Turbo removal

[warrenpfo]

My cruiser's turbo seems to be suffering from sticking variable vains and so needs a service. It is not a common problem but one that does occur and so it needs to come off and go for a service/rebuild to remove the carbon build up.

Does anyone know how easy it is to remove a turbo on a 4.2 TD?

Any advice welcome.

 

[Lorin]

This is very anecdotal but might be worth a go before removing the turbo

My car is a performance diesel with a VNT turbo. It has suffered with sticking vanes for about 6 months causing it to often go into limp mode. This is a known fault on my particular car and quite common around my mileage (92K). I have been preparing to upgrade the turbo.

However, a confession is that I have always run my car on Tesco diesel

This weekend just gone the car was going to be driven very hard so I used BP ultimate diesel in the hope it might stop it going into limp mode so often. I would have expected limp mode at least 3 or 4 times on this particular drive. As it turned out the fault did not occur once. I have now done almost 800 miles on BP ultimate and haven't suffered sticking vanes once. Whilst in no way conclusive it does appear that the problem is in the very least much reduced.

It might be worth giving it go - coupled with some very hard driving to 'blow out' all the crap

 

[warrenpfo]

Lorin

Many thanks for the suggestion. I live less than a mile from a BP service station and so have always run the car on BP diesel but not their ultimate diesel. The car has not given me a moments hassle for 9 months or so but today it decided to throw the engine management light.

I would be more than happy to run it on BP ultimate if it would solve the problem but think long term the best thing to do is have the turbo "cleaned" out.

There is a crowd in Reading who seem to know what they are doing and feel confident they would be able to service the turbo and replace any parts if needed.

I will switch to BP ultimate to see if it sorts out the problem, not that its a problem but more of a hassle.

 

[Paul]

So what are the actual symptoms that make you think its the turbo?

 

[warrenpfo]

The fault code it throws is the number 34 which corresponds to P1250


What happens is when I accelerate the engine pick up in revs with very little corresponding pickup in speed then all of a sudden its like the turbo will dump/drop/kick in and we are off. At the same time the engine management light will come on. Its not turbo lag nor is it fuel lag but as a man one explained who does not speak very good English below.

"as to vanes --they must easy respond to an actuator command. An actuator (vacuum side)is connected with the intake manifold. The more RPM of the engine the more suction/vacuum and finally this vacuum moves a membrane with rod link connected with vanes control ring. The vacuum is considered as constant (subject to engine is in order)-- as to an actuator performance -- it depends on the membrane condition -- if it has no vacuum bypassing (due to cracks/leaks), then an actuator itself must to work properly. Now regarding to vanes -- they have been designed as variable and change throttle hole width between two neighbour vanes by a command of an actuator via control ring that links all vanes. Now sometimes the vacuum creates in the suction line is not enough to move an actuator link due to vanes flexibility lack on their axises. What does it mean -- the carbon deposit is guilty. Finally the turbocharger can not reach its maximum RPM depending on the engine current condition/load and short charges cylinders. The air boosting pressure is normally measured by a special pressure sensor that gives a command to the ECU. IF something is wrong with boosting air pressure (out of limits)-- then ECU records this fault as in code -- this is one possible fault. Now regarding to another one -- as was reported above re throttle hole width between two neighbor vanes is changed. The initial exhaust gas parameters have both pressure and respecting temperature. AS to the thermodynamic -- both P and T are prorated and when passed thru the throttle hole -- both P and T are being reduced because of the nozzle reduction and in cacse both remain unchangeable or so -- it is a signal for ECU. The temperature after turbocharger is normally measured by a sensor that also gives a signal to ECU. Now you can see both coded signals with the same meaning as turbo failure. Now regarding to how to cure that -- the diesel with turbo are the one UNIT and always depend from each other. Time to time the turbo must be dismantled, cleaned , worn spares must be changed, the rotor must be balanced. A special service kits are normally sold. Your task is to locate reliable garage who deals with daily turbos repair/service."

Hope this makes sense.

 

[warrenpfo]

This might just be my lucky day. Will have to watch this one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110773620708? ... 1423.l2649

 

[nathanrobo]

As said if the Turbo is Garrett and VNT, lots of the turbo rebuilders will tell you about hi-tech kit they have for calibrating VNT's but the bottom line is that Garrett say that if you have a VNT rebuilt it's likely to fail after a short period and may cause engine damage!

This doesn't seem to be Garrett just trying to sell new turbos because they will happily sell parts to the rebuilders for other types of turbo built by them.

That being said, it may be worth talking to Turbo Technics. These guys have been rebuilding turbos for at least 20 years and can probably be trusted. - worth a call!

I went through this a while ago with my Alfa - bought a 2nd hand one in the end as a new turbo was more than the car was worth.

 

[Martin Mollentze]

Hi Warren

i was wondering if you ever resolved the fault you were getting with your turbo. I have a 2005 Amazon and am experiencing the same problem. I intermittently get the engine management light on and the car goes into limp mode. If you reset it is sometimes weeks before I have the same problem. I would be interested to know if you solved the problem.

Thanks
Martin

 

[warrenpfo]

Hi Martin, I sold on the car and so no never got to the bottom of the problem. Sorry not much help but let us know how you get on.

 

[karl webster]

I have a spare 100 series turbo if anyone needs one. Just pm me. Thanks

 

[Beau]

I had this exact same problem you describe on my VW Golf which runs a variable vane turbo. The Problem ended up being fuel starvation. The basic issue was the engine wasn't receiving enough fuel when demanded and so the parameters would be all over the place and send wrong signals to the turbo making it not boost correctly and a lack of power. If I drove it very slowly and smoothly you could reach motorway speeds but demand that extra bit more and she'll get confused and in some cases stall...

Considering this is not a common problem on these landcruisers I think it might be best to check other things beforehand. Another thing worth looking into is the MAF sensor (if it has one). If this is faulty it'll send wrong information regarding how much air is going into the engine once again throwing the turbo out. The only reason mechanically why the turbo may not work is if the vanes or actuator are stuck. If possible connect it up to a diagnostics machine while running the car. That's what I did on my golf to find out the problem. Good luck

 

[mrdelmonti]

I helped clean up a variable vane turbo for a friend a while ago (a vw) and the simplest method was to soak the one side in oven cleaner, being careful not to soak the seal, and then blast some air through it. We did this with it in situ.

 

[Martin Mollentze]

Thanks for the feedback, I will keep on fault finding until I get it resolved.

Karl, I would have been interested in you spare Turbo, but I am based in Cape Town, so will first see what I can source locally if it turns out to be a Turbo problem.

 

[Martin Mollentze]

Beau, it is interesting what you mention about Fuel Starvation. I have noticed that I get a vacuum build up in the tank which releases when I open the fuel cap, just not sure how to resolve this.

 

[Beau]

Beau, it is interesting what you mention about Fuel Starvation. I have noticed that I get a vacuum build up in the tank which releases when I open the fuel cap, just not sure how to resolve this.

I think in most cases these fuel systems are sealed meaning you would get some pressure, but there are vents which should let air in as fuel gets sucked. Try running your truck with the fuel cap off and see if there is a difference? Have you ever had the tank out and inspected the fuel filter pick up?

 

[david2001]

would be nice to have info on how to actually remove my turbo from my 100 series..its on the right side!

 

[guruvetim]

would be nice to have info on how to actually remove my turbo from my 100 series..its on the right side!

My guess would be, remove the exhaust manifold then take the turbo off with in on the bench.

 

[david2001]

sounds very sensible..a difficult area to access..lots of things to remove and then deal withe rusted studs etcetc..not looking fwd to this job.But first some learning on turbos and cost!!
thanks

 

[david2001]

sounds very sensible..a difficult area to access..lots of things to remove and then deal withe rusted studs etcetc..not looking fwd to this job.But first some learning on turbos and cost!!
thanks