Lost me turbo!! - updated

[ion]

Nice work D!

Thanks for sharing it with us as well.

[joules2.0t]

Top stuff!!

How long did it take to get that lot out?

[Duncan]

Thanks for that beautiful insight matey .

What I was getting at is, Vx technicians are just fitters and would never look to see what the fault actually is. They'd just get the error code from Tech2 and see it's a turbo fault and replace it. Unfortunately it's usually the consumer that foots the bill for their lasyness.

I got what you were saying and agree, but what I was meaning was that even if a Vx tech had looked at it and actually discovered the real problem, they would still said it needs a new turbo as they only come as a complete unit. Vx wouldn't repair them. I did actually have the car on Tech 2 when it started to play up more lately, and all that brought up was a fault code relating to a sensor, yet the sensors fine! lol All it means is that the sensor got a reading it wasn't expecting, and now I know why. lol

How long did it take to get that lot out?

A good few hours, but that included coming in for breaks, lunch and generally warming up as it was chuffing cold out there! lol I was also working through things methodically and bagging and labelling all the little different banjo bolts etc. to make sure I knew exactly what was what - so that all added to the time. Last thing I wanted was to put it back in and wonder where the hell this bolt went! lol Plus some bits were just fiddly to do - like removing the BSR downpipe as the bolts have limited access as the downpipe now attaches straight to the turbo - whereas on the standard 2.0T the cat attaches to the turbo and the downpipe to that.

So, the turbo is all boxed up, I've rang Turbo Technics and it's being collected today.

D

[Beavis]

I thought your car was covered on network Q warrenty?? or is the turbo not covered??

[Duncan]

Long story! lol - which I may post up at a later date about. Basically, yes it was under a Net Q warranty. The car initially went into Vx to be looked at and their conclusion was that it needed a new turbo, but with no specific reason why they thought it was the turbo - they didn't even remove the downpipe to check the wastegate or test the wastegate actuator. Being under Net Q I thought fine, I'll have a new turbo then! If it's something else then they can sort it out and I'd have got a new turbo out of it! lol There was also another thing being looked at (leaking steering rack) and with that going on the claim it made the total amount over where a Net Q engineer comes to look at the car. In a nutshell, and I'll expand in my other post, he became aware that the car had been modified so rejected the claim! , and in effect Net Q wouldn't cover me for the duration of the policy - which was until June 2008. I argued the toss with Net Q head office and they weren't going to entertain covering any of the claim - so what happened was that they refunded me the second year of the warranty I took out (from June 07 to June 08) which was almost £500. So with what needs done on the car, and even if the turbo needs the bearing/service seal, the total cost is only a couple of hundred more than what I got back from Net Q - so not so bad. I just have to hope that nothing major goes wrong between now and June - when I would have had the Net Q cover expire. If anything does, and depending what it is, between getting the parts cheaper, me doing the spannering and knowing somebody with Tech 2 access I'd hope I could sort it out for minimal cost.

It was a bit of a at the time, (especially when I saw the total cost of the claim - but that obviously included all the Vx labour), but I'm now actually not so bothered about it. I got the full second years back (when they could have easily just refunded the months left) and I'm only a couple of hundred out of pocket if the turbo needs the bearing/seal service. If it doesn't need the bearing/seal service then to have the turbo fixed, buy the steering rack (with discount) and get it fitted (the dealers have given me a decent discount on the labour based on what happened! - it's not a job I'm in a hurry to undertake!) will cost me the same as what I got back from Net Q, so I'll be evens at that stage!

D

[Beavis]

just thought it was strange you doing the work and not vauxhall,but in saying that you will prob do a better job than most of the so called vauxhall "technicians" !

good on you for tackling it and finding the problem!!

[Ian T]

Well done for getting into it Duncan, at least if the turbo company do it up it will be right, balanced, etc.

[Gsi3.2]

Lost his turbo.... flamin careless if you ask me.....

[Duncan]

Well, I got a call from TT today and it's basically good news. They said the turbo is in remarkably good condition with no signs of oil starvation, oil quality issues or coking. I knew treating the turbo well - warm up and cool down periods - and regular oil changes with good quality oil would pay dividends!

It does need a bearing and seal service, which I though it might, so that will have it in tip-top condition. It will be re-balanced obviously and will actually be to a finer tolerance then a brand new one coming from the Garrett factory!

So the damage all in is £250 + VAT (£293). That's for a new disc to be reattached to the wastegate arm (£45 + VAT), bearing and service seal (£195+VAT) and there was apparently a very small hairline crack at the edge of the wastegate hole, so £10 + VAT to weld that/smooth it off and fix it to stop it spreading or cause any wastegate creep/leakage. I'll then have a basically good as new turbo, balanced to a finer tolerance for less than a new turbo!, and will see easily see me through the remainder of the time I'm going to have the car. I'm pretty happy! That price also included them collecting and delivering the turbo!!

I'm hoping they will have it ready by the end of the day tomorrow as they can then ship it out for a Saturday delivery, which will cost an extra £15, which I'm quite happy to pay as I can then get it fitted back on again at the weekend.

Oooh, and to top it all off I've just had a courier arrive with a few bits I thought it'd make sense to fit whilst the turbo was off and coolant was drained.

[mark1319]

Good stuff, must be pretty pants looking at and not being able to drive the car, I'd be lost without mine. Eager to see if it improves any performance.