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Dead Turbo?

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dead turbo
3K views 7 replies 2 participants last post by  cjapeterborough 
#1 · (Edited)
Bad month for my car...:mad:
New oil pump
Breakdown on motorway because of dirty throttle body
Now dead turbo?

After having replaced my oil pump I found the engine was whining a bit and I put it down to the new oil pump.

It is very difficult to locate where the sound comes from but it is definitely on the front right of the car.

The whining has got steadily worse. At first I thought I had not replaced the serpentine belt properly so took it off and reset it. No change.

There is no real noise when the car is idling or reving.

As soon as I accelerate I hear the whining but if I accelerate hard it goes away (or is drowned by the noise of the engine). If I accelerate slowly from stop the whining is terrible.

I do think the car has lost power and is sluggish.

I do not think it is the water pump as I changed it about a year ago.

There is no check engine light.

I did try running the engine without the serpentine belt (brakes on and acclerating in drive mode) and there is a definite whining but not too loud (engine is not truly under load).

I even put back my old oil pump just to check but the noise is the same.

In the past there has been blue smoke when I start the car but not all the time, usually after a long drive.

Is there any way of checking the turbo without taking it apart?

Are those typical symptoms of a dead turbo?

If it is the turbo do you think it can be refurbished?
 
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#2 ·
You dont tell us which car/engine combo but its likely the turbine shaft is moving around a bit and you can hear it whining under load/boost.
Disconnect the pipe running to the intake throttle body and see how much oil is in there.
If you disconnect the pipe on the inlet side of the turbo you should be able to feel for play in the turbine shaft.
If you can move it around at all its time for at least an new CHRA.(split the turbo and insert new CHRA cartridge or new complete Turbo)
Dont put the job off as if the shaft hits the side walls too much or the bearing lets go then you will have an intercooler,inlet and exhaust/cat full
of broken turbo bits along with dumping the oil everywhere.
 
#4 ·
#5 ·
Hi,
Many thanks for your response.
It was indeed the turbo and replaced it with a new aftermarket one from Neo Bros.

Car has been working fine since then until last week when the engine sound was more "barritone" than usual. No clonking or any other strange sounds.

Yesterday when I started it there was a fair amount of white smoke but then nothing when the engine was warm. In the evening no white smoke.

This mornig upon when I turned the engine one there was a huge plume of white smoke.

I've done some searching on the internet and it would seem that it is either the head gasket which is gone or the turbo seal.

Is there any way of knowing which it could be?

Maybe it is the Turbo which faulty, but how to prove it?
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
Many thanks again for your eply CJA,

My car has 260 000 km on it and has never overheated.

Quantity of white smoke varies from day to day but I do have to top up a little with coolant from time to time, but have been doing this for years and never found the leak despite having changed water pump, radiator etc... and no white smoke until recently (although there was blue smoke prior to turbo blowing and any white smoke will most likely have been masked by the burning oil).

While waiting for the tester to be delivered I have come accross some ads for stuff that you put in the radiator and seals the gasket leak, something like this: https://www.noleaky.co.uk/.

In your opinion is it worth trying this solution before ripping the engine apart?
 
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