Lack of power

[reptar]

My car chucked it last week. Moved down into 2nd gear, accelerated away for 2 seconds and then died.
Car still runs. no power. 0-60 in 3 days.
Cleaned EGR valve.
New fuel filter
Cleaned air filter

Stealers diagnosed oxygen sensor (lamda)?
Stealers fitted sensor. Car still the same.
Warning light did go away however.
They checked the EGR valve was working ok.
All this cost me £275

Then they phone me this morning saying my turbo is goosed, and its going to cost just short of another £800 to replace it.

Is this a ballpark figure for this repair?

Can I buy a turbo myself and get a mechanic friend to fit it?

Can I test the turbo?

Does anyone know the part number for the turbo, and how much they cost?

Vectra 1.9 cdti 120 bhp life 05 plate.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[the scouser]

Usually, a failed turbo will be evident by clouds, and I mean clouds, of smoke and maybe the engine revving independently of the accelerator pedal. You should easily be ably to access the fins in the turbo to see if they spin freely, and are all in place. If they do spin (ie it's not seized), and there was no smoke (bearings and seals gone) then I can't see how it can be your turbo....

That is the right sort of money for a turbo if you do need one...

I never cease to be amazed at how poor some garages are, I mean, they do this stuff for a living

[robert_dale]

Have they checked all the pipes, I had a VERY small pipe come off and lost a shed load of power, that was at the front of the engine.

I would check the obvious first before spending all that money on a turbo matey

[reptar]

Have they checked all the pipes, I had a VERY small pipe come off and lost a shed load of power, that was at the front of the engine.

I would check the obvious first before spending all that money on a turbo matey

I did have that once before, but they all look ok.I ll check again tomorrow.

[frenchman]

You can have your own turbo refurbished by a turbo company if it really is gone, it is part of the exhaust manifold and comes off the car complete. I have recently removed mine as the actuator had become seized after a vac pipe was perished and the last owner failed to repair it.

It is a fiddly job to do, and I even removed the radiator to get better access, I hope to get the car put back together and test it out tomorrow. The problem I found was that because a vac pipe had broken the vanes on the turbo got stuck in the half open position and then became clogged up causing an overboost.

I have the same engine as you, but my mechanic friend (Fiat specialist) reckons that the maf is also suspect because the car doesn't pull very well. I took my turbo of the exhaust manifold and cleaned it up, also worked the actuator free, will know tomorrow if it's fixed it

Have a look at this thread some pics etc.

http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95045

Frenchman

[frenchman]

Right got everything put back together as I did a cam belt change whilst I was at it. All I can say is it's like a different car, as soon as I pulled out of my street I knew it had sorted it.

The car is so much more responsive and pulls from about 1600 rpm, went up and down the dual carriageway, and it just want's to go seems to pull in any gear.

So maybe your turbo is duff, but it may just be clogged up like mine.

Frenchman

[reptar]

Right got everything put back together as I did a cam belt change whilst I was at it. All I can say is it's like a different car, as soon as I pulled out of my street I knew it had sorted it.

The car is so much more responsive and pulls from about 1600 rpm, went up and down the dual carriageway, and it just want's to go seems to pull in any gear.

So maybe your turbo is duff, but it may just be clogged up like mine.

Frenchman

Thanks for getting back to me.