Turbo Diesel Owners Club UK - Diesel Tuning and Discussion

Hi been registered on here for ages but never really posted, anyway, having read a few of the fmic projects I finally got round to having a crack at it myself, tried to clone mr whippys setup which I'd seen on pug306.net as much as I could although I couldn't get long legged 90 degree pipes so just used straights and silicon bends for the pipes behind the rad coming through to the intercooler.

The first stage began about a year and a half ago when I hit a badger one night, made a right mess of the front bumper and when I took it off I found this


On discovering the damage I stripped the car back and straightened it as best I could, then fitted a new radiator. I'd only had the car about 3 months at this time but had been reading the gt hdi thread on this site so decided just to replace the broken fans with slimline ones so they at least would be ready for the intercooler if/when I ever came to fit it.



After this I pieced the car back together and forgot about the fmic for a while, during this period I also had the car remapped by mr whippy which made a fantastic difference and probably made my interest in intercooling wane, at least temporarily lol. Eventually though things got back on track when I got bored and bought these one day.. As it turned out I only ended up using the intercooler and 406 bottom plastic pipe from this picture, but anyway.


This photo shows my fan wiring into the fuse box, it had been a hash ever since fitting the sllimlines in 2008 so I wanted to tidy it up before I got on with the intercooler and ended up leaving it a mess again lol


Next stage was to cut the slam panel, didnt need to take much off really as I was ditching the remainder of the aircon (the badger took care of the condenser first time round). Just cut it out and then bent the panel out with vice grips to neaten it up a bit before giving it a lick of hammerite to try and keep rust away.


Top pipe finished and intercooler partially mounted although still needing bottom brackets made up at this stage.


Bay totally back together here, along with a diy engine cover haircut lol.


With the top pipe running down by the airbox I had to relocate my throttle to over near the expansion tank.


Fitted a take off for a boost gauge onto the 406 inlet, kind of wish I'd done it into the silicone now as I don't plan to run a boost gauge all the time but I've made up a little piece of pipe to put onto it and blank it so its all good.


This shows the lower pipe, the angle the photo was taken at makes it look like it's hanging very low here but its not so bad in person, theres a little bracket bolted to the gearbox that goes up and over it to support it and stop it pulling on the turbo, cable ties are just for the power steering pipe.


Everything back together, ready for its test drive...


Unfortunately when taking it for a run I can hear something knocking, and feel it through the clutch pedal. It only seems to be when I've lifted off the throttle and if I press very lightly (like 1cm down) on the clutch it disappears. Any ideas? Had another look after and I think it has to be the 406 pipe, it sits really very close to these metal pipes here, almost pressing on one. (cheers to robb for the photo btw)


Not quite sure what I can do with it tbh, don't really want to try bending the pipe unless someone can tell me its safe to do so lol, anyone else have this problem? Ideas on how to sort it are much appreciated

Aside from the noise it drives very nicely, does seem slightly quicker or torquier or something even just running the same normal 120 bhp remap, its also building boost very quickly and holding 15ish psi so I don't think there are any leaks which is a bonus.

If I could just sort out whatever is fouling I'd be a happy man, thanks for looking and any suggestions on how to sort it will be very gratefully taken on board lol.

Nice write up mate, I must say nice collection of hoovers too

Have you checked that the clutch arm has its full movement without it touching out? Those metal pipes appear to be the Power Steering Pipes but as far as I remember the only place that made contact when we fitted one was on the subframe.

I also think that the Xsara 110Bhp lower boost pipe is a better fit, I am not sure on the part number though

Hi uberderv, cheers, got another look at it today after work and the clutch arm was clearing fine, but you were quite right it's the subframe causing the trouble. I had a little removed but it must still be fouling when the engine is moving about. The reason I could feel it through the clutch is because the cable runs along the front of the subframe and behind the pipe, if I take it off the clip and let it hang loose the pedal feels fine. Probably just going to rip the pipe out and replace it with aluminium bends and silicon, saw a thread last night where someone had done this and it sounds a better job. No big loss as I'm not really thrilled with the fit of the 406 pipe anyway, hangs too low and not keen on taking any more lumps out of my subframe to accommodate it either

As for the hoovers lol aye, my dad runs a contract cleaning company and stores all his equipment in that unit. Makes for quite a nice place to work actually with the radio, heater etc going...only thing is with him being a cleaner by trade everywhere has to be left spotless after I'm finished haha

Had a bit of time today so got another look at this, managed to get a bit more clearance for the 406 pipe on the subframe by trimming a little off the silicon from the turbo, also took the lip and a little more off the turbo end of the 406 pipe and just secured it really well with a mikalor clamp instead so fingers crossed it holds Plenty more clearance now though, so hopefully wont have to replace the 406 pipe after all.

Unfortunately the noise when driving is still there, tested it today with the car rolling and engine off and it still does it, it also speeds up or slows down in time with wheel rotation so I'm hoping it's just the clutch cable catching somewhere it shouldn't be, I had unclipped it from a couple of mounts and can't remember putting it back so hopefully that's all it is! Definitely to do with the cable somehow though, pushing the clutch in changes the tone of the knock and I can feel it through the pedal...I'll get there eventually

Aside from that the car feels fantastic with the intercooler on, definitely torquier, and every time I see it peeking through the bumper I cant help but grin lol

I was going to suggest trimming a little off the black silicone as there is usually 10-15mm gap between the compressor outlet and the plastic pipe. The bit on the subfame as far as I can remember is not a structrual part and appears to be an unused bracket of some description so I would cut it right back. Maybe see if you can re-route the clutch cable so it sits out the way to free up more room.

Is there anything touching the driveshaft can you see?

Fitting an intercooler to the HDI is a great upgrade especially if you have done it yourself. You need to get back and see Dave (MrWhippy) and get the map tweaked, you will deffo have a grin on your face then

Yeah it sits a lot nicer now it's trimmed that little bit, I have that piece of subframe sort of bent downward but may just cut it out to make double sure lol. I'll have a go at rerouting the cable also.

Not honestly sure about the driveshaft, but there must be something, can't think what else it could be. Literally only had less than an hour at the car today so by the time I had the pipe off, trimmed, back on and a test drive my time was up! I'll get more time at it tomorrow or Thursday hopefully and see whats what, seem to be very pushed for time this week but I'm just counting myself lucky I don't need the car really!

As for the map yeah I can't wait lol it'll have to wait to payday most likely though, unfortunately won't be able to go and see Dave as I live in Northern Ireland but he provided the current 120bhp map for me without needing to see the car so hoping he can do the same again! In the mean time would there be any gain from adjusting the boost on the current map? It runs absolutely clean as a whistle now so I'm thinking probably not lol

No leave the boost as it is for now, you should ask Dave what he recommends that you should set the boost too when you get the next map. There should be no reason why you cant upload the map yourself, do you have the cables etc?

Yep, got a kwp2000 lying around somewhere so being able to upload the map shouldn't be an issue


Got another hour at the car today after work and it turned out I'd clipped the clutch cable out of its little retaining clip thing at some stage and not put it back in so it had sprung forward and was rubbing on the driveshaft, kept missing it because every time I looked I had the car jacked up so the driveshaft was hanging low and not in contact with the cable lol

All sorted now though, now to get the map for it sorted