Turbo diagnostics and fitting info sheet for reference purposes

[Caveman_nige]

Many people wrongly diagnose turbos as being a problem on engine. On some engines they can be very expensive items but others they can be quite cheap, so lets say that prices vary. However for the uninitiated changing a turbo at home can be a daunting process. Time and tools are the main elements and cost multipliers in the turbo changing game and therefore is generally a nice earner for a garage when it may not even be the turbo that is at fault in the first place. Labour charges will double or treble the cost of the job in some circumstances

Beware of cheap copy turbos......

So linked in PDF format so you can download them are some info sheets that will hopefully help the owner driver get a better idea of their fault. I know you can always ask on here but if you do not have the mechanic vocabulary you probably will not correctly describe your fault and the answers your questions may then be not applicable to you..

In the headers of these are the most important points for all owner drivers with a turbo on their engines: That is that turbos themselves are very reliable, its mainly just poor maintenance and things like dirty or cheap oils that kill them.

So in short if you skimp on servicing then you will eventually pay the price.. Look after your engine and it will look after you.

Now this info is not mine and the company supplying them has no direct or indirect association with me or my business. They purely provide good honest turbo information for the owner driver to make sense of what they have. I cannot copy and paste this as the intellectual property rights are not mine to do so but please feel free to make good use of them and to help yourselves..

How to identify a turbo

Fault diagnosis and Fault diagnosis tool


Fault Fact sheets

Oil Contamination

Impact damage or FOD

Oil leaks

Oil Starvation

Overspeeding

REA or SREA - Rotary Electronic Actuator

EGR

Loose impeller locknut



Fitted a new Garrett GT2052 turbo on your 2.0t (Z20NET) and still have or now have blue smoke, did you change the oil drain pipe at same time as the the turbo... check here


Some basic fitting instructions/advise


If this info helps somebody then great, I see a lot of questions and there are a lot of varying answers. Hopefully will help cut down on some the questions on the subject so a member will be available to help themselves to a better understanding of whether they actually have a turbo issue.

I am not a mechanic but like some others I have changed turbos, fitted uprated turbos, diagnosed turbos and taken apart turbos for a certain petrol engine. Extensive reading online and some nice books from Amazon helped me understand what they are about..

Remember that turbos on diesel engines are a little different and generally as time goes by far more advanced than the turbos to be found on petrol engines. It is the proliferation of turbocharged diesel engines that is leading the way in turbo innovation now, and long may it continue...

The disclaimer:

The guides above are purely for reference purposes only, what decisions you choose to make based upon this info are purely of your own volition and neither myself, this forum or the authors are liable for any consequences relating to them.

[Ian-Highlander]

Nice one Nige and definitely worth stickying I think, done.

[Caveman_nige]

Ta, can you sort my spelling for me though lol. Am on my phone sat on a nice grassy knoll waiting for my lift home.. Thanks...