I didn't and it nearly cost me my motor last week. I'm sharing my experience in the hope that no one on here make the same mistake.
It was the first time I'd had the UR on the road for over a year following turbo, suspension and exhaust mods. I was taking it for an MOT and noticed smoke coming from under the bonnet in the first half a mile so pulled over and popped the bonnet, the smoke was clearly coming from the turbo blanket. I remembered the instructions with the blanket stating "it is normal to see smoke in the first few miles of driving due to chemicals used in the construction burning off so don't be alarmed".
Now feeling un-alarmed I carried on my journey for another 4 miles to fill up with Tesco momentum. By the time I pulled into the forecourt it was smoking considerably so I popped the bonnet again to find flames all over the turbo, emptying the litre bottle of water I had on the passenger seat over it had no effect but luckily petrol stations have fire extinguishers so I made good use of one of them. It made a mess of my new highly polished pipes and engine dress up bits but at least it put it out.
After convincing the rest of the customers and garage owner the fire was definately out and the whole forecourt wasn't about to blow I moved into a parking spot outside the store and ripped off what I could of the turbo blanket with pliers, cursing the supplier for producing a turbo blanket that catches fire. Thinking 'Id fixed the problem I then went home,smoking all the way and stopping periodically to check under the bonnet for flames. It wasn't until I put my car on the ramps that I noticed the trail of oil.
As you have probably guessed, it turns out I had a massive leak from my oil return pipe and the blanket was soaking it up like a sponge, effectively wrapping the turbo in a blanket of oil and concealing it therein. When I checked the dipstick the oil was just visible on the end of it so not only did I nearly kill the motor with fire but also from lack of oil.
I consider myself lucky that it has only cost a couple of hours time and 4 litres of oil to fix in the end.
Happy motoring
It was the first time I'd had the UR on the road for over a year following turbo, suspension and exhaust mods. I was taking it for an MOT and noticed smoke coming from under the bonnet in the first half a mile so pulled over and popped the bonnet, the smoke was clearly coming from the turbo blanket. I remembered the instructions with the blanket stating "it is normal to see smoke in the first few miles of driving due to chemicals used in the construction burning off so don't be alarmed".
Now feeling un-alarmed I carried on my journey for another 4 miles to fill up with Tesco momentum. By the time I pulled into the forecourt it was smoking considerably so I popped the bonnet again to find flames all over the turbo, emptying the litre bottle of water I had on the passenger seat over it had no effect but luckily petrol stations have fire extinguishers so I made good use of one of them. It made a mess of my new highly polished pipes and engine dress up bits but at least it put it out.
After convincing the rest of the customers and garage owner the fire was definately out and the whole forecourt wasn't about to blow I moved into a parking spot outside the store and ripped off what I could of the turbo blanket with pliers, cursing the supplier for producing a turbo blanket that catches fire. Thinking 'Id fixed the problem I then went home,smoking all the way and stopping periodically to check under the bonnet for flames. It wasn't until I put my car on the ramps that I noticed the trail of oil.
As you have probably guessed, it turns out I had a massive leak from my oil return pipe and the blanket was soaking it up like a sponge, effectively wrapping the turbo in a blanket of oil and concealing it therein. When I checked the dipstick the oil was just visible on the end of it so not only did I nearly kill the motor with fire but also from lack of oil.
I consider myself lucky that it has only cost a couple of hours time and 4 litres of oil to fix in the end.
Happy motoring

Comment