Hi there, After much panic, research and advice from the forums, I finally reached a solution for my poor grounded little Copen.....albeit costly. My turbo died without any notice and I researched all the suppliers including the importer man from Japan, the company in Germany and a few others, including Kinuguwaturbo.com who could send a cheaper new turbo, although it wasn't genuine and I read conflicting reports about reliability (turbos only lasting a year and parts shattering). I also looked into the turbo being refurbished which I was told by three refurb companies......it isn't possible as it's the only turbo which is a sealed unit and contains bearings which can't be replaced. I eventually found the company www.crturbos.co.uk, tel 01425 638426 and spoke to Olly Smith via e-mail. Originally he quoted £852 for the part in total, but I chanced my arm and said I'd been offered it for less but had longer waiting time from a different company. He originally said there was no discount available, but I waited half a day and he got back to me offering the new turbo for £768 inclusive of VAT and delivery and a 2 year warranty.....I immediately ordered. Olly told me, for my warranty to apply, the turbo oil feed pipe also needed replaced when the new turbo was fitted as generally this is what caused the oil deprevation.....although he couldn't supply the part. Again more researching..... as by this time my new turbo had arrived in the post. No one could supply this oil feed pipe and if current one was only cleaned by my mechanic, then warranty for turbo wouldn't be valid! Olly even spoke of a turbo which had just been returned with invalid warranty as owner hadn't fitted a new pipe. Eventually....I found 'Hel performance' in Devon, tel 01392 811601, who could replicate and manufacture this new pipe as long as they received the original first, for a cost of £50. This was my only option as the 'Daihatsu Hub' said the only other solution was ordering the part from Japan and it would be a 6-8 week waiting list. So all in all, I paid £768 for the genuine turbo with 2 year warranty, £50 for the oil feed pipe, and my mechanic is £300 to fit it all. Total for the job £1118 which was shocking, but by far the cheapest after A LOT of research....as Daihatsu were saying the turbo alone was that price from them. I hope this helps anyone else in the same position as I discovered these were my only options. In exchange for my info and experience ......can anyone advise me how I can prevent any problems with my new turbo in the future, as I plan to keep the car long term and can't pay all that cash again. I read about oil replacements regularly, every 3k miles but any advice would help. Cheers, Chris
That's some very helpful information. Very interesting too regarding the oil feed pipe. As long as you change the oil regularly as per the service intevals. I don't think you should have a problem. After long runs or motorway runs I let the car idle for a few minutes too allow the turbo & oil running through it to cool. I also change the filter on every 3k oil change instead of the advised 6k interval. Old member Dwayners Copen has done a lot of miles (200,000 km) and is still on the original turbo. Thanks to the care he gave the car.
Oil changes are definitely the key here, after all it's the life blood of the engine. I've run a couple of Honda CX 650 Turbo motorcycles since the mid 80s and always changed oil and filter together and more often than the service schedule, never had a problem....so far... I'll be doing the same with the Copen for sure... It's just had a full service today as I wanted to start with a fresh set of everything including Plugs... and gearbox oil. In theory, I should only be needing to change the engine oil and filter for the next few years... looking forward to it too, owned it 5 days, already put 500 miles on it...
This oil feed pipe, why isn't thoroughly cleaning it good enough for the warranty? Is it a complex shape, I'm just wondering why it is so expensive?
great minds..... If blockage/reduced flow is cited as the problem to say replace it, why not put a slightly bigger diameter one on if possible?
Advice Again......I clearly spoke too soon!!!!! The car was in the garage today having the turbo and associated pipe replaced but the mechanic has called saying he needs three new gaskets to replace the turbo: Exhaust manifold gasket Oil return gasket Water feed pipe gasket. Had a fight with CR turbos saying they should have supplied the gaskets/fitting kit but they've said these are never supplied with new turbos! Also....they can't source these gaskets! Please don't tell me I'm in the same position again having to wait weeks and week for the parts coming from Japan? Or does anyone else know where I could get them. I've sent emails to Jesse Streeter (http://jessestreeter.com) and have a Daihatsu dealer down south looking into it (Selkirk 0844 662 6719). Any other suggestions? This really is endless and putting me off my beautiful little Copen
That's a bit rubbish not supplying the gasket set too! Try SG Petch too: http://daihatsu-copen.sgpetch.co.uk/pages/parts Also try Daihatsu Distrubution Ltd, the only contact though is through there eBay name impartsb46. Just search for Copen Spoiler to find him.
Gasket set Hi there, Just in case anyone is following this thread. I eventually found the gasket set for the turbo fitting..... Daihatsu Selkirk, tel 0844 662 6719, sourced the three gaskets I needed for around £20. So I now have my wee Copen running like a treat and whirring along with the new Turbo. Nightmare having to source the new part but hopefully anyone else with the same problem can learn from my experiences. Chris
