Turbo Blown up!

[Chewonit]

Hello,

Newbi here, but i thought i would share my story thus far in the hope any of you could offer advice.

My car is a Vectra c 1.9 CDTI SRI 120. 66K miles

Have had this car for 3 yrs now, and to be honest its the most reliable car i have ever owned. its been regulary serviced and has not skipped a beat since i brought it. that was until last Tuesday....

I had just set off for work and got about 300 yrds down the road. went to pull out from a junction in the normal fashion when there was a loud POP/BANG followed by a hisss. after this car car lost nearly all of its power, i had just enough to limp it to the next layby/bus stop.

Anyway after a quick tow from the AA i dropped it off at my local garage, who then emailed some pictures over the course of the morning of the turbo along with an explaination that the turbo has basically disintegrated on its self. it has exessive play in the shaft and unbeknown to me has slowly been wearing itself away on the side of the casing. When the thing blew up, two of the turbo fins (exhaust side) had sheared off had made their way down the exhaust.

so a new turbo was needed, but not a genuine as the main stealer tells me the Vauxhull have a back log of 129 on order! so the only option was to get mine remanufactured by universal turbos at a cost of £480+labour

anyway the new turbo spins up just fine, but the car still has no power. after spending a few hours on it, they have run out of ideas for it. so i have just delivered it to the main dealer. (£££££)

Am expecting an update from them this afternoon, so will post more later, and hopefully some pics of my knackered turbo!

Any simular experiences on here?

Martin

[mickeystitch]

mine blew up last month, AA took it straight to main stealers, they phoned and told me turbo

Not sure about this backlg lark though as I was told at 2.30pm and it was fixed next day by 3.00pm

Vauxhall Newhaven £1049.42 inclusive with oil change

[Chewonit]

oh ******, they are saying the intercooler is knackered as well - no airflow coming out so awaiting a quote for it.

im up to £980 so far for the turbo and labour, no doubt im looking at another £500+

[mickeystitch]

I know i am gonna get slated, but sometimes it is better to go straight to the steelers and get them to diagnose as for that smallish cost you get to find out which bits to change first, and have to say they very rarely steer you wrong.

You can always so no thanks and take it somewhere else.

But i find they are normally pretty good with the discounts if you plead poverty as well

[tommytonguedj]

Hi There,
Exactly the same happened to me a couple of weeks back my intercooler blew too all engine oil emptied out of the car, Make sure they check everything as i found bits of turbo in the throttle body so bits are highly likely gonna be in the engine, It works out cheaper to throw another engine in the car sometimes, if it's gonna total over £1000 to fix just turbo/intercooler turbo with no warranties of on any bits out of engine re-entering new turbo and blowing turbo/intercooler again, You may aswell pay around £1200-£1500 for engine and fitting which will come with a warranty.

[Chewonit]

Well I have to say i starting to get seriously concerned about the main stealers ability to diagnose the fault.

So far they have had the car for 3 days, have upgraded the software to one thats more tolerent of turbo pressure variations, changed the EGR valve...but still the car has no pull.

my bill is rising, so far they have spent 5 hrs on it, and my patience wearing thin!

oh my days!

M

[calibra_se8]

I presume the parts of turbo that went into the exhaust were cleaned out also?

What exactly has all been changed/diagnosed so far?

[Chewonit]

Ok , just heard back from the stealers and it appears the winds of change have arrived.

They have finally diagnosed that the remanufactured turbo is infact OK (just a days or so ago they where about to condem it) , however a combination of a sticking wastegate and a intermitant fault on the EGR valve had completly flumaxed them for a day or so.

Hoping my PAJ will be ready to collect this avo

Oh my days!

M

[yozzer72]

Just reading your experiences guys as my turbo on my 2.2 has just started cutting out when i put my toe down at 70-80mph and not looking forward to the cost of repair, hope yours get sorted chewonit

[nutron]

Interesting diagnosis as the 1.9CDTI has a VNT unit which does not have a waste gate! Sounds like fish paste to me. If the turbo broke up like that, did the compressor have damage too? If the exhaust side (turbine) broke up, it would damage the pre-cat for sure and you might need a new one depending on the level of damage. If the intake side (compressor) broke up too in anyway, it could damage intake piping but most likely the intercooler. The bits would have to be very small to get past the intercooler, so they probably would not damage anything down stream of there. The oil dumped in from a bearing collaps could over heat the cylinders, causing piston and piston ring damage or even an engine sizure (your's clearly did not seize).

The most comon cause of turbo failure on these, like it or not, is not knowing how to drive a turbo diesel. If you accelerate hard, they over boost and that can damage them. If you boost them before the engine is warm, that can damage them. If you don't let it run down after stopping before turning it off, that can damage them. If you use the wrong oil (5W-30 or 0W-30 fully synthetic only), it will damage them.

There can be factors outside your control, such as the original manufacture but if you have been driving it that long, it's unlikely. If the inlet pipes have worn over time and are allowing the turbo to draw in un filtered air, that could wear the turbo compressor wheel and effect the balance, which could increase turbo bearing wear rapidly.

Basically, the turbo should be checked as part of a major service every two years. There are so many failures that it would be a sensible move by all manufactures, as it isn't just Vauxhalls. A bearing service cost under £400 including VAT and delivery. I can remove and fit a different turbo in two hours now (having done it three times this weekend alone with the hybrids).

It may be a pain but that thing spins to 150,000 to 200,000 rpm so you have to expect wear. Get it checked every 40K and it could save you a new engine in the long run.