Thread: Defender Puma 130 Head Gasket, Head & Turbo Failure

Originally Posted by big harold

I am able to get to 900 without the BAS tune.
Don't get me wrong it doesn't sit there all day but with your foot into it it will get there remarkably quickly.
I contacted BAS and it was common place apparently.
My EGT is pre turbo in the flange the turbo bolts to. it is also very accurate and responsive to temp change.
I will be installing one to my other 2.2 in the near future so I will be able to compare.
Mark

You can clearly see that mine was in the exhaust manifold.

Again, even tuned never saw anywhere near 900. And yes I drive it hard and pushed it hard. In saying that I had done a bunch on mods that may have helped reduce my egts. Egr delete, cat delete, bigger cooler, removed best shield around turbo, provent 200 oil air separator etc. How much these helped I don't know but the recipe worked well for consistent egt temp control

Hi Nando

Is that a 1/4" Tap into the exhaust manifold for the pyrometer?

Did you weld in any stiffening to accommodate the tap hole? or just drill through the manifold?

A Little bit concerned about creating a stress riser around the probe.

Where did you get your decat pipe from, if you don't mind me asking.


Thanks

Clive

Originally Posted by clive22

Hi Nando

Is that a 1/4" Tap into the exhaust manifold for the pyrometer? Yes

Did you weld in any stiffening to accommodate the tap hole? or just drill through the manifold? Not necessary, just still through. Ward at Graeme cooper did my install

A Little bit concerned about creating a stress riser around the probe. Not an issue

Where did you get your decat pipe from, if you don't mind me asking. Bruce Davis performance. It was part of my Alive tune package along with the intercooler.


Thanks

Clive

Hi mate, please see my responses above next to your questions.

Originally Posted by 1nando

You can clearly see that mine was in the exhaust manifold.

Again, even tuned never saw anywhere near 900. And yes I drive it hard and pushed it hard. In saying that I had done a bunch on mods that may have helped reduce my egts. Egr delete, cat delete, bigger cooler, removed best shield around turbo, provent 200 oil air separator etc. How much these helped I don't know but the recipe worked well for consistent egt temp control

I have my EGT probe in exactly the same place as yours.
I have 170 BAS tune including BAS intercooler.
Cat delete, heat shield removed along with centre muffler. The EGR is turned off in the tune.
My boost goes to about 25psi.
It is well documented that common rail diesels run higher EGT's

What is your boost reading??
What EGT gauge do you run Digital?

Originally Posted by big harold

I have my EGT probe in exactly the same place as yours.
I have 170 BAS tune including BAS intercooler.
Cat delete, heat shield removed along with centre muffler. The EGR is turned off in the tune.
My boost goes to about 25psi.
It is well documented that common rail diesels run higher EGT's

What is your boost reading??
What EGT gauge do you run Digital?

I can not remember 100% what my boost reading was but I think it was around 22-23psi.

I had the egr off and also blanked. Blanking makes no difference really but I asked for this to be done.

The probe and display were purchased from Thermoguard industries. Ian supplies excellent australian made gear, he is also a world of knowledge.

I agree about modern diesels running hot. This problem in particular is what gave the zd30 it's "grenade" nick name, able to achieve 800-900 degrees in standard trim when pushed hard.

I am convinced that the high performance tunes that people get are what kill the puma engine. I know that the Alive cooler reduced intake temps dramatically in combination with the decat dump pipe, and obviously egts

Judging by our similar mods, the OP's issue and your input in regards to your readings I think the 170hp BAS tune may run a little hot when pushed in Australia. My personal opinion is that a mild tune with complementary mods can produce a very relaible and safe EGT result.

Out of curiosity Harold did you read my egt thread? Curious to get your input on the numbers documented and your thoughts

Also keen to know what your water temps are when running greater than 700 degree egts? Water temp will be lagging slightly behind the egt readings but should climb. In my thread I made reference to water temps at certain egt readings

I can get to 900 deg on the standard tune.
I will say that the EGT drops as fast as it rises.
The normal coolant temp is around 90 deg but climbs if high EGT's are present.
I could easily overheat if I wanted to.
As I said previous I now drive of the EGT temps.
Does your EGT rise and fall quickly.
My son has a dial EGT gauge and it is no where near as responsive.
Mark

Originally Posted by big harold

I can get to 900 deg on the standard tune.
I will say that the EGT drops as fast as it rises.
The normal coolant temp is around 90 deg but climbs if high EGT's are present.
I could easily overheat if I wanted to.
As I said previous I now drive of the EGT temps.
Does your EGT rise and fall quickly.
My son has a dial EGT gauge and it is no where near as responsive.
Mark

Apologies Mark, called you Harold. sorry mate.


Yes it did fall quiet quickly and rise quiet quickly.

As mentioned never saw close to 900 on standard tune, never more than 700ish if I recall correctly.

My gauge was digital.

I had a 2010 110 2.4 a few years back with a 150 custom BAS remap and the Alisport intercooler. Pete from BAS told me the IC upgrade was imperative for the remap. The remap also deleted the EGR.
My fuel economy improved and the performance was great. I set her up for overlanding and we towed a camper trailer - all up weighing in at 5.3t.
We set off on a 12 month big lap had only done around 15k kms (total k’s on car were around 90k) when the turbo started to over boost by 70%! She was a slug off the line, then went like a rocket once turbo got on boost- a bit like powerband really .
Got the turbo on diagnostics and found it likely that one/some of the variable fins had been damaged, possibly by coke deposits letting go after the EGR delete (?) The turbo now had a lot of bearing slop/rattle and had to go.
I put a 2nd hand one on that I got from TR spares in Radelaide so we could continue our round Oz trip with minimal budget loss.
She went well for the remaining 30k kms and was still going well when I sold her.

Things I learned:
Intercooler upgrade is a must and I would have done the radiator as well if it was in the budget.
: get the manifold etc cleaned after EGR delete.
: CAT cooks your turbo - get rid of it.
: low coolant alarm in the overflow bottle can save a lot of headaches
: I don’t believe exhaust upgrade is necessary but deleting the mid muffler makes the floor under the rear passengers bare feet bearable; good with dyna mat.

I am mostly a stay home dad now, with stuff all income and will be for another 18 months, so I’ve gone back to a mostly stock td5 130. I de catted it, got rid of EGR and that’s about it.
The running costs are a lot lower, I’ve not broken anything major and I’ve mostly fixed things myself under instruction from Greg at Get It Automotive at Tuggerah. I highly recommend him to all.
I couldn’t afford to keep the puma, though I do miss her, she was really nicely setup.

Btw I think the Ranger engine swap is north of $20k and then you’d need to upgrade the whole driveline to cope. I’d love to do it but