Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Finally, after breaking down on the Coquihalla 6 weeks ago and after a new cylinder head, a new radiator, a new set of timing belts (as well as all other new belts), a new thermostat, new batteries, a new alternator and a bunch of other new stuff (bushings etc.) as well as new oil, new transmission fluid, new coolant and a brandnew Turbo Boost gauge, we have our Delica again.

But not only did we get our Delica back from CVI, we got something new in addition as well:

A strange new noise! It sounds like the Batmobile out of the 60-ies TV series after Batman would say: Atomic turbines to power.... or like the Jetsons cruising around in the cartoon series...

It must be the Turbo as it comes, increases and goes with the pressure or lack thereof on the gaspedal in combination with the RPM's of the engine. At first we kind of laughed and made jokes about Batman and his Batmobile... but after a while on the highway (where the Turbo is always engaged to some degree, regardless of whether we go 80 or 100) it starts to get really annoying.

It didn't make that whining noise before we broke down on the Coke. There was definitively a bit of a Turbo-whine (audible when driving along a wall or a concrete divider/median with an open window) before - but now, it is very loud and increasingly annoying.

Does anybody have any idea or explanation what this could be? I understand that the Turbo was not touched (apart from the coolant hoses being removed and re-attached when putting in the new cylinder head - as ours must be a late 93 with already a watercooled 94-Turbo) during the entire repair job and neither were air filters changed in the process.

Any suggestions, ideas or comments about this noise would be very much appreciated. I will take it back to CVI for some minor other work and would like them to take care of that noise as well unless it is something that I can do easily.

Thanks for any help and Cheers,

Chris

I may be wrong but...
about 5 years ago i did a timing belt on a old vw diesel.
The car made a similar sound as you describe.. and it was not good because the timing belt was aftermarket and did not fit the cam cog correctly... After about a week it gave out and slipped.. not good results.

This may not be it.. but if it is bad things will happen.


Oceaneer

hard to say for sure, but I would say your first call would be to the shop that did the work and describe it to them, they may have a better idea, and may fix it for you under warranty if it is something related to their repair.

Had a Delica in the shop two weeks ago and the girl said the same thing about no whine and then having the high-pitched whine after 'insert shop here' work.

It turned out to be a tiny exhaust leak. Pin hole.

It 'almost' sounded like the turbo but not quite. And annoying as heck above 70/80+ km/h.

Also is your boost gauge constant with the whine sound ?

Thanks for your comments.

The whine is absolutely consistent with the Turbo Gauge (i.e. goes higher, lower as does the Gauge with varying gas-pedal pressure)... Another interesting observation: When the transmission is in Park or Neutral and I hit the gas to rev it up a bit, neither the Turbo Gauge shows any particular boost nor does the noise come on.

But obviously, when in drive and stepping on the pedal, the noise comes on and the gauge shows the boost pressure. When cruising and taking the foot off the pedal (for example when going downhill), the Turbo pressure drops and the noise disappears.

It is definitively as if the Turbo suddenly got louder - but in a "Jetsons" kind of way.

Cheers,
Chris

In order for the turbo to build boost a load must be applied.

At idle, there's no boost and if you rev if in park/neutral you may see a slight up on the gauge but the load is so small that it shouldn't register.

Where is the gauge line teed/drilled in ?

CVI's Butch installed the boost gauge when all the previously mentioned work (cyl-head & co.) were repaired. It comes off a splice on a little vacuum or pressure line that runs somewhere over the valve-cover on top of the engine.

As far as the noise is concerned, he thought that it may just be that the '94 watercooled turbo sounds a bit louder than the older air cooled model. However, before all the repair work was done, it didn't make any particular noise at all - as indicated before, there was a faint turbo-whine which was better audible on the outside of the van than on the inside (i.e. when for example driving with an open window along a concrete wall or divider etc, with the turbo blowing).

So I personally don't believe it can be attributed to the fact that the turbo is watercooled. In addition, although it comes and goes with the turbo pressure, it doesn't actually sound like a turbo but more like you'd imagine a space ship would sound in a kid's cartoon.

Anyway, I'll talk to Butch one more time and see if he had some ideas.

As to the idea of the timing belt not properly fitting (see Oceaneer's comment) I currently have to dismiss that, as a non fitting timing belt would probably make that noise entirely dependent on the RPM's and regardless of whether the foot is on the gas or not.

But once again, thanks to the feedback and hopefully we'll be cruising with a quiet deli again soon....

Cheers

You should not hear the turbo 'loudly' whine inside unless you've got a straight pipe side exhaust. Water-cooled or non.

Different type of turbos make different noises, but the most likely source of your noise is an exhaust leak.


~John

just off the top of my head... I wonder what a pinhole leak in the boost gauge tubing would sound like... it could certainly be inside the cabin...

Turns out, there was a small leak between the intake manifold and the cylinder head....

Sounds like a normal Delica now..... Wheeheew....

Do I still get the quarter ?