Hi there, Driving to work this morning in my 2003 Copen with 52k on the clock and the car made a strange noise then lost power. Struggles to reach 50mph and slows when going up a hill. Have booked it in to local auto electronics guy on Monday but I'm assuming the turbo isn't working. I've seen the scary 1k price for a new turbo online, which I can't afford, and can't seem to see any second hand ones. I've found a company in Huddersfield who said if I post the removed part to them, they could refurbish it. Has anyone sourced this part before, or considered/had their turbo refurbished? Any help greatly appreciated, as currently highly stressed! Chris
Hi Chris, welcome to Copenworld. Second hand turbo's are like rocking horse poo. If you did get you'd be gambling on it's quality. Personally I'd buy from the eBay seller in japan. This thread will help you. Member Luna has already gone through this knightmare. https://www.copenworld.com/vb3/showthread.php?t=1226
Its happened again. I wasn't really aware of this when I bought my black sheep in the Kei car family but I did see the 3000 mile service interval for the turbo model and thought f... that, I'm not that lazy to service but I'm lazy enough not to what it quite that often. So I'm glad about about my choice because even if I had bought a really good example you can never quite be sure about the turbo condition inside. I'm surprised a flush of the turbo isn't say a yearly service task. Thats if it was easy to disconnect the pipes when you have drained the oil and push in a fluid to soak and then syringe it out with either a suck or blow. Like you can for the fuel system or engine itself. Would a general engine flush not work to clean out the gunk from the turbo? You ever done anything like this 'keen as mustard Adam'?
I'm a bit of a lazy so and so nowadays. So I get my oil changes done for me in exchange for a bunch of money. . It gets an engine flush & new filter every 3k now. From what I understand the old oil starts to degrade & carbonize in the oil lines to the turbo bearings. Which eventually starves the bearings of oil. Leading to the bearings lunching themselves. No going back once it's happened. Except for a rebuild.
Yes that is what I read. I searched the internet to have a read up and was green wrt to turbos as never had a car with one. I was curious why they failed so readily. I did read that not just oil loss but it built up in the turbo as well? either way the lack of oil flow or volume means there is a reduced cooling effect so the bearings just get too hot.
Confused Hi there, It looks like I've tried all the same options. Spoke with the turbo company in Huddersfield who said they can't get parts as the turbo can't be refurbished, and they could post me a new one for £900 all in. Euro parts were quoting £910. A company in japan Kinuguwaturbo.com quoted £602.38 all in for delivery, but I've read conflicting reports about the quality of their products....... The ebay user you'd mentioned who helped the last lady out said that was a limited special offer, (sukura-car), and he can now only supply the turbo for £788 plus postage. I'm at a total loss just now, having been really ill recently and in the middle of a house purchase, I'm struggling to deal with this. My Copen is going to the auto engineer on Monday for its first inspection to ensure it is the turbo that's failed. Could there be a chance that something smaller/repairable has gone wrong. If anyone can advise on the options above I'd be very greatful. In desperation, Chris
To be honest the symptoms you describe sound like a failed turbo. Give these breakers a try, just in case the turbo's are available? Phone them though, don't bother with the online messaging. Most likely they've already been plundered, but you never know. http://www.partshark.co.uk/used-car-parts-breaking-vehicles/daihatsu/copen How long have you had the car? How often have you been changing the oil?
STK Turbotechnik is a German company, some of our Copen-owners from our German Forum have already bought one as far as I know! Maybe they even can refurbish your old ones! LINK: http://en.turbolader.net/
Newbie Hi there I am new to Copen ownership after just buying a lovely low mileage 53 plate for the wife's 50th birthday.............. Well chuffed with it she is....just reading around and came across this post mentioning turbos and 3000ml oil changes!!!!!!Gosh talk about regular. If thats what it takes then thats what it gets. So being new to this vehicle, and what I've read so far, can you tell me apart from the oil cdhanges is there anything else to be made aware of in terms of maintanance???. doe the filter need changing every 3K too or just the oil?? Where is best to source filters, oil,air, fuel, thats if there is a fuel filter Any help and info would be much appreciated Thanks
Turbo Hi there, I've had my copen for only 3 months and have driven 2500 miles in it. Perhaps the last owners didn't have the regular oil change done as needed. I'm planning to keep the car long term, say another 3 years. The partsbreakers don't have the part and I'd been in contact with STK but their response was: Dear Chris, thank you very much for your e-mail. VQ50 is not available. Mit freundlichen Grüßen, kind regards I take it the VQ50 is the actual part I need? From what I've found, the cheapest I can find the part new is £788 from a reliable supplier.....sigh. I take it if I eventually did find a salvaged part, then I run the risk of the turbo not lasting due to previous poor maintenance? Do you think £788 is reasonable, and how much do you think it would be to install? Many thanks for your help. Chris
Yep, it's an expensive risk to take. There is one more option you could try. Contact Jessie Streeter, he's an importer in Japan. Tell him what you need & he will source it & give you a prive for it shipped to you in the UK. I've used him for a number of parts in the past, very good service. http://jessestreeter.com/ Just ask him for a new Daihatsu Copen Turbo. The part number referenced on the sakura-car's ebay item page is 17200-97216. Remember you will need to pay import tax on the turbo when it arrives here. Luna paid £43 import tax. Send Luna a PM to ask how much she paid for the turbo to be fitted.
Here is a good site for calculating import duty. VAT is only one element. http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/ Rex
dwayner Guys, i finally sold my Copen with no regrets. I had 10 full years of it, not one problem with the turbo , 200,000 kms later, just a few things need fixing, but not enough to keep it off the road. Nice guy in the country bought it. I was going to sell it as a whole for parts for 2500 dollars. Ive had a good run with it, so it didnt owe me any money etc. Hardly spent a cent on it, other than a few things like batteries and brakepads, but gone to a good home. so you wont see me on here anymore, so good luck with your Copens. Its been fun, but moving onto something more exotic now. caio from Australia!
Bye Dwayner, thanks spending time here. Glad she went to a good home. Did you get anything interesting as a replacement?
Dwayner Yes adam an audi r8' but not for a while, i have to fix up my bungalow in bali, indonesia first, where i have a Daihatsu Luxor out the front, and probably the only place in the world where daihatsu is the top selling car
Just an R8? Isn't that kinda of a step sideways? I mean why didnt you just go for a Zonda or a Bugatti Veron? Man. For my next upgrade I am eyeballing a Boxter or a z4. You kinda just jumped to the end with no steps in between.
