UNWANTED HUM

I own a 1989 Nissan 200SX that has recently began to develop a whine from the engine. The oil and filter have been regularly replaced over the past twenty years of ownership and was hoping to prevent any problems by doing so.

My fear is that the whine is coming from the turbo and that this will need to be changed in the not too distant future. Is this a difficult job to do and what should I look out for when carrying it out?

In the hope that the problem may not be related to the turbo, is there anything else that you think it may be worth checking?

Eddie Miller

Having not heard the noise myself it is of course difficult to correctly diagnose the problem, but as you have heard the noise and you suspect the turbo to be the source, then this may well be the problem.

You have not mentioned the mileage of your Nissan but even with regular oil changes, at some point it is still possible for the turbocharger to fail.

The job time for the replacement is 2.3 hours and this indicates that although not a quick job, it is not too bad. Due to the accessibility of the fixings it may be easier to remove the exhaust manifold complete with the turbo.

When fitting the new unit, it is also important to remember that the oil feed and drain pipes need to be checked. The turbo should be lubricated before starting up the engine and ideally the engine should be cranked over before starting to build up the oil pressure.

Once the engine has been started do not rev it but allow it to idle for a few minutes before applying any throttle.

The noise may be as you are hoping from a different source and to eliminate any of the moving components at the front of the engine I would remove the auxiliary drive belt to ensure the noise does not disappear.