry for my english ;D ahh one thing is confusing me. how is it with the petrol usage? is it taking much more? or alot more when the engine is supercharged?

 

[mickesanda]

Hi Zerku,
Thank you for your kind words, I'll do as the phoenix bird, and hopefully I'll have a nice car till next summer.
I have many polish friends in Stockholm and i did my leather interior in Sopot or Rumia. I will gladly help you in any way I can. Let me know if you need any info.
/Mike

 

[mickesanda]

Hi,
Today I got a special "ok-because-it's-your-birthday" permit to work on the kitchen table.
I spent my birthday polishing engine parts with mother's polish after washing them in the bathtub.
That kind of soot that's left after plastic and rubber fire is the worst kind. It doesn't come off with degreaser or clorine or pressure wash, wheel cleaner helps a little.
Anyways, i removed a few parts today and it doesn't look so bad:

I have to clean everything as soon as possible, it rusts / oxidates very fast.

After:

All nice and shiny again

/mike

 

[mickesanda]

Clean, polish, clean, paint, clean, polish....

Some more stuff i cleaned up this weekend:

/Mike

 

[BlackUZZ31]

Typically once you apply a powered fire extinguisher to a car it is considered a write off due to it's corrosive nature

I would be going crazy on anything left in the engine bay with CRC or WD40 and then fish oil the engine bay with gusto!

this is why I use speedflow fittings whenever possible! hard lesson learned I hope!

 

[stevechumo]

It'll be much easier if you take out the engine to inspect what the real damage is, and what needs to be replaced. It'll also be easier to take out parts and clean, when the engine is outside. 2 people will take out the engine in 3 hours or less, depending on how you're familiar with this engine.

 

[mickesanda]

Thx, Steve, that's the plan, i'll do it as soon as I find the right opportunity.
/Mike