****OMG damn near DIED this past week.. stupid turbos...

[JImmyK]

so recently I took my 3000GT Twin Turbo VR-4 to the mechanic for a timing belt change. As I was driving home I gave it some gas in third gear and when I was close to 75 MPH I got off the gas but the car suddenly began accelerating as if I had jammed the pedal.

320 HP is a lot of power, I looked down to see if the gas pedal was jammed by the time I looked up I was going about 100-105 mph in third gear. I dropped it into neutral and the rpm gauge went far off into the red zone, and I could hear my turbos just screaming at me. now Im weaving through traffic as well mind you


***Trust me I can not tell you in enough detailed how wicked scary this was, twice when weaving thorugh traffic at 100 MPH+ on a 2 lane road I lost traction and remember this car has AWD with 295/40 18 inch ZR rated tires!!***



anways Im scared that my engine may blow up so I shut off the car at 100mph... I started gently slowing down but my brakes stopped working because they were power but I said Ill just downshit.

so I threw it back into 3rd gear which started slowing me down quite rapidly, but the road started curvuing as I turened the steering whell the DAMN thing locked on me becuase I had turned the key into the off position, so frantically I turned the key back into on to unlock the steering wheel, so I wouldnt drive into the concrete barrier at 60+mph, and VROOM the car came back to life because its a stick shift it automatically jump started itself since it was in gear and started accelerating AGAIN!!

omg long story short I got it under control and in the emergency lane, got her towed


and the dealer said sorry we did not put the turbo flaps on properly and they are used to cut the turbos off, so when I went past 3.5k rpm they slipped off permanenetly and the car just started accelerating. talk about a scary experience. and worthless mechanics.

 

[BigJ]

Lawsuit?

 

[Jmmsbnd007]

Demand a new engine.

 

[JoeKing]

Wow somthing really wanted you to die. Congrats on being alive :beer:

 

[Zenmervolt]

They need to look that engine over completely, especially the valvetrain. If it over-reved then you're looking at possible damage there.

ZV

 

[boyRacer]

DANGER TO MANIFOLD!

 

[Actaeon]

Wow... good story, very scary experience.

What year 3000GT?

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: BigJ
Lawsuit?

GEt everything out of them you can. They nearly had you killed.

 

[BillGates]

If you were a true ATOT vet, you would have posted here during the actual experience asking for advice.

 

[ElFenix]

something dramatic happened to an AT'er and they waited to post about it? thats got to be a first

 

[PowerMacG5]

I would have a third part mechanic do a complete inspection of the engine, at the former mechanics expense. If anything is found in the slightest disrepair, demand the original mechanic pay for it because they damn near killed you, or face a lawsuit.

 

[brxndxn]

Originally posted by: BigJ
Lawsuit?

Yes.. major lawsuit. Emotional distress, Life endangerment, etc, etc..

3000GT VR4's are awesome cars, btw. That's insane you lost traction - it's tough to lose traction in that car - even in the rain. Now my Camaro Z28, on the other hand, if I tap the gas wrong, BOOM, my back end slides like crazy.

 

[ajpa123]

I would hire a lawyer and ask him to send a letter to the owner of that shop.
I would threaten lawsuit with pain and suffering.. cuz u know you're scared to drive probably.. and it's gonna degrade the quality of your life so much Hope you end up with a shiny new $50k sports car
Good Luck !

 

[Triumph]

That explanation doesn't make sense. The turbos are powered by the engine's exhaust - it's like a feedback loop. The only way the turbos would go nuts is if the bypass valve AND the throttle were stuck/broken. And the bypass valve wouldn't even need to be broken for you to experience the unintended acceleration that you experienced. Sounds to me that your throttle was simply stuck open. Could've happened to any car, turbocharged or not.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: BigJ
Lawsuit?

Ahem - you still need damages to sue. I love the way people blame lawyers for the perceived profusion of frivolous lawsuits, when the country is full of litigious non-lawyers.

My mother, a judge, had a similar experience happen when a hack at Rapid Oil Change lost one of the clamps for her air filter cover, and it ended up wedged in her throttle cable linkage. She actually got into an accident as a result, but never sued anyone.

 

[MAME]

wow, good story!

 

[ajpa123]

Originally posted by: Don_Vito

Originally posted by: BigJ
Lawsuit?

Ahem - you still need damages to sue. I love the way people blame lawyers for the perceived profusion of frivolous lawsuits, when the country is full of litigious non-lawyers.

My mother, a judge, had a similar experience happen when a hack at Rapid Oil Change lost one of the clamps for her air filter cover, and it ended up wedged in her throttle cable linkage. She actually got into an accident as a result, but never sued anyone.

that sucks, so you can't even sue for pain and suffering even if they screwed up and you suffer mentally as a result of it ?

 

[JImmyK]

I knew some of you guys would get a kick out of it.. crazy stuff I tell you.

Originally posted by: Triumph
That explanation doesn't make sense. The turbos are powered by the engine's exhaust - it's like a feedback loop. The only way the turbos would go nuts is if the bypass valve AND the throttle were stuck/broken. And the bypass valve wouldn't even need to be broken for you to experience the unintended acceleration that you experienced. Sounds to me that your throttle was simply stuck open. Could've happened to any car, turbocharged or not.

Im no mechanic thats almost VERBATIM what they told me though, bottom line was whatever stops the turbos some kinda flap was not "installed" properly.


they fixed it with many sincere apologies, and are giving me all kinds of vouchers and free repairs but I decided to sell her off. My SUV is good enough this car is just a money pit, the tires alone set me back $1290 3 months ago.. it was a sign.. time to move on to bigger and slower things..

I honestly did think about suing them, it really was negligence and worse off they admitted it to me. The simply said we didnt reassemble it properly it was our fault and it will be fixed free of charge. but we all make mistakes I guess and Im only 24, just got out of school looking for a job, dont have time for any of this stuff.

by the way it is the mitsu dealer in northern VA off route 1 in woodbridge if u care to verify it, all the mechanics know about it because I sat and gave them all the details.

also the car will be listed in next Sundays washington post

look for a 95 3000GT VR-4 candy apple red, with 72k miles and new tires/brakes and timing belt change.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: ajpa123

that sucks, so you can't even sue for pain and suffering even if they screwed up and you suffer mentally as a result of it ?

Generally, only if your emotional distress is so severe that it causes physical symptoms.

 

[TallBill]

wow, sounds insanely fun after it was over

 

[JoeKing]

Originally posted by: JImmyK
I knew some of you guys would get a kick out of it.. crazy stuff I tell you.

Originally posted by: Triumph
That explanation doesn't make sense. The turbos are powered by the engine's exhaust - it's like a feedback loop. The only way the turbos would go nuts is if the bypass valve AND the throttle were stuck/broken. And the bypass valve wouldn't even need to be broken for you to experience the unintended acceleration that you experienced. Sounds to me that your throttle was simply stuck open. Could've happened to any car, turbocharged or not.

Im no mechanic thats almost VERBATIM what they told me though, bottom line was whatever stops the turbos some kinda flap was not "installed" properly.


they fixed it with many sincere apologies, and are giving me all kinds of vouchers and free repairs but I decided to sell her off. My SUV is good enough this car is just a money pit, the tires alone set me back $1290 3 months ago.. it was a sign.. time to move on to bigger and slower things..

I honestly did think about suing them, it really was negligence and worse off they admitted it to me. The simply said we didnt reassemble it properly it was our fault and it will be fixed free of charge. but we all make mistakes I guess and Im only 24, just got out of school looking for a job, dont have time for any of this stuff.

by the way it is the mitsu dealer in northern VA off route 1 in woodbridge if u care to verify it, all the mechanics know about it because I sat and gave them all the details.

also the car will be listed in next Sundays washington post

look for a 95 3000GT VR-4 candy apple red, with 72k miles and new tires/brakes and timing belt change.

lol, sorry but your story isn't exactly the best sales pitch

 

[0roo0roo]

another reason not to buy used sports cars....

 

[GagHalfrunt]

You probably should sell the car and get a Schwinn until you learn how to drive.

1) 75 is speeding

2) 75-105 takes quite a while, even with 300HP. You should have caught and corrected the problem long before then.

3) You "looked down" at that speed? Ever think about trying to pry the throttle pedal with with your foot? I think not.

4) A neutral drop? Man, you're braindead. Just shut off the throttle.

5) Power brakes don't stop working when the engine is off, they just lose the power assist and work like ordinary brakes did before the power. Ever think about about using a little effort on the pedal?

6) As Triumph suggested, the turbos missing a flap is meaningless, turbos do not power the engine, they are powered by it. They can't take control on their own and override what the throttle is telling them to do.

7) Even at 75MPH with the throttles stuck open modern brakes are powerful enough to bring the car to a halt.

Learn to freakin' drive before you kill somebody.

 

[KGB1]

Car you'll die for... literally

:beer: Glad you're safe

 

[JImmyK]

haha nothings wrong with her, just not my cup of tea anymore, too fast too powerful

if my 4runner on 20s ever went out of control I wouldnt have to worry about going past 70 mph